This ancient Buddhist temple built on a hilltop, served as a landmark along the Kathmandhu to Tibet trade route. Today, it serves as the nexus for the exiled Tibetan community. It's basically the same look and story of previously visited Swayambhu, so I'm tempted to just write "ditto" here. But I do love to ramble, so I'll keep going. As you can see, the same set of glowering eyes look out in all directions from the enormous stupa, one of the largest in the world. While both Swayambhu and Boudha attract large Tibetan followings, the temples also serve the local Buddhist population. Nepal's ethnic makeup is very complicated with scores of different tribes and clans. So the main reason there are two nearly identical temples relatively close together is that Swayambhu served the Buddhist Newaris in Kathmandu, while this temple was for more rural tribes.