Our next stop was Pokhara . It was our base station before we set out to Jomsom and from there to Muktinath. Pokhara is the capital of the Gandaki Province and the second busiest city after Kathmandu. It is also known as the Trekker's Paradise as it serves as the base and recharge unit for all those who visit Nepal for mountain tourism and trekking. The word Pokhara comes from the Nepali word Pokhari which means lake and true to its name, the city is located next to the Phewa Lake. Pokhara has a rich history and heritage and has featured as an important part of the Indo - China and subsequently Indo - Tibet trade routes.
Close up of the fish tail (Pic: Google)
Machchapuchre:
Pokhara has several temples and we had an opportunity to visit a few of them, but before speaking about them, one has to mention Machchapuchre, part of the Annapurna range of mountains whose highest peak has never been climbed by mountaineers. Although much lower in height when compared to Mt. Everest, the Nepal Government has not given approval to anyone to set foot on the Machchapuchre (literally meaning Fish Tail, the name coming from the triangular shaped mountain with a twisted twin summit which gives the impression of a fish's tail)as it is considered holy by the Gurungs of Nepal.
A view of Machchapuchre from the rooftop of our hotel PC: Balaji Davey
Jimmy Roberts, considered as the Father of Mountain Tourism in Nepal, seems to have come very close to have summitting it in 1957, but when weather and situations forced his group to return without reaching the summit, he understood and respected the wish of the Gurungs and requested the Nepal Government to keep it off-limits for the trekkers. Till date, Machchapuchre is considered among the holy peaks prohibited for those attempting to summit it, like Mt. Kailash.
Phewa Lake and the Tal Barahi Temple:
Phewa Lake is a freshwater lake on the shores of which stands Pokhara city and it is the second largest lake in Nepal. Since the lake is only 28 kilometres from the Annapurna range, it is common to see the reflection of Machchapuchre and the other peaks of the Annapurna range in the waters of Phewa. Therefore, thousands throng the lake set in pristine surroundings.
Phewa Lake in Pokhara, Nepal
The Phewa Lake not just serves as a tourist spot, and a popular shopping area (the lakeside is surrounded by shops that sell various items required by trekkers for the climb. It also sells clothing and other items for tourists, but the prices are steeper when compared to other areas) but also as a popular pilgrim location. At the centre of the lake, in an island is the Tal Barahi Temple, which is the most important temple in Pokhara. This temple can only be visited by boat, and there are several boats that ply through the day to the temple.
Boats getting ready to ply to the Tal Barahi Temple (Pic: Suresh Joshi)
Tal Barahi is considered to be a manifestation of Ajima, the Female Goddess of Protection in the form of a boar. Ajimas are worshipped by the Newars, both Hindu and Buddhist as a representation of their matriachal ancestors (Aji refers to grandmother and Ma to mother). They are said to protect the people, particularly the children from ill-health, disease and death. Cities had eight Ajima temples protecting all directions, known as the Ashtamatrikas.
A view of the Annapurna range mid-way to the Tal Barahi Temple
The Legend of Tal Barahi
According to an inscription in the temple that describes the legend of Tal Barahi, a Jogi (ascetic) came to Phewa City (which existed where the lake now stands) and asked for food and shelter for the night. No one bothered but for an old lady who gave him rice and vegetables. The next morning as the Jogi left the house and moved towards the mountains, water came in to cover the entire area and everything and everyone drowned except for the old lady. Grateful that Goddess Bhagavati had saved her, the old lady started worshipping her in her house now surrounded by water as Goddess with a boar face - Barahi. After her death in 1467, the deity continued to be worshipped until King Kulamandan Shah, the first Shah ruler of Kaski built a two storeyed temple in Pagoda style in 1868. He initially installed the Goddess as a reed bush from the mountains.
The original Structure of the Tal Barahi Temple Source: Google
The temple was damaged badly in the 2015 earthquake, after which King Mahendra renovated the temple in 2017. The original deity has been replaced and there is a small single storey construction with a silver deity and a few other idols near it.
The current Tal Barahi Temple
Every evening, on the banks of the Phewa lake, the Tal Barahi Aarti is performed between 6 and 6.30 pm depending on the weather. Although it lacks the grandeur of the Ganga Aarti, it was heartening to see large crowds of pilgrims join to sing and dance as the aarti was being performed.
Bindhyabasini Temple
The Bindhyabasini temple is the oldest temple in Pokhara. Goddess Bindhyabasini is said to be the replacement for Lord Krishna, when he was born as the eighth child of Vasudeva and Devaki. The child disappeared in the air when King Kamsa tried to kill it and said to have reappeared in the Bindhyachal Mountain.
King Siddhi Narayan Shah had a dream of installing a temple for Durga for the unification of Nepal. So he ordered his men to bring a deity from Bindhyachal mountains. When his troop of men returned with the deity, they placed it in the current location at night to rest and in the morning the idol could not be moved. So the king agreed to build a temple where the Goddess had decided to stay.
The Bindhyabasini temple is very picturesque and is located atop a hill approximately 3000 feet above sea level. There are steps to climb up to the temple (a lift of recent origin is also available) from the old bazaar side.
Devotees queuing up to worship Goddess Bindhyabasini
Goddess Bindhyabasini (seen as a form of Durga ) is seen in a seperate sanctum as a Shalagrama idol. The entrance to the shrine is covered with gold plating and guarded by two lions on either side. The shrine is built in Shikara style which is said to be older than the Pagoda style in which most of the temples in Nepal can be found. There are multiple shrines at the temple for Shiva, Ganesha, Saraswathi, Hanuman, Lakshmi Narayana, Radha Krishna and Sita Rama which are of a much later origin.
Lord Shiva shrine at the Bindhyabasini Temple
The view from the Bindhyabasini temple of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges of the Himalayas as well as the Pokhara city is breathtaking.
Gupteswar Mahadev Cave Temple
The elaborate entrance that has been constructed to the Gupteswar Mahadev Cave
The Gupteswar Mahadev Cave is the longest cave in the Himalayas that was discovered in the year 1950. The entrance to this cave with an elaborate staircase, water fountain and other pilgrim requirements has however been built in the early 1990s. Known locally as Patalae Chhango or the Harpan River Cave, the cave extends to about 2950 feet. According to Herbert Daniel Gebauer, who has documented the results of the first German speleological expedition to this cave, it is located in the terrace sediments between the Central Himalayas and the Mahabharat Lekh, popularly known as the Lesser Himalayas. The terrace is made up of two different sediments of calcite deposits of Pleistocene age, commonly referred to as the Ice Age.
Calcite Deposits as seen inside the cave
The cave itself is in two levels, the first level branches again into two - an "ancient Goshala" as claimed by those supervising it, and another narrow path which leads to a massive stone "Shiva Lingam". Photography is strictly prohibited around this area.
Going down to the first level of the cave .
Base of level one - can see the Shiva Shrine
When the pilgrims further go down to a lower level through an iron ladder, it leads to an opening through which the Davis Falls nearby is visible.
Base of the second level from where Davis Falls is visible
The breathtaking beauty of the waterfall and the sunlight penetrating through the opening make it worthwhile to take the effort of climbing down. There is adequate lighting within the cave but as an extra step of caution, it is requested that people carry their own torchlights in case there is a sudden power failure.
Yet another worthwhile visit in Pokhara was to the International Mountain Museum about which I will write in my other blog - Thresholds of History From Pokhara our journey moved up the mountains. The mountain airline network is very comprehensive in Nepal. However, weather controls everthing. So all travel companies make backup arrangements to ferry their passengers by road if the flights are cancelled due to inclement weather. This would mean driving along the Gandaki river for over eight hours or more to reach Jomsom. Gone are the days when people would get down into the river to pick up Shalagramas. Today, most of the Shalagramas have been harvested by vendors, who sell them (or their closely made replicas) at a whole range of prices, starting from 200 Nepali rupees to about 20000 Nepali depending on their size.
Boarding our flight to Jomsom
Shalagrama cannot be carried on hand baggage in the mountain aircrafts so if you happen to be around here, and have shopped for Shalagramas make sure that you check in your luggage! Luckily for us, the flights were plying, so we got to the Pokhara airport, and took the 14 seater Summit Air flight to Jomsom. It was a goosebumps moment to see the Himalayas from the aircraft for the first time.
First view of the snow clad Himalayas
The outside temperate when we got down at Jomsom was 11 degrees forcing us to pull out our warm clothing. Little did I realize that was nothing when compared to what awaited us in Muktinath. About Muktinath Yatra, await Part IV! The first two parts of the series can be found here - Part 1 - Pashupathinath Temple, Kathmandu & Part 2 - Manakamana Devi Temple
Note: This is a series of articles on the temples of Nepal which I had the opportunity to visit with Balaji Davey and Mantra Yatra. This is not a paid partnership.
In the first part of the Nepal Yathra series, we had covered the visit to Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. On Day 2, we started to Pokhara from Kathmandu. Although there are flights available from Kathmandu and Pokhara, we took the road with a view to visit Manakamana Devi temple on the way.
The bumpy ride from Kathmandu to Manakamana Devi Temple
The distance between Kathmandu and Pokhara is less than a hundred kilometres, it takes over five hours by road as there are road improvement works currently going on. However, our driver Manish steered the vehicle as smoothly as he could over the bumpy terrain, and our fellow travellers kept us in splits through their creative icebreaker session that we hardly noticed the longer than usual time it took us to reach the Manakamana Devi temple.
The temple is located at an altitude of 4300 ft (1300 metres) above sea level atop the Kafakdada hill in the Gorkha district of Nepal and can be reached via cable car from the Kurintar base station. The cable cars cross three hills to reach Kafakdada. Each cable car can house a maximum of 6 adults comfortably. Offering of animals is very common in Manakamana and therefore, there are open cages too that intersperse passenger cars, where these animals can be tied to and then received once the passengers reach the hill. Two rivers, Trishuli and Marsyangdi flow on either side of the Kafakdada Hill, and it is a pleasant sight to watch river Trishuli in flow as one goes up the cable car. None of the rivers in Nepal are clean and crystal clear. They are all muddy and murky, evidence to the massive construction work as well going on around and the dumping of different kinds of waste in the Himalayas by the trekkers about which we will see in a later article in this series.
Going downhill in the cable car over the Trishuli river
The name Manakamana is self-explanatory. Mana refers to the heart and Kamana to desire. The Goddess is believed to fulfill genuine desires of her devotees, and hence they throng her temple in large numbers - particularly, newly wed couples and those seeking the boon of child birth, apart from tourists. There are several interesting studies that connect Nepal with Kerala. These studies speak about the Newaris of the Nepal becoming the Nairs of Kerala. Interestingly, the Goddess Parvati's incarnations are referred to in Nepal as Bhagawati, similar to the same name in Kerala. How Manakamana Bhagawati took her abode atop the Kafakdada hill is an interesting legend.
According to The History of Ancient and Medieval Nepal by D.B. Shreshtha & C.B. Singh, Purnendra Shah was the second Gorkha King who ruled for over 35 years. After his demise, his elder son Chatrapati Shah succeeded him. But not for long. Chatrapati Shah passed away without a heir within seven months of becoming the monarch and hence his younger brother Ram Shah became the ruler in 1606 CE. Ram Shah was a fair and conscientious monarch, who brought about many reforms in his State, such as uniform weights and measures, penal code, grazing lands in each village for cows, and standard rates of interest for borrowing. The Gorkha Palace was constructed by him in 1610 CE where his statue has been installed at the Chautari in the Gorkha Darbar where he would provide justice.
Statue of King Ram Shah at the Gorkha Durbar (Photo: Google)
According to an article by Dr Shapalya Amatya in the Ancient Nepal Journal, King Ram Shah's wife Champawati, possessed divine powers. These were recognised by a saint Siddha Lakhan Thapa (not to be confused with the first Martyr of Nepal of the same name, who is a descendant of the original Lakhan Thapa). One day, King Ram Shah had a vision of his wife as a Goddess and Siddha Lakhan Thapa as a lion, her vahana. When he spoke about this to Queen Champawati the next day, he was immediately overcome with a mysterious ailment to which he succumbed shortly.
Shops selling Pooja Articles on the way to Manakamana Devi temple
The queen, as per the custom those days, got ready to perform Sati along with her husband. Unable to bear this, Lakhan Thapa was struck with grief and lamented loudly. The queen promised to him that she would return soon. During the reign of King Prithvipati Shah, a farmer named Dhan Deo Gurung was ploughing his field, when he hit upon a stone. When he unearthed it, he saw blood and milk flowing from it. The news reached Lakhan Thapa. When he arrived at the spot, the flowing of blood and milk stopped and he started worshipping the goddess at the spot where she had reappeared. Even today, it is the descendants of Lakhan Thapa who perform tantric worship to Goddess Manakamana Devi.
Closer look of the structure of Manakamana Devi Temple
The sanctum sanctorum contains five non-iconic rocks that symbolise Manakamana Devi, Bhairava, Ganesha, Kumari and Chamunda. The deities are placed under a triangular pediment supported by silver covered pillars. The priest performs worship under closed doors with offerings of eggs, oranges, rice, Kumkum and strips of cloth. Animal sacrifices happen every day except for Ekadashi and Amavasya.
Outside the Manakamana Devi Temple
The building has a two tiered roof with golden mirrors and a central pinnacle with the sanctum facing the South. There are huge crowds that throng the temple each day, particularly after the cable car was introduced. A large courtyard is seen outside the temple, where hundreds of pigeons are seen. When we visited Manakamana Devi temple, the serpentine queue was very long and it was impossible for us to have waited in it to worship the Devi, given that we had to get to Pokhara before it became dark. So after reluctantly attempting to get a glimpse of the deity, which we could, we satisfied ourselves with worshipping the Bali Peeta outside and obtained Kumkum from those coming out of the temple. '
The picturesque cable car ride over the Trishuli river and the beautiful and divine ambience of the temple are indeed visit worthy. An official photographer is around to click pictures as people board the cable cars which do not actually stop! One has to get in and alight while the cars are in motion. After coming back to the base station, the prints are available for sale.
Visiting Nepal temples had been on the cards for me for a long time now, even before the massive earthquake of 2015 that damaged many temples across the Kathmandu valley. Similarly, I have known Balaji Davey of Mantra Yatra, ever since he was recommended by a mutual friend for a proposed Bhutan trip, but I never got around to actually going on a trip with them.
So when I saw an announcement for Nepal Muktinath Yatra from Mantra, I had to get on it. It was my first ever time on a group tour and we were very happy with the manner and pace in which the entire trip was rolled out. I look forward to sharing the details of the temples visited through this series, which is not a paid promotion, but genuine feedback after a happy tour.
Kathmandu:
Our first stop was in the capital city of Kathmandu, that roughly translates to wooden house. True to its name, the ancient temples of the Kathmandu Valley are mostly made up of wood. The city serves as the gateway to the Himalayas and the first point of entry for ambitious trekkers with dreams of conquering the Everest. The city of Kathmandu is home to several UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the Pashupatinath Temple Complex, Boudhnath stupa and the Durbar Square.
1. Pashupatinath Temple
Pashupatinath Temple Complex
Our first stop for the trip was an the Pashupatinath Temple. With one main pagoda and over 518 shrines, this is one of the largest temple complexes in the world, spread out over 246 hectares. The main shrine, built in the typical pagoda style is for Lord Pashupatinath. It has a two storied roof that is covered with copper and plated with gold. It has four entrances with silver-covered doors. The roof has a golden spire that extends from the top.
Golden Spire on top of the Pashupatinath Temple
The legend of Pashupatinath finds several versions, the most common being Lord Shiva and Parvati coming down to earth in the form of deer and grazing on the banks of the Bagmati river. Enchanted by the serene beauty around them, they lost sight of time and lingered there. The Gods, worried by the Lord's absence, came down to Earth and went looking for them. When they eventually found them and requested them to return to Mt Kailash, Lord Shiva was reluctant. Not knowing what to do, a Gana caught him by his antler, in a attempt to take him back forcibly. The antler broke in the tussle and came to be worshipped as the first ever version of Pashupatinath. The antler stayed in the forest for centuries, until the divine cow Kamadhenu found it and started showering its milk upon it. The locals then discovered the divine site and the first temple structure came up in the 5th century CE. Since the word Pashu also refers to animals, the Lord came to be known as Pashupatinath.
While this is the most widely believed version, my thoughts when I visited the temple were that it could possibly also refer to Shiva worshipped as Pashupati by the Pashupatha cult of Shaivism. Here, Pasu refers to the world and Pathi, the creator. Nath refers to the Lord and also a mediaval form of shaivism in India and Nepal which combines Buddhism, Shaivism and Yogic culture of which Lord Shiva is considered as the principal guru. In Pasupatha shaivam, Lord Shiva is worshipped as the destroyer of birth, and the devotees smear ash from cremated bodies on themselves to denote this. Even today, the Bagmati river is the biggest site for cremations in Kathmandu. It is believed that people who are cremated here are not born again in any form other than human, and when bodies burn, there is no malodor but one can only sense the aroma of spices. Locals even say that people come here in the last days of their lives with the expectation of being in the presence of the Lord and being cremated here. They stay at the Panch Deval complex for old people by the river, waiting for their time to come.
Aerial view of the temple complex (Photo Courtesy: Balaji Davey)
The main deity Lord Pashupatinath is a four-faced Mukhalingam installed in 1360 CE. Gopalraj Vamshavali mentions that the first form of the temple was built by King Supushpadeva of the Lichchavi dynasty. Kings Manadeva and Amshuvarma (605-621) are mentioned in numerous inscriptions of the temple that show the significant contributions made by them to the temple. King Amshuvarma even took the title "blessed by the feet of Lord Pashupatinath" before his name which shows that by the 7th century, Lord Pashupatinath had come to be worshipped as the Lord of the nation. In 1349 CE, during the invasion of the Kathmandu valley by Shamshudin Iliyas Shah, the founder of the Sultanate of Bengal, the temple was heavily damaged and the main Shivalingam was mutilated. Gold and silver that belonged to the temple were plundered. A few years after this attack, the temple was reconstructed by Jaisingh Ramvardhan, the Mahamatya of the then King Arjun Malla. Subsequently, the version of the temple that exists now was developed in the year 1754 by King Bhupalendra Malla.
Front View of the temple complex (Photo Courtesy: Balaji Davey)
The priests in this temple are from South India. While it is commonly believed that Adi Shankaracharya had contributed to converting this temple from Vamacharya worship to Sathvik worship and because of this the priests continue to be from South India, there seems to be no conclusive evidence to this claim, although it is believed he visited the temple in the 9th century and there is still a shrine in the temple for him and his followers. According to Historian M. Chidanandamurthy, who has done extensive research of the linkages between Karnataka and the Pashupatinath temple, it was King Yaksha Malla, who decided to invite Bhatta Brahmanas of the Sringeri Mutt to the temple in the 15th century. There are four priests from Sringeri Mutt who perform the daily rituals at the main shrine, with a Chief priest who oversees their work.
Entrance to the temple (Photo Courtesy: Balaji Davey)
Photography is strictly prohibited within the temple. One can witness policemen in blue uniform swoop down upon anyone who attempts to take a picture of the shrine or its deities and confiscate the phone. There is a huge gold-plated Nandi on a pedastal in front of the main sanctum. He is flanked by images of erstwhile kings of Nepal, seated on high platforms, so that they are able to view the main deity at all times.
A glimpse of the sanctum and the huge Nandi from outside. Watch out for Balaji with the Mantra Orange cap leading the way
The temple is open from 4 am to 9 pm, with a couple of hours break in the afternoon. Mondays and Saturdays are extremely crowded and the wait time to have a glimpse of the Lord can be long and winding. There are special darshan tickets too which cost approximately Rs.2000 for four people. This allows a shorter queue and some more time in front of the deity. Along with sandal prasad, rudraksha malas are also given to those entering through the special queue. In other shrines giving 100 Indian rupees would entitle one to receive a Rudraksha mala as prasad. The temple also has a huge corridor with hundreds of Shiva lingams of various sizes that the devotees can visit.
The most important festival at the temple is Shivaratri, where thousands of devotees from across the world gather here, considering in the Skanda Purana, the Lord himself mentions this temple among the 64 Mahakshetras to be worshipped at least once in a lifetime. Every evening, the Pashupatinath Aarti happens at 6 pm on the banks of the Bagmati river.
While in the temple, beware of monkeys that jump all around you, trying to grab eatables or dangling bags. Also if you are visiting on a Monday or Saturday, do take care of your precious belongings or better still avoid carrying them with you. Jai Pashupatinath!
