In September 2025, our planned Kailas Manasarovar Yatra took us to Kathmandu, Nepal’s beautiful and blessed capital, since we opted for the “via Kathmandu” route to cross over to Tibet. I flew into Kathmandu from Mumbai directly on September 6 to join the other members of the Yogi Trails and Transcendence group, who flew in from Kerala. It is well known that Indian citizens don’t need a visa to travel to Nepal, and only a passport will do. In a pleasant surprise, this time I learned that you don’t even need a passport – your Voter ID card would suffice!
Nepal is the land of the Himalayas. It is blessed bountifully with several peaks and is a hiker’s paradise. You also acknowledge that Nepal is the country of the Rudraksha. The sacred beads can be seen in different sizes, shapes and shades.
We checked into the Malla Hotel, a nice property located very close to the popular Thamel market, known for great value shopping in Kathmandu. We then went directly to the Pashupatinath temple, a must-visit site for Hindus in Kathmandu. It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and rightly so.
Interestingly, the priests who perform the pujas at the Pashupatinath temple are Bhattas from Karnataka. They are deputed here after extensive training at the Sringeri Sharada Peetam in Kaladi, Kerala. So, we learned that the priests also speak Malayalam fluently, in addition to Kannada. We had the opportunity to witness the evening, Arthi, which was a divine experience in itself.
The next day, we visited the Doleshwor Mahadev Temple in the Bhaktapur district, about 17 km from Kathmandu. Doleshwor Mahadev is believed to be the head of Kedarnath. According to religious beliefs, the Pandavas, after the Mahabharata, travelled to the Himalayas seeking forgiveness from Lord Shiva for the killing of many people during the war. However, Shiva was unwilling to forgive them, so he disguised himself as a bull. When the Pandava brothers tried to catch the bull after learning about Shiva’s disguise, they could only catch the tail, while the head of the bull was separated from the rest of the body. According to Hindu scriptures, the remaining body is in Kedarnath, while it is believed that Doleshwor is the head of the bull. This is also mentioned in the Shiva Purana and other holy books, which have been passed down through generations. We were told that all prayers at Doleshwor, from the morning ritual to the evening Arthi, are performed according to the rules and rituals of the Kedarnath temple.
The next stop was the Surya Binayak Temple, a Ganesh mandir at a small hill at Bhaktapur. We climbed it amidst mild showers. This is one of the four original Ganesh temples in the Kathmandu valley: Surya Binayak, Chandra Binayak, Jal Binayak and Ashok Binayak temples.
In the evening, we visited the Budhanilkantha temple, an interesting site where Bhagwan Vishnu is in the sleeping posture. Apparently, this is the only place in the world where you will find Vishnu sleeping flat on the surface of tangled nagas (snakes). In India, we have Lord Ranganatha in a reclining posture (Anantha Sayana) in temples like Srirangam, Thiruvananthapuram, Srirangapatna and others. However, seeing Vishnu in this flat sleeping pose, that too in a pond within an open-air temple, was new to me.
On our way back from Kailas, we crossed into Nepal from the Zhangmu border town in Tibet, walking across the Friendship Bridge and entering Kathmandu. On the eve of my departure, September 18th, I was taking a stroll through Thamel market. The market has many outlets
selling a wide range of hiking gear at highly competitive prices.
As my flight took off from Kathmandu, I promised myself that I would return on a more extended trip to Nepal to explore other tourist attractions, such as the Muktinath temple and Swambunath temple, and hiking expeditions, such as the Everest Base Camp and Annapurna Circuit.
For a detailed account of our stay in Kathmandu, you may click here.