Muktinath & Jomsom

One site, two religions, no conflict

Muktinath is unusual in being a major pilgrimage destination for two faiths simultaneously, with no dispute over it.

For Hindus it is Mukti Kshetra, a place of liberation, and one of the 108 Divya Desams — sacred sites of Vishnu. Pilgrims come from across India and Nepal, many elderly, many travelling with considerable difficulty.

For Tibetan Buddhists it is Chumig Gyatsa, "hundred waters", associated with Guru Rinpoche, who is said to have meditated here on his way to Tibet. The temple is tended by Buddhist nuns.

Both traditions worship in the same compound, at the same time, without friction. It is a genuinely instructive thing to witness.

The 108 spouts and the flame

Behind the main temple, 108 brass spouts shaped as bull heads issue glacial water in an arc. Pilgrims bathe under all of them in sequence, in near-freezing water at 3,800 m — an act of considerable commitment, and the thing most visitors remember.

Inside a small shrine nearby, natural gas seeps from the rock and burns as a continuous small flame directly beside flowing spring water. Fire and water together in one place is the phenomenon the site's sanctity rests on for both traditions. It is real and you can see it.

Getting there: three genuine options

By air and jeep. Fly Pokhara to Jomsom — a spectacular twenty-minute flight through the Kali Gandaki gorge, between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna — then jeep up to Muktinath. This puts the temple within a two-day round trip from Pokhara and is how most pilgrims now travel.

By road throughout. A long, rough drive from Pokhara via Beni. Cheap, slow and genuinely uncomfortable, but weather-independent, which the flights are not.

On foot. Muktinath is the point at which Annapurna Circuit trekkers arrive after crossing Thorong La, descending 1,600 m from the pass. It can also be walked up from Jomsom in a couple of days without crossing anything.

Kagbeni, and why to stop

An hour below Muktinath, Kagbeni sits at the confluence of two rivers at the entrance to Upper Mustang — beyond it you need a restricted permit. It is a compact medieval village of mud-brick alleys, an ochre-walled gompa and irrigation channels, and it is the most atmospheric overnight stop in the valley by a distance.

The Kali Gandaki here is also where shaligram are found — black ammonite fossils, marine creatures from the Tethys Sea that closed when India met Asia, and revered by Hindus as manifestations of Vishnu. Geology and theology arriving at the same stone.

The wind, and why mornings matter

The Kali Gandaki is among the windiest inhabited valleys anywhere. From late morning the wind funnels up it hard enough to make walking unpleasant and to ground aircraft.

Everything here happens early. Flights leave at dawn and are cancelled by mid-morning; walking days start before it builds. Any itinerary with an afternoon Jomsom flight is optimistic.

Season

Muktinath lies in the Himalayan rain shadow, so it stays accessible through the monsoon when most of Nepal is unwalkable. Winter is cold and the road can close after snow. March to November is the practical window.

Where to go next

• Annapurna Region — The most varied trekking region in Nepal and the most accessible
• Upper Mustang — A former Tibetan kingdom in the rain shadow north of the Annapurnas
• Gosaikunda — A cluster of sacred alpine lakes at 4,380 m that tens of thousands of pilgrims walk to each August

Related activities: Cultural & Heritage Tours, Motorbike Tours in Nepal, Trekking in Nepal.

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