Damauli is located in the Tanahun district and is situated on the road from Kathmandu to Pokhra. It is a small hustling bustling town located on the confluence of small rivers Sati and Mahendi (Mahendri).

The most important location here is the birth place of Sage Vyasadeva. This vyasadev belongs to a different kalpa and is not the current Vyasa known as Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. There is a beautiful cave where Sage Vyasa compiled all Puranas and nearby on the confluence of two rivers is the place of ashram of Parasara muni where he along with Satyavati gave birth to Vyasa. The cave of Vyasa also has next to it a small temple with 28 deities of all different Vyasadevas with their names who have appeared so far. It is said that while Vyasa took his birth here, he later moved to Badrikasharam for his penance.

The city lies about 14 kilometres East of Kathmandu and can be reached by public transport and by trolley buses. Situated at an altitude of 1,401 metre, Bhaktapur covers an area of 4 square miles. Shaped like a conch-shell. Bhaktapur means the city of devotees. Pottery and weaving are its traditional industries.

Bhaktapur is filled with many old and historic temples. Around 500 years back, a great devoted king Mallaraj used to rule this place. He would daily visit Pashupatinath temple to worship. As he grew old, he could no longer go there, so the Lord appeared in his dream and told him to make a replica deity of Pashupatinath in his own kingdom and worshiping them will be non different than worshipping direct Pashupatinath. King then built a small but beautiful temple of Pashupatinath in his kingdom. The devoted king on the same lines also made char dham temples also. i.e he constructed small yet replica deities of Rameshwaram, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri and Badrinath.

There is also an ancient Narsingha temple in the vicinity and 300 year old small but beautiful deities of Lord Jagannath Baldev and Subhadra devi sits in a small shed which is currently being worshipped by congregation devotees of ISKCON Bhaktapur.

This temple is located in a place where few centuries ago stood Markandeya sarovar. The place where Markandeya muni once performed penance. Glory of this former sarovar was that if anyone would see his face in the reflection of the water, he would be able to mystically see his last life’s face in it and thus know about who exactly was he in his last life. This sarovar was covered over by mud by one cruel king who when saw his face in reflection. This made him angry and on the false pretext of this sarovar being a false one, he got it covered over.

Also closeby is the famous temple of Changu Narayan.

Changu Narayana

Changu Narayana is one of the most ancient places of pilgrimage in Kathmandu valley where Lord Almighty (Narayana- bearer of universe with all terrestrial and celestial things) resides at the pray of gods and goddesses. Narayana is another name of Lord Vishnu and this temple dates back around 2 millennia from now. It is said to bear the testimony that the state religion of ancient Nepal was Vaishnavism. The Garuda dhwaja, a tall column of stone inscription, erected by Manadeva, the famous Lichchhavi King of ancient Nepal, in 464 A.D. reads:

The greatest god, Lord Vishnu, resides in Dolashikhar (the swing like hill, called Changu in local tongue) at the pray of other gods handling the movement of all three worlds: celestial, terrestrial and sub-terrestrial; so beautifully adorned by conch shell and Sudarshan wheel in his hands which are emerging from lotus coloured broad chest sprinkling bliss and heavenly ecstasy on humans on earth.

It is believed that every Wednesday, Badri Narayana from Badrinath visits this place. So milk pudding (Sweet rice or payasam) is offered on this day. Besides, the hill top area of the temple commands the whole view of Kathmandu valley. There is an unfinished stone carving of elephant which sweats occasionally when uncalled upheavals and disasters are going to happen in the valley.

ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple A very beautiful temple has been established by ISKCON in a picturesque place.

ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple ISKCON Nepal,
Hare Krishna Dham, Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: +977 1 4373790, +977 9801205731 (Bhakta Sabin)
Email: info@iskconnepal.org

Pashupatinath, or Pashupati, is the most famous and beautiful Shiva temple on the banks of the Bagmati River in Deopatan, a village 3 km northwest of Kathmandu. It is dedicated to a manifestation of Shiva called Pashupati (Lord of Animals). It attracts thousands of pilgrims each year and has become main place of attraction in Kathmandu.

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Pashupatinath temple stands in the center of the town of Deopatan, in the middle of an open courtyard. It is a square, two-tiered pagoda temple built on a single-tier plinth, and it stands 23.6 meters above the ground. Richly ornamented gilt and silver-plated doors are on all sides

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The priests of Pashaputinath are called Bhattas and the chief priest is called Mool Bhatt or Raval. The chief priest is answerable only to the King of Nepal and reports to him on temple matters on a periodic basis.

Pashaputinath temple’s extensive grounds include many other old and important temples, shrines and deities. In the northeast corner of the temple courtyard is the small pagoda temple of Vasuki, the King of the Nagas. According to locals, Vasuki took up residence here in order to guard Pashupatinath temple and thus serve Lord Shiva. One can often see devotees circumambulating and worshipping Vasuki before entering the main sanctum

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The Bagmati river, which runs next to Pashupatinath temple, has highly sacred properties. Thus the banks are lined with many ghats (bathing spots) for use by pilgrims. Renovating or furnishing these sites has always been regarded as meritorious.

Arya Ghat, dating from the early 1900s, is of special importance because it is the only place where lustral water for worship of Pashupatinath is obtained and it is where members of the royal family are cremated. The main cremation site however ,is Bhasmeshvar Ghat, which is the most-used cremation site in the Kathmandu Valley. The preferred bathing spot for women is the Gauri Ghat, to the north.

The full tour of visiting Dwadash jyotirling (12 famous shivalinga) as well as 4 dham tour is considered full complete after visiting Pashupatinath. This deity of Lord Shiva is considered the face of Lord Shiva when he appeared in form of a bull. It is said when the Five Pandavas came to Himalayas, Bhima performed penance to Lord Shiva to purify himself from sins. Lord Shiva decided to not give darshan to Bhima and to do so he took a form of a Bull and ran away. Understanding it, Bhima chased this bull. Finally the bull in order to hide entered inside the earth. However in process of doing so, His hump remained visible which is today said to be Kedarnath Shivalinga. As Lord Shiva in the form of bull hid himself in the earth , the bull came out on the other side in the Himalayas with just his face out. This face portion came out here in Kathmandu and became known to be worshippable Pashupatinath. Hence the local say that Char dham is complete when they see the face of Lord as Bull here.