Muktinath Temple

In the valley of the Kali Gandaki below the Thorong La, Muktinath holds what both traditions that worship here name in their own terms: to Hindus, Mukti Kshetra, the place of liberation, one of the 108 Divya Desams and the only one in the Himalaya; to Tibetan Buddhists, Chumig Gyatsa, the hundred waters, counted among the twenty-four great Tantric places as a dwelling of Avalokiteshvara. The compound holds a pagoda shrine with a golden Vishnu image, 108 bull-faced water spouts pouring glacial melt that pilgrims bathe under in sequence, the Jwala Mai temple where a natural-gas flame burns beside a spring, the rare meeting of fire and water, and shaligram ammonite fossils from the river, worshipped as Vishnu. Tradition places Guru Rinpoche meditating here on his way to Tibet.

Hindu and Buddhist practice coexist in one compound under a joint arrangement, the Thakali people host the valley, and the pilgrimage runs today as it has for centuries, now arriving by jeep from Jomsom or on foot over the pass. Winter snow can empty the temple area entirely.

Visiting

The temple lies inside the Annapurna Conservation Area: the ACAP entry permit (NPR 2,000 foreign, via epermit.ntnc.org.np) is required; access is by road from Jomsom/Pokhara or the Annapurna Circuit. Dress for altitude; the site is cold even in summer. No entry-fee figure is published here (unverified).

Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muktinath-temple-nepal.jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0, Binod Basnet.