Monday, 27th August 2012. Second Day of the Third Leg of our Trip
As scheduled we all assembled in the morning after tea to proceed with our trip to Mukthinath or Mukthidam temple. We were dropped at the airport in our bus. Then we took the flight from Pokhara to Jomsom. Jomsom is the nearest airport to Mukthinath. It is only thirty minutes flight. But if you go by drive it could take as much as eight to twelve hours due to the uphill and turtle turn road conditions. Mukthinath is about twelve thousand feet above the sea level.
From the airport we first went to our hotel, Annapurna Summit Lodge. We had our booking here also. We dropped our bags and had a quick breakfast also from there. Then we had to walk and cross Kaligandhaki River on a small bridge. The water at Kaligandhaki is very muddy and river flows here with roaring sound. Though the conditions are apt for rafting no one dare to raft here due to the muddy and dirty water. We walked for about an hour to get jeeps to take us to Mukthinath which is about one and a half to two hours of drive.
Jeeps also will not go very close to the temple. We had to still walk for another hour or so to reach Mukthinath Temple.
The belief is that if you can go and worship Lord Sri Maha Vishnu, the deity of Muthinath, would attain salvation or full liberation from this worldly and material life. The main deity is Lord Sri Maha Vishnu. Though the temple is small it is amazing to see such a temple was built at an ancient time at this height. The Murthi or the Icon is in gold and is almost six feet tall. There are one hundred and eight Theerthas or Holy Water Fountains surrounding the temple. I dropped water from each of the one hundred and eight fountains as a symbolical Tharpan or Ablution. A few from our groups did take full ablution or shower from all the one hundred and eight fountains. There are other deities as well surrounding the main temple. We had darsan at all temples.
There is also a Buddhist Monastery very close to this Vishnu Temple. For Buddhists also it is a very important pilgrim place. Buddhist Monastery is very active and there are many inmates there.
Mukthinath is famous for Shaligram. The entire river bed surrounding the area is filled with Shaligrams. We also spent some time to select a few Shaligrams which looks like in the form of Murthis like Vishnu, Ganapathy, Shiva, etc. I also picked up a few small pieces which have some similarity to some of the popular deities.
I have to state here that the remains of a plane crashed an year ago was still stuck on the Himalayan cliff which we could view very clearly from the hotel window we stayed. Because of the steep climbing uphill it is still not accessible. There is absolutely no chance that any of the passengers or the crew could have been saved from that accident. From what we could see the small plane did not have any major damages to its body. We slept overnight in the guesthouse at Mukthinath. Please do not compare these guesthouses to the hotels in Kathmandu or in Pokhara. These are meant for to serve as a temporary shelter for the trekkers and campers in emergencies. Of course most of those who visit Mukthinath have to stay overnight here.
As scheduled we all assembled in the morning after tea to proceed with our trip to Mukthinath or Mukthidam temple. We were dropped at the airport in our bus. Then we took the flight from Pokhara to Jomsom. Jomsom is the nearest airport to Mukthinath. It is only thirty minutes flight. But if you go by drive it could take as much as eight to twelve hours due to the uphill and turtle turn road conditions. Mukthinath is about twelve thousand feet above the sea level.
From the airport we first went to our hotel, Annapurna Summit Lodge. We had our booking here also. We dropped our bags and had a quick breakfast also from there. Then we had to walk and cross Kaligandhaki River on a small bridge. The water at Kaligandhaki is very muddy and river flows here with roaring sound. Though the conditions are apt for rafting no one dare to raft here due to the muddy and dirty water. We walked for about an hour to get jeeps to take us to Mukthinath which is about one and a half to two hours of drive.
Jeeps also will not go very close to the temple. We had to still walk for another hour or so to reach Mukthinath Temple.
The belief is that if you can go and worship Lord Sri Maha Vishnu, the deity of Muthinath, would attain salvation or full liberation from this worldly and material life. The main deity is Lord Sri Maha Vishnu. Though the temple is small it is amazing to see such a temple was built at an ancient time at this height. The Murthi or the Icon is in gold and is almost six feet tall. There are one hundred and eight Theerthas or Holy Water Fountains surrounding the temple. I dropped water from each of the one hundred and eight fountains as a symbolical Tharpan or Ablution. A few from our groups did take full ablution or shower from all the one hundred and eight fountains. There are other deities as well surrounding the main temple. We had darsan at all temples.
There is also a Buddhist Monastery very close to this Vishnu Temple. For Buddhists also it is a very important pilgrim place. Buddhist Monastery is very active and there are many inmates there.
Mukthinath is famous for Shaligram. The entire river bed surrounding the area is filled with Shaligrams. We also spent some time to select a few Shaligrams which looks like in the form of Murthis like Vishnu, Ganapathy, Shiva, etc. I also picked up a few small pieces which have some similarity to some of the popular deities.
I have to state here that the remains of a plane crashed an year ago was still stuck on the Himalayan cliff which we could view very clearly from the hotel window we stayed. Because of the steep climbing uphill it is still not accessible. There is absolutely no chance that any of the passengers or the crew could have been saved from that accident. From what we could see the small plane did not have any major damages to its body. We slept overnight in the guesthouse at Mukthinath. Please do not compare these guesthouses to the hotels in Kathmandu or in Pokhara. These are meant for to serve as a temporary shelter for the trekkers and campers in emergencies. Of course most of those who visit Mukthinath have to stay overnight here.
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| In flight from Pokhara to Jomsom to go to Mukthinath Temple, Nepal |
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| Annapuna and/or Dhawalgiri Monutanin ranges en-route Pokhara - Jomsom (1) |
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| Annapuna and/or Dhawalgiri Monutanin ranges en-route Pokhara - Jomsom (2) |
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| Annapuna and/or Dhawalgiri Monutanin ranges en-route Pokhara - Jomsom (3) |
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| Where in the world am I? Annapuna and/or Dhawalgiri Monutanin ranges en-route Pokhara - Jomsom |
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| Aerial view from Pokhara to Jomsom to go to Muktinath Temple - 1 |
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| Aerial view from Pokhara to Jomsom to go to Muktinath Temple - 2 |
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| The bridge on Kaligandaki river on our way from Jomsom to Muktinath. Our members enjoying the river on the suspension bridge. |
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| Pankaj is seeking advice from Pakkabhai and Nayanbhai is going to join the team at Muktinath. |
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| Minal at Muktinath and enjoy the scenic beauty of Himalayan ranges with bright skyline |
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| Shilpaben on her way to sanctum sanctorum of Muktinath Temple - SriVaishnava Divyadesam. Thanks to Badri for watching our bags. |
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| Minaben at a Budhist Monastery at Muktinath |
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| Buddhist Monastery at Muktinath - Our team members are chatting with the inmates. |
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