Manakamana Temple

The usual way up is the cable car from Cheres/Kurintar on the Prithvi Highway. The lower station lies in Ichchhakamana-4, Chitwan District, while the temple is in Gorkha District.

The cable car climbs from about 258 m to about 1,302 m in about 10 minutes. Each cabin carries six passengers, and the system is rated for about 660 passengers an hour. Tickets are sold at the Kurintar station and at the operator’s Kathmandu office. They are valid for seven days, are non-refundable, and include 15 kg of baggage. The operator does maintenance before and after each day, and normally stops for two to three days about every four months.

The walk from Aambukhaireni takes 3 to 4 hours, according to the local government, and the Nepal Tourism Board gives about three hours uphill from points on the highway. Heat, rain, slippery paths and daylight matter more than altitude. If you walk, start early, carry safe drinking water, avoid the route in severe rain and leave enough daylight for the descent or onward transport.

Motor roads reach Manakamana from Aabuwa, on the Aambukhaireni to Gorkha side, and from Gorkha via Bungkot and Ghairung. On 14 March 2026 a vehicle carrying Indian pilgrims after a visit to Manakamana left a steep local road, killing seven people and injuring eight. Officials cited steep terrain, rain and possible brake problems. Use an experienced local driver and travel in daylight.

Check the weather, the roads and the cable car before you set out. If the cable car is not running, take local road transport towards Manakamana only if that road is confirmed open and safe. If it is not, walk up from Aambukhaireni, about 3 to 4 hours, but only if the path is safe in the current weather. Otherwise postpone the visit.

These are the operator’s published fares for the Manakamana cable car as of 27 September 2026.

A local visitor portal gives USD 12 one way for other foreigners, with the same USD 20 return, and the operator’s figure is used here. Fares can change without notice. SAARC is the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

Under normal conditions Manakamana is a day trip from Kathmandu: about 2.5 hours each way by road and 10 minutes by cable car, plus the queue. On Tuesdays, Saturdays and festival days the queue can last hours. Add about two hours for Bakreshwar and Siddha Gufa.

On a normal day, when the cable car runs:

1. Reach Cheres/Kurintar early and ride up before the midday break.
2. Walk to the temple and join the queue.
3. Take darshan and make offerings.
4. If the weather and return transport allow, walk to Bakreshwar and Siddha Gufa.
5. Ride down before the cable car closes at 5:00 pm.

On a day when the cable car is closed:

1. Check the weather, the road and the cable car status in the morning.
2. Use a local road only if it is confirmed open and safe, with an experienced driver in daylight.
3. Otherwise walk from Aambukhaireni, 3 to 4 hours uphill, only if the path is safe in the current weather.
4. If neither is safe, postpone.

The best times to visit Manakamana are spring and autumn, which the Nepal Tourism Board names as Nepal’s best travel seasons. As a planning assessment, November after Dashain and March to April offer clearer weather with fewer crowds. June to September calls for more caution, because rain, landslides and floods hit the Trishuli corridor.

On an ordinary weekday other than Tuesday or Saturday, the queue is shorter.

No permit or temple entry fee for Manakamana was found on the municipality’s or the Nepal Tourism Board’s pages. The main cost of a visit is the cable car fare. Carry identification for the concession fares for seniors, students and people with disabilities.

No rule barring non-Hindus from Manakamana was found, and the Nepal Tourism Board’s Manakamana page states none. No official schedule of puja costs, dakshina or offering prices was found either.

Elderly and disabled visitors can reach Manakamana by cable car, which the operator says was designed for differently abled pilgrims. The operator offers fares for people with disabilities and for Nepali citizens aged 70 and over, and Nepali children pay a child fare set by height. No audit confirms step-free access from the cabin to the sanctum, and no accessible toilets are documented. For anyone who can walk only short distances, the cable car is far more suitable than the 3 to 4 hour climb.

Altitude is not a problem. At 1,303 m, Manakamana is far below the height of about 2,450 m at which the CDC says unacclimatised travellers begin to risk altitude illness, so you need no acclimatisation. The real risks are long standing, fasting, heat and crowds.

The health assistance desk opened on the temple premises in August 2026 and provides primary care and ECG. It was set up because devotees had fallen seriously ill, and some had died, while queuing and fasting. If you have diabetes or heart disease, or tend to faint, take medical advice before fasting. The municipality also lists a basic health and Ayurvedic service in the area.

No permit is needed to visit Manakamana, and the sources reviewed say nothing on whether a guide is needed or what one charges. The practical questions are whether the cable car is running and whether the roads are safe. A digital board installed at Manakamana in September 2026 by the Gorkha Chamber of Commerce and Industry encourages pilgrims to visit Gorkha Durbar, Gorkha Kali and the museum in Gorkha. The cable car station lies on the road between Kathmandu, Pokhara and Narayanghat, about 2.5 hours from Kathmandu and 2 hours from Pokhara.

1. Check the weather, the roads and the cable car.
2. Ride the cable car from Cheres/Kurintar, about 10 minutes.
3. Walk 2 to 3 minutes to the temple.
4. Join the darshan queue. The priest’s inner worship comes before public puja and sacrifice.
5. Take darshan and make offerings.
6. If time allows, walk to Bakreshwar and Siddha Gufa.
7. Return before the cable car closes.

First-time visitors often miss Bakreshwar Shiva Temple and Siddha Gufa, an hour’s walk away, and the health desk on the temple premises. Many also forget the cable car’s midday break from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, and underestimate the Tuesday and Saturday queues.

• Remove footwear where indicated.
• Use your right hand to give, receive or pay.
• Do not block the darshan queue.
• Ask before photographing priests, worshippers or sacrifice.
• No official dress code, leather rule or photography policy for Manakamana was found. Follow the signs and the priests.

The cable car station has parking, a restaurant, souvenir shops and snack stalls. Hotels, resorts, cottages and homestays around Betini serve the wider area. The lower station at Kurintar is on 056-410044 and 056-410012, and it is worth confirming the numbers on the day.

According to the account hosted by Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality, Queen Lilavati, wife of King Ram Shah of Gorkha, was a manifestation of Manakamana Mai. Only her devotee Siddha Lakhan Thapa Magar, a servant of the court, knew it. When the king died, the queen went to sati, the self-immolation of a widow on her husband’s pyre, and promised to reappear.

Six months later a farmer, Dhanadhwaj Gurung, was ploughing at the present temple site when his plough struck a stone from which milk and blood flowed. Lakhan Thapa performed tantric worship, the bleeding stopped, and the shrine was established. The ruler of Gorkha appointed Lakhan Thapa and his descendants as priests and, according to this tradition, endowed land through guthi and birta grants, arrangements to sustain daily worship.

The cable car operator tells a closely related version, which differs in three details.

The differences show that the legend survives in several oral and genealogical versions.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the goddess at Manakamana is a large shila, a sacred stone, with four neighbouring stones representing Bhairab, Ganesh, Kumari and Betaal. The aniconic form, without a carved image, matches the legend of the goddess appearing in a stone. Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality calls Manakamana a Shakti Peeth, a seat of the goddess. The sources reviewed include no authoritative one naming a part of Sati’s body that fell there, or placing Manakamana in a numbered list of 51 or 52 Shakti Peethas.

The chief priests of Manakamana belong to the Magar lineage of Siddha Lakhan Thapa, rather than to a Brahmin family. The local government names Insan Thapa Magar as chief priest and the 18th-generation descendant. The later anti-Rana leader Lakhan Thapa Magar drew on the fame of Manakamana and of the earlier Siddha Lakhan Thapa to win support. The two Lakhan Thapas are different people.

Manakamana Temple was partly damaged in the earthquake of 1934. On 25 April 2015 the Gorkha earthquake tilted the temple about 9 to 12 inches (about 23 to 30 cm) towards the north-east and cracked its roofs, according to the Kathmandu Post. Reconstruction began in June 2015, after the aftershock of 12 May. Worship moved to a nearby structure while the temple was dismantled and rebuilt from its foundation.

Department of Archaeology engineers guided the work, which used brick, timber, lime and surkhi, a traditional mortar, with gold plating approved by the department. The rebuilt temple keeps its traditional form while improving structural resilience, and its roof is gold-plated. Manakamana Temple reopened on 28 November 2018. The costs are set out under Conservation and management.

The cable car opened in 1998, and most pilgrims moved to it from the walking route. In 2001 service was suspended during a dispute between the operator and local representatives over concession cards, local fares, jobs and emergency operation. Service stopped from 15 July 2024 while the 26-year-old main haulage rope was replaced and the controls moved from analogue to digital, and resumed on 17 September 2024. The operator says the upgrade replaced about 6,000 m of haulage rope, communication cables and gondola grips.

From the upper cable car station, at about 1,302 m, a walk of about 2 to 3 minutes through the approach and bazaar brings you to the temple courtyard. The cable line from the lower station at Cheres/Kurintar, about 258 m (846 ft), is 2.7 km or 3.0 km long in different published figures. Viewpoints on the ridge look towards Annapurna and Manaslu.

Animal sacrifice is part of worship at Manakamana. The local visitor office says sacrifice follows the daily nitya puja, and the local government says it takes place on every Ashtami, the eighth day of the lunar fortnight. According to the visitor office, no sacrifice is performed on Ekadashi, Aunsi (new moon) or Mahashivaratri, and when a lunar day spans two calendar days, sacrifice is made only on the second. The cable car carries goats, at NPR 275 one way. If you would rather not see it, keep away from the sacrificial area, especially on Ashtami.

On 27 September 2026 a landslide below the second bend of the access road stopped vehicles reaching the cable car’s parking area. The management said the cable car kept operating safely: vehicles arriving from the east use temporary parking on the highway about 70 m towards Mugling, and passengers walk from there to the station. One early report that day described the service as suspended. A month earlier, on 26 August, it had been stopped as a precaution when a major flood moving down the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli threatened the corridor.

A vehicle carrying Indian pilgrims after a visit to Manakamana crashed on a steep local road on 14 March 2026, killing seven and injuring eight. The cause was not established.

The local government’s 2026 project register includes an initial environmental examination for upgrading the Dhungagade Bhanjyang, Bungkot, Namjung, Ghairung and Manakamana road, with no completion date or budget.

The earthquake of 25 April 2015 tilted Manakamana Temple 9 to 12 inches (about 23 to 30 cm) and cracked its roofs. The reconstruction is under History.

The cost and gold figures differ with timing and scope and cannot be reconciled from the reports. Reporting distinguished ordinary temple offerings, which traditionally go to the priestly institution, from money raised for reconstruction.

A 2023 peer-reviewed study by Prakash Gautam covered Wards 2 and 3 of Sahid Lakhan. It found that religious tourism creates business opportunities, and that lodging, food and small enterprises support the health, education and nutrition of business owners’ families. Tribhuvan University research found that after the cable car opened in 1998, many porters, tea shops, lodges and handicraft sellers on the old Aambukhaireni trail lost trade, and some households returned to farming.

The operator says it carries more than one million pilgrims a year and gives 2% of ticket sales to local development, 1% each to the Manakamana and Darechowk areas. That is an unaudited company statement. A 2023 operator-linked report said the cable car had carried more than 18 million passengers in 25 years, about 65% Nepali and 25% Indian.

Manakamana Temple is in Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality, Gorkha District, Gandaki Province, Nepal. The cable car’s lower station is at Cheres/Kurintar on the Prithvi Highway.

Yes, as of 29 September 2026. After a landslide on the access road on 27 September 2026 the cable car kept running, and vehicles use temporary parking on the highway a short walk from the station. The cable car has closed for three days of Dashain in recent years.

In normal operation the Manakamana cable car runs from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, with a break from 12:00 to 1:30 pm. The ride takes about 10 minutes.

As of 27 September 2026, the Manakamana cable car costs NPR 450 one way and NPR 770 return for Nepali adults, and INR 400 and INR 670 for Indians. Other foreigners pay USD 11 one way and USD 20 return, and SAARC and Chinese nationals pay USD 6 and USD 10.

Yes. The Manakamana cable car offers fares for people with disabilities and for Nepali citizens aged 70 and over, with ID. Nepali seniors aged 70 and over pay NPR 315 one way, and Nepali people with disabilities NPR 225.

Drive about 2.5 hours from Kathmandu to Cheres/Kurintar and take the cable car for about 10 minutes. You can also walk 3 to 4 hours from Aambukhaireni.

Yes. You can walk to Manakamana Temple from Aambukhaireni in 3 to 4 hours, uphill. The Nepal Tourism Board gives about three hours from points on the highway.

Manakamana Temple is open for worship from about 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, according to the local government, while a local visitor office gives 6:00 am as the opening. Check locally for a time-sensitive puja.

Use local road transport towards the temple only if that road is confirmed open and safe. Otherwise walk from Aambukhaireni, about 3 to 4 hours uphill, if the path is safe in the current weather, or postpone the visit.

Yes. Tickets are sold at the Kurintar station and the operator’s Kathmandu office. They are valid for seven days and are non-refundable.

The queue at Manakamana is longest on Tuesdays and Saturdays, when devotees can wait for hours. An ordinary weekday avoids the worst of it.

The best times to visit Manakamana are spring and autumn, which the Nepal Tourism Board names as Nepal’s best seasons. As a planning assessment, November after Dashain and March to April offer clearer weather with fewer crowds.

No entry fee for Manakamana Temple was found, and the main cost is the cable car. As of 27 September 2026, Nepali adults pay NPR 450 one way.

Yes. The local visitor office says sacrifice follows the daily nitya puja, and the local government says it is made on every Ashtami. Sacrifice at Manakamana is not performed on Ekadashi, new moon or Mahashivaratri.

No rule barring non-Hindus from Manakamana Temple was found, and the Nepal Tourism Board’s page states none. Remove footwear where indicated and use your right hand to give or receive.

No. Manakamana stands at about 1,303 m, far below the height at which altitude illness usually begins. The real risks are fasting, heat and long queues.

Yes. A health assistance desk with primary care and ECG opened on the Manakamana Temple premises in August 2026. It was set up because devotees fell seriously ill while queuing and fasting.

According to legend, Manakamana Temple was founded after Queen Lilavati, wife of King Ram Shah of Gorkha, reappeared as a stone, and her devotee Siddha Lakhan Thapa began worship there. The old pagoda is believed to date from the 17th century, but no exact year is established.

The chief priests of Manakamana are Magars descended from Siddha Lakhan Thapa, and the local government names Insan Thapa Magar as the 18th-generation descendant. The cable car operator says the lineage has reached its 21st generation.

The local government calls Manakamana Temple a Shakti Peeth. No source places it in a numbered list of 51 or 52 Shakti Peethas.

Dashain 2026 runs from Ghatasthapana on 11 October to Vijaya Dashami on 21 October, with Maha Navami on 20 October. Dashain is one of the main pilgrimage seasons at Manakamana, and no official day-by-day programme for 2026 was found.

Manakamana is understood as the fulfilment of a wish held in the mind or heart, and the Nepal Tourism Board glosses it as “having one’s wishes fulfilled”. Pilgrims come to seek fulfilment of their manokamana, a heartfelt wish.

Yes. The 2015 earthquake tilted Manakamana Temple 9 to 12 inches (about 23 to 30 cm) and cracked its roofs. The temple was rebuilt and reopened on 28 November 2018.