Why one should visit Pyuthan?

 

Pyuthan is the beautiful district located at western part of Nepal, province no 5. This district has the origin of Jhimruk river and some lower part of madi khola. It is a district with sub-tropical climate having beautiful tourism attributes. Diverse caste & language can be seen in this district. 

Looking at the history of Pyuthan district, it was one of the 24 kingdoms in chaubise rajya confederation before the formation of modern Nepal by king Prithivi Narayan Shah. It shares boarder with Gulmi, Argakhachi, Dang, Rolpa and Baglung. Unlike Rolpa, this district is also considered as heart land for state transformation during ten years of maioist insurgency (1996-2006) AD. The major historical & cultural places to be visited are Swargadwari, Okharkhot, Gaumukhi, Pyuthan Bazar, Airabati etc.

Kafal (local fruit) in Pyuthan

Last year, I had an opportunity to visit Pyuthan district for official purpose. I stayed in Pyuthan for 7 days, and I managed to visit many rural places & pilgrimage sites. I found Swargadwari and Gaumukhi temple more interesting and I am going to write about those places in this blog.

Pyuthan Bajar

Swargadwari

It is pilgrimage site located in top of hills and is regarded important among hindu people. This place is founded by Guru Maharaj who spent most of his life by herding and milking thousands of cows. It is believed that, once Guru Maharaj took all the cows and never returned. This site has a history from Dwapar Yuga, Pandav worshipped in this place before departing to heaven. Guru Maharaj set holy fire which is continuously burning till then and devotee uses the ashes of fire-woods to cure different diseases. The english meaning of swargadwari is Heavean.

The devotees from Nepal & India visit this place mostly in the month of June & July. Basically, Bhingri and Ghorahi are the two routes to reach temple, which takes 4 hr from Bhignri and 8 hr from Ghorahi. During the month of march & April, on the way to temple, visitors can enjoy the forest being red with rhododendron flowers.

Main gate of Swargadwari

After reaching the base of Swargadwari, one should climb through stair for about 30 minutes. As an alternative, those people who can’t climb through stair can use paid services of horse ride. The premise of temple is natural and religious. The temple administration provides services of bed and food with basic charges. We paid Rs 50 per bed and Rs 100 for food. Even this place needs to accommodate thousands of people, the services are well managed. The room, bed, bathroom is neat & tidy, and the food is delicious too. In a room, there are around 20 beds.

The premise of temple is large having many temples, shelters for devotees, Sanskrit schools, caves, forest, cow sheds etc. The physical infrastructures along with water supply and sanitation are well managed. The environment around the place is religious with many activities like singing hymns, chanting religious story etc. Many people stay for one night, perform religious activity and return next day.

The tree from where Pandavs went to heaven during Dwapar Yug

Cave in Swargadwari Pyuthan

Having food in premise of Swargadwari

Gaumukhi

This is a pilgrimage site located in rural part of Pyuthan. One should travel about 3 hrs by foot from centre of Gaumukhi rural municipality. Literally Gaumukhi means the mouth of cow. It is believed to be sacred, if one takes bath in this cave. This place is in rural area, due to which number of visitors from outside of this district is extremely low. However, local people have tremendous faith towards this place. On the way to Gaumukhi temple, devotees must pass through small village, agricultural field, river, forest, waterfall. Some local infrastructures have been built in premise of temple. However, this place is beautiful naturally.

 

Way towards Gaumukhi

Entry gate of Gaumukhi

Beautiful waterfall on the way

Inside cave (Mouth of Cow) 

water fall 

 Premise of Mandir

I strongly recommend readers to visit religious tourism places like Swargadwari and Gaumukhi in Pyuthan. If you are visiting Swargadwari, don't miss Gaumukhi temple. The expenditure incurred is very low because you don't need to stay in expensive hotels. You can stay in religious shelter at basic price.