Muktinath Temple, Mustang

A morning and an afternoon window around a one-hour lunch break, with the afternoon an hour shorter in winter.

Muktinath is far older as a place of pilgrimage than the building that stands there now. Nepal Tourism Board says the site is mentioned in the Ramayana, the Varaha Purana and the Skanda Purana, and Wikipedia adds the Gandaki Mahatmya of the Vishnu Purana. Its fame grew partly because of the shaligram fossils found along the Kali Gandaki river, stones that Hindus worship as forms of Vishnu.

The Tamil Vaishnava saints knew of it more than a thousand years ago. Wikipedia records that Muktinath is praised in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the Vaishnava canon of the 7th to 9th centuries. Thirumangai Alvar never reached the temple but sang ten hymns in its praise from the nearest place he could reach, and Periyalvar called Vishnu here the Lord of Salagram.

The present temple is modest. Nepal Tourism Board describes it as a simple pagoda-style building believed to have been built at the beginning of the 19th century. Beside it stand the 108 water spouts where pilgrims bathe and the Jwala Mai temple, whose flame, Wikipedia explains, is fed by natural gas escaping from the ground.

Access has changed. Nepal Tourism Board describes the old way, a flight to Jomsom and then a five-hour walk, and notes that a newly built road now lets buses run up to Muktinath from the Kali Gandaki valley. Today the temple is managed by the Muktinath Development Committee, chaired by the Chief District Officer of Mustang.

Altitude

3,710 m (committee), 3,800 m (NTB)

Deity

Vishnu; Avalokiteshvara to Buddhists

Divya Desam

One of the 108 abodes of Vishnu

Temple built

Believed early 19th century

Water spouts

108, for a ritual bath

Nearest town

Jomsom, 30 to 45 minutes by jeep

Why Muktinath matters to Hindus and Buddhists

For Hindus, Muktinath is Mukti Kshetra, the place of liberation. Its management committee says Hindus believe people can attain moksha here. Wikipedia describes it as one of the 108 Divya Desams of Sri Vaishnavism and one of eight especially sacred self-manifested shrines in that tradition. It is also counted among the 51 Shakta pithas, where, in legend, the head of the goddess Sati fell.

Bathing is at the heart of the pilgrimage. Nepal Tourism Board describes 108 sacred water spouts where pilgrims take a ritual bath, and Wikipedia calls them Mukti Dharas, spouts of liberation. The shaligram stones of the Kali Gandaki add to the site's holiness for Vaishnavas, who worship their different patterns as different forms of Vishnu.

Muktinath is just as important to Buddhists. Tibetan Buddhists call it Chhuming Gyatsa, hundred waters, one of their 24 tantric sites, and they worship the deity as Avalokiteshvara. By tradition, recorded on Wikipedia, Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, stayed at Muktinath before going on to Tibet. Nepal Tourism Board notes that Buddhist nuns and Brahmin priests both worship at the temple.

More facts about Muktinath

Deity

Vishnu, worshipped by Buddhists as Avalokiteshvara

Names

Mukti Kshetra to Hindus, Chhuming Gyatsa ("hundred waters") to Tibetan Buddhists

Where

Varagung Muktichhetra Rural Municipality, Mustang, Nepal

Altitude

3,710 m according to the committee; 3,800 m according to Nepal Tourism Board

Status

One of the 108 Divya Desams of Sri Vaishnavism

Temple

A pagoda-style temple believed to date from the beginning of the 19th century

Water spouts

108 sacred waterspouts where pilgrims take a ritual bath

Nearby

Jwala Mai temple, with an eternal flame, sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists

Managed by

Muktinath Development Committee, chaired by the Chief District Officer of Mustang

Also known as

Muktinath Mandir, Mukti Kshetra, Chumig Gyatsa, Chhuming Gyatsa, Muktinath Temple Nepal

The temple's committee publishes no entry fee, dress code or photography rule. The official rules that do apply are about the area, not the temple.

The committee's own timetable points to the warmer half of the year. In its summer period, 15 March to 15 October, the temple is open 7:00 AM to noon and 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. In winter, 16 October to 14 March, the afternoon ends an hour earlier, at 5:00 PM. Nothing is published about closures for snow. At 3,710 metres by the committee's figure, the altitude matters in every season.

Plan the day around the lunch break. The temple is closed from noon to 1:00 PM every day, and the jeep from Jomsom takes 30 to 45 minutes, so leaving Jomsom early lets you finish darshan and the bath under the 108 spouts before midday.

The committee lists Shivaratri, Janai Purnima and Sorashraddha, the day before Ghatasthapana, as the temple's annual festivals. For 2025 it gave Shivaratri as 26 February and Janai Purnima as 9 August.

Tips before you go

• Check the committee's website, muktinathdc.org.np, for a newer timetable. The dated periods it published ended on 14 March 2026.
• Arrive before noon or after 1:00 PM. The lunch break is listed every day.
• In winter, aim to finish by 5:00 PM, when the afternoon opening ended in the committee's 2025 to 2026 timetable.
• Foreign visitors should budget for the Annapurna Conservation Area fee: NRs 3,000 for most foreigners and NRs 1,000 for SAARC nationals.
• If walking up is hard, local youths from four villages of ward 1 carry pilgrims to the temple on horseback or by stretcher.
• For questions before you travel, the committee's information officer can be reached on +977 9857040777.

At Muktinath the journey and the altitude shape the visit far more than the opening hours do.

Reaching Muktinath

The committee sets out two main routes from Kathmandu. By road, a tourist bus to Pokhara of about 6 to 7 hours, a jeep or bus to Jomsom of about 5 to 8 hours, then a local jeep of 30 to 45 minutes to Muktinath. By air, flights to Pokhara and on to Jomsom of about 25 and 20 minutes, then the same jeep.

It adds that direct flights from Kathmandu to Jomsom take about 1 hour 15 minutes but are less frequent. Nepal Tourism Board notes that Muktinath lies on the Annapurna Circuit trek, which crosses the Thorong La pass at 5,380 m before descending to Muktinath.

Altitude

The committee gives the temple's altitude as 3,710 metres; Nepal Tourism Board gives 3,800 metres. Either way it is high enough for altitude sickness, and the committee keeps a dedicated page and repeated notices about it.

Pilgrims who fly into Jomsom and drive straight up gain height very quickly. This site does not give medical advice, but the committee's warnings are worth reading before booking a same-day return.