Muktinath

Muktinath is a sacred place both for Hindus and Buddists located in Muktinath Valley at an altitude of 3,710 meters at the foot of the Thorong La mountain pass (part of the Himalayas), Mustang, Nepal. The site is close to the village of Ranipauwa, which sometimes mistakenly is called Muktinath as well.

The Hindus call the sacred place Mukti Kshetra, which literally means the “place of liberation or moksha”. Mainly the temple is with a predominant Sri Vaishnavaorigin and worshipped by Buddhists. This temple is considered to be the 105th among the available 108 Divya Dasam. The ancient name of this place, before Buddhist origin is known as Thiru Saligramam. This houses the Saligrama sila considered to be the naturally available form of Sriman Narayan- the Hindu God HEAD. It is also one of the 51 Sakti peetams. The Buddhists call it Chumig Gyatsa, which in Tibetan means ‘Hundred Waters’. For Tibetan Buddhists, Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa is a very important place of Dakinis, goddesses known as Sky Dancers and one of the 24 Tantric places. They understand the sculpture to be a manifestation of Avalokitesovara.