Tilicho Lake the highest lake of the world at almost 5000 meters is said to be the Kak Bhusundi Sarovar lake mentioned in the Ramayana.
Kak Bhusundi Sarovar is the lake where a crow recited the Ramayana to Garuda (Vishnu's vehicle) and Shiva found some relief for missing Sita.
The Ramayana says that Kak Bhusundi Sarover is close to the Annapurna range. Tilicho Lake is a lake formed by melting glacier waters from the Annapurna mountains and the Thorung mountain.
Halesi Mahadev has been a religious place for hindus as well as bhuddist since thousends of years. There are three caves that represent the three eyes of Shiva. Bhuddist who call these caves Maratika believe that Padmasambhava (the founder of Tibetan Bhuddism, the great Rinpoche) and his wife Mandarava freed themselves from the circle of lives and thus becomming immortal.
Shiva is one of the trinity gods of hinduism besides Brahma & Vishnu. Shiva is a creator and destroyer. Shiva is refered to in more than thousend names the most common ones are; Mahadeva, Pashupati (Lord of the Animals) and Bhairava (the angry one).
Shiva has a bit of hot temper and can be made angry, instead of Vishnu who is more patient and tolerant.
The Indreshwar Mahadev is a tall three story pagoda style Shiva temple in a peacefull courtyard in Panauti which is an old kings city in the Kavre district at the east side of the Kathmandu Valley.
Bhairava is the strong and angry manifestation of Shiva. Bhairava is one of the most importent gods in Nepal and a lot of temples are dedicated to him. Bairava can be seen with a dog who is his vehicle (vahana)
Hinduism which is with over a billion followers the third religion of the world, is for outsiders often a very complex belief with an almost endless palet of Gods. Followers of Hinduism try to life according to the Sanatana Dharma which means something like eternal law.
When you look a bit closer than many of the gods are incarnations or different forms of the tree main gods also called the trinity of Hinduism and their spouses;
The Shiva Lingam that you see everywhere in Nepal is a symbol of Shiva. It represents the male and female forces. Shiva can almost be represented as Ardhanarishwar who is both male and female in one.
The Gupteshwor Mahadev temple is a cave in Pokhara where a stalagmite formed a natural Shiva lingam. You need to pay a small admission fee to enter the temple.
The Kumbeswhar Temple lies a few hundres metres north of Patan's famous Durbar Square.
The Kumbeswhar temple which is a Shiva temple is one out of three temples in the Kathmandu Valley that has three stories.
A legend says that the moon (soma) erected a Shiva Lingam here to get rid of his terrible sin of having sex with his wifes guru.
The are several temples in Nepal that are known as Shakti Peeths. But wat is a Shakti Peeth and where does it come from ?
As with most Hindi legends there are several stories that slighty differ from each other. The main story is that in the Satya Yuga, Sati / Shakti / Dakshayani who was a daughter of Daksha a Prajapati (meaning one of the sons of Brahma) married with Shiva against her fathers will.
The Shiva Lingam that you see everywhere in Nepal is a symbol of Shiva. It represents the male and female forces. Shiva can almost be represented as Ardhanarishwar who is both male and female in one.