Lakhan Thapa Cave

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About 500 meters north from the ‘Bakreshwor Mahadev’ temple lies another major attraction of Manakamana, the Lakhan Thapa cave. The legend has it that the priest Lakhan Thapa went for pilgrimage to India. Lakhan Thapa had left home at a ripe age and when he did not return for over 13 years, his family presumed he died while on the pilgrimage and performed his last rites. Lakhan Thapa who was very much alive coincidently arrived at the very moment his family were returning from the Triveni Temple (which lies at the confluence of the Trishuli and Marsyangdi rivers believed to be a very holy site). When he asked a passerby where the people were returning from, the person who did not recognize Lakhan Thapa answered that the family were returning after performing the last rites of Lakhan Thapa. He was saddened to hear that his family had performed his last rites and as per the belief it was not auspicious to return home after family members perform the last rites so he walked up to where the cave was and placed the stick he was holding at its entrance and entered the cave never to be seen again.

The Magar community still performs religious rites every year at this spot where the cave lies. It is mentioned in the chronicles that the late King Prithivi Narayan Shah, who united Nepal, rested at this very location and paid homage to Lakhan Thapa hill and the Manakamana temple before heading to conquer the Kathamandu Valley.