Manju Shree Cave

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is rich in arts, architecture, culture and religious spots which make it a great tourist destination for national and international visitors. Manjushree Cave is a new destination in Kathmandu which opened for visitors from Jan. 30. It is located in Chobhar gorge of Kritipur municipality, which lies in the southern part of Kathmandu Valley. Chobhar gorge, where the Manjushree Cave is located, is related with the interesting legends of the origin of Kathmandu Valley.

According to one of the legends, Kathmandu valley was a lake surrounded by hills during the Pleistocene era. It is believed that Manjushree, a divine saint from China had came here for pilgrimage and saw a huge lotus emanating bright light at the centre of the lake. So he cut a deep gorge allowing the water to drain from the lake because he wanted to observe and worship the lotus.

A view of Kathmandu Valley from Balkhu, near Chobhar Gorge
The cylindrical route of the cave where visitors have to bend their bodies to pass through. This path can be seen as soon as a visitor enters the cave.

The main entrance of Manjushree Cave .

The base of the lake became the present Kathmandu valley and the gorge is called Chobhar gorge now. That is why the cave is named after the name of Manjushree.It is 7 kilometers from central Kathmandu and one hour’s drive is enough to reach there if there is no traffic jams in the valley. At the base of the gorge flows the Bagmati River. A 104-year-old suspension bridge gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy the sight of the gorge, Bagmati River and entrance of other mystical caves (which are not open to the public).Manjushree Cave was formally opened by the Jal Binayak Community Forest Users’ Group. The total length of the cave is said to be 1250m long, although only 350m of the cave is open to visitors. One has to pay an entrance fee to explore the cave. The fees are a minimum US$5 to a maximum $10 per person. The price depends upon the length of the route that a visitor wants to visit. The cost of the headlamp and a cave guide is included in the price.

There are five routes which have been opened at present. These routes converge at different points, so it is possible for visitors to enter from one point and to exit from another point. There are three entrance points; one is the main entrance and the others are Bagh Gufa and Naya Gufa. (‘Gufa’ means cave in Nepali). There are two small ponds inside the cave. The first pond is Mahadev Pond which is 40.3m from the main entrance and the other is Naya Pond which is about 60m from main entrance.On June 4 I had an opportunity to explore Majushree Cave as far as Naya pond with my friend Dev and sister Prya. It was my first experience to explore a cave. We were accompanied by a female guide named Urmila Shrestha. Before entering the cave I