Pashupatinath Getting there & around

Getting there & away

The most convenient way to Pashupatinath is by taxi (Rs 100 from Thamel), though it's also an easy (but stressful) bicycle ride.

Most people are dropped off at a stand southwest of the main temple but you can also approach from the ring road to the west, by the Jayabageshwari Temple (with its painting of Bhairab), through the suburb of Deopatan, where twin lanes are lined with stalls selling marigolds, incense, rudraksha beads (made from dried seeds), conch shells and other essential religious paraphernalia.

If you want to walk on from Pashupatinath to Bodhnath, it's a pleasant and short (20 minutes) walk through villages and farmland, past strings of prayer flags and dhobi washing, accompanied by the sounds of Hindi music. Take the footbridge across the river right in front of the Guhyeshwari Temple and head north for five minutes, then turn right at the signposted junction, by a tree temple. At the next junction follow the Buddha's example and take the middle (straight) path. You eventually come out on the main road, right across from the main Bodhnath stupa.