RANIPAUWA - Or Muktinath

Not many people seem to know the name Ranipauwa as through the years people have referred to this place by the name of the famous temple so much that the place itself is known as Muktinath. But the truth remains that the settlement is still officially called Ranipauwa which means "Queen's pilgrim shelter" in English. Queen Subarna Prabha (queen of King Rana Bahadur Shah) built a pilgrimage here for all the devotees coming to Muktinath and hence the name became "Ranipauwa". This pilgrim house still stands towards the west.

The settlement of Ranipauwa is to the west of the Muktinath area; the temple is just a 10-minute walk from here. Ranipauwa will be pretty sweet if you come here after crossing the Thorung-La. After days of walking alongside rocky scree and with no phone and internet connection, Ranipauwa will feel like a blessing. In the Kali Gandaki valley, network connections and internet won't be a problem (but the internet speed will be irritatingly slow).

As for the geology of this place, it is pretty interesting. Mustang was once a seabed along with all the high peaks of the Himalayas. Then there was a collision of the Eurasian plates and Indo-Australian tectonic plates that gave rise to the mighty Himalayas. Over the course of 70 million years, the seabed of Mustang was lifted up more than 4000 m. This is precisely the reason why you will find ammonite fossils in this region (although it is pretty rare nowadays since most fossils have already been collected). One large ammonite fossil is kept inside the Muktinath temple and is worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists.

There are safe drinking water station, health post and police check post here. There is also a bus park here towards the far west of the town since the entire Kali Gandaki valley now is connected via road. The road connection has been a boon for all the pilgrims coming to Muktinath. Many pilgrims from India and Nepal flock over to Muktinath every year since Muktinath is revered as an important god by both Hindus and Buddhists. On the day of Janai Purnima (full moon day), lodges will be filled with pilgrims from India and Nepal. Janai Purnima attracts many devotees as it is considered a major festival in the Muktinath region alongside Yartung festival which is more inclined towards the local population. From a traveller's perspective, Yartung festival is definitely more fun to witness.

Towards the south-west, Dhaulagiri Himal will be visible and will definitely get a lot of stares on a full moon day.