Pharping Hiking

Pharping, which is situated at a distance of 19 km south of Kathmandu, is one of the most important and sacred places for people who are into Tibetan Buddhist religion. This is the place where the famous Tibetan guru Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche in Tibetan) attained enlightenment. Padmasambhava is the guru who wrote the great afterlife text Bardo Thodol (famously known as The Tibetan Book of the Dead in the west). Along with the Bardo Thodol, Padmasambhava also wrote hundreds of other revelatory texts which are called ‘termas” (hidden treasures) and hid them in secret places (called “beyuls”) of Nepal and the surrounding countries. They are meant to be discovered only by Tertons (treasure revealers). Some of them have been discovered; many are yet to be discovered.

Padmasambhava founded the Nyigmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the oldest of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the other three being Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug). Nyigma means ‘old’ in Tibetan. It is the school of Tibetan Buddhism followed by the likes of legendary figures like Leonard Cohen, William Burroughs, and K.D. Lang. Due to his immense contribution and high status in Tibetan culture, he is also known as the second Buddha and is the most venerated figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Buddha.

On the way to Pharping, you will pass a famous pond called Taudaha, which is believed to house the Nagas (mythical serpents) which were taken out of Kathmandu when it was a huge lake. You will also pass through Dakshinakali, which has the famous Dakshinakali temple (dedicated to the goddess Kali). Since Dakshinakali lies on the way to Pharping, visitors can often visit both Pharphing and Dakshinakali in a day if they want to. In Pharping, you will get to visit a lot of famous Buddhist monasteries scattered around this area, such as Bajra Yogini temple, Gorakhnath temple, Shesnarayan temple as well as the famous medication cave of Padmasambhava.