Trip Overview

Drive on Nepal’s main highway with amazing views of rolling green hills with typical Nepali farm villages, the Trisuli and Marshyangdi river valleys, breathtaking views of the Manaslu, Himalchuli, and Annapurna mountains to the north, passing several villages and towns reaching Kurintar by the Kathmandu/Pokhara highway then taking a short ride in a cable car to reach at Manakamana temple (Goddess of fulfilling wishes). Enjoy the adventurous cable car ride to Manakamana from Kurintar.

Manakamana Temple is situated in Gorkha District of Nepal at the peak of roughly 1300-meter, 105 kilometers to the west of Kathmandu, the Manakamana Devi temple may be a highly venerated Holy place of the Hindu Goddess Bhagwati, an embodiment of Parvati. The name Manakamanais derived from two words, Mana and Kamana, which means heart and wishes. According to Hindu Mythology, it’s believed that the Goddess Bhagwati fulfills the wishes of people if anyone goes with a pure heart, and she is especially popular with Newari newlyweds who pray for offspring.

During the time of Two popular festivals, Dasain (in September-October) and Nag Panchami (July – August), large numbers of pilgrims throughout the country and from India come to visit. Devotees stand in line even for 5-10 hours during festivals and appear to enjoy standing in the line without food, some even with no water, which shows their belief in Manakamana Temple.

In the past, pilgrims used to make an extended and vigorous trek up to the hilltop temple from the town of Kurintar. Now, there started service of a Cable car from Kurintar. The Cable car rides over the space of 2 .8 kilometers in 10 minutes (more or less) between which scenic breathtaking beauties of Greenery Hills are seen. The Cable car generally operates during the daytime i.e. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and stops for a lunch break from 12.00 to 13.30. During festive occasions and on Saturdays and holidays it operates an hour before the scheduled time. The inauguration of the Manakamana Cable car was done by His Royal Highness prince DipendraBirBikram Shah on November 24, 1998. The bottom station of the cable car is placed at the height of 258 meters (846 ft.) in Kurintarand the top station is at the height of 1,302 meters (4,272 ft.) in Manakamana. The cable car can handle up to 600 persons per hour with 31 passenger cars and three cargo cars whereas the number of passengers per carrier is 6.