Indian visitors to Galeshwardham up

By Thakur Prasad Acharya,Myagdi, June 8: About 100,000 religious tourists visited Galeshwardham, the famous temple located along the corridor of the Kaligandaki River, in the last five months.

According to the Galeshwar  Shivalaya Area Development Trust, about 100,000 devotees reached the Galeshwar temple located in Beni Municipality 9, Myagdi district from mid-January to May 15.   

Devotees from almost all districts of Nepal came to visit the Galeshwar temple during these five months.

Ram Bahadur Baniya, office secretary of the Trust, said that domestic and Indian devotees on their way to Muktinath through the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road section visited the Galeshwar temple. It was the highest number of devotees who reached the temple after the  COVID-19 pandemic. 

He said that the number of religious tourists to Galeshwar has increased this year significantly. “The positive publicity at home and abroad has helped increase the number of tourists here,” Baniya said.

During the season to visit the Muktinath Temple, 2,000 to 5,000 religious tourists visit the temple a day, said Baniya.

 During the last five months,  monetary offerings of Rs.  4.3 million were collected in Galeshwar. For the convenience of the devotees, the Trust has managed a free Dharamshala for the devotees.

According to the Trust, the number of Indian religious tourists increased significantly in the last one month. A total of Rs. 30,000 (Indian currency) has been collected from the Indian devotees during one month.  

The increase of the religious tourists to Galeshwar is a positive message, said Madhav Prasad Regmi, chairman of the Galeshwar  Shivalaya Area Development Trust. 

He further said that arrivals from India have increased after the stones from the Kaligandaki were taken to Ayodhya, India, in January this year. 

He said that the number of Indian devotees has increased due to the positive message about the religious importance of Kaligandaki, Muktinath and Galeshwar areas among the Hindus of India after the boulders from the Kaligandaki were taken to India.   He expressed hope that the number of Indian religious tourists would further increase in the coming days.

The historically and mythologically important site, Galeshwardham is located on a single huge wheel stone spread over nine ropanis of area in the confluence of the Raghuganga and Kaligandaki rivers. 

There is a religious belief that happiness, one can attain peace and prosperity by visiting and worshipping at Galeshwardham.