Welcome to Panauti

Panauti is a typical Newari town situated 32km. South-East of the capital Kathmandu valley, in Kavrepalanchowk district, Province 3. An excellent road links to the capital in less than one hour by car. It can be reached by regular bus services in two hours.

Historically and archaeologically PANAUTI is itself, a remarkable open museum with many important buildings and works of Art worthy of international attention. Extensive research and conservation works have been conducted and many artifacts of merit found during archaeological digs. Many are now kept in the PANAUTI MUSEUM which is located within the Indreshwor Temple Compound.

PANAUTI is situated at the confluence of the two rivers, ROSI and PUNYAMATA and has been regarded as an important religious site since ancient times. It is believed that there is a third river, RUDHRAWATI, also converging in PANAUTI creating a TRIVENI, tri-junction, in the shape of Lord Shiva’s Trident, making the location even more holy and sacred. However this third river can only be seen by the sheers and the intellectuals. The rivers junction is also regarded as UTTAR PRAYAGTIRTHA, SACHITIRTHA of Nepal.

A great number of devotees from all Nepal but also India gather there for holy ablutions and to pay homage to the INDRESHWOR MAHADEV temple and to the other nearby holy sites.

PANAUTI and its outstandingly rich cultural heritage is in the process of being classified as a WORLD HERITAGE SITE by UNESCO and is already been declared a “Protected Monument Zone” under the Ancient Monument Preservation Act of 1956. The special attention for the conservation and management of the site is the joint responsibility of PANAUTI Municipality and the Department of Archeology of Nepal.