Sankhu and Vajrayogini: An Old Trade Town and a Temple in the Forest

Seventeen kilometres north-east of central Kathmandu, where the valley floor runs up against wooded hills, lies Sankhu. For centuries it was the first halt for caravans leaving the valley for Tibet. The trade has gone, and the town was badly hurt by the 2015 earthquake, but it keeps its medieval plan and its festivals, and the temple above it is one of the most atmospheric in the region.

The town

Legend says Sankhu was laid out in the shape of a conch shell, the sankha from which it takes its name, on the instruction of the goddess who lives on the hill. It has a main street running north to south, old gateways at its edges and a network of side lanes with brick houses, carved windows, rest houses and water spouts.

The earthquake destroyed or damaged a large share of its buildings. Walking through today you see restored façades, new concrete, and gaps where houses once stood. Residents have rebuilt steadily, and community groups have worked to preserve traditional design where they can.

What to look for:

• The gates. Each historically had a set purpose: one for brides entering the town, another for the dead being carried out, another for the goddess's procession.

• The main square, with a temple and stone platforms where older residents sit.

• Farm life. Sankhu is surrounded by fertile fields, and you will see produce being sorted and dried in the lanes.

It takes under an hour to stroll from one end to the other and back.

Up to Vajrayogini

From the northern gate, a paved road and then a long stone stairway climb through forest to the temple complex, about two kilometres from town. On foot it takes thirty to forty-five minutes. Taxis can drive most of the way, leaving a shorter flight of steps.

The path passes small shrines, carved stones and a rest house or two. Monkeys are numerous. Near the top, the trees open onto a terraced courtyard.

The main temple is a three-tiered pagoda with a gilded roof and finely worked doorway, built in the seventeenth century on a much older sacred site. It houses Vajrayogini, a powerful female deity honoured by Buddhists as an enlightened being and by Hindus as a form of the great goddess. She is regarded as the senior of four sister goddesses who guard the Kathmandu Valley.

A second temple beside it enshrines a small stupa.

Around the courtyard are a stone water tank, old inscriptions, caves used by meditators and a rest house with carved pillars. The place is cool, shaded and usually very quiet. A priest's family lives on site.

Remove shoes before the temple platforms, walk clockwise and ask before taking photographs of the shrine.

The spring festival

Each year around March or April, the image of the goddess is carried down from the hill in a palanquin and paraded through the town for several days, with music and offerings at every neighbourhood. It is the main event of Sankhu's calendar.

The month of fasting

A stream called the Salinadi runs east of the town. In the lunar month that falls roughly in January and February, Hindu women, and some men, undertake a month-long observance here in honour of the goddess Swasthani, bathing in the cold river at dawn, eating one meal a day and listening to daily readings of a sacred text. On certain days thousands of pilgrims arrive. Visitors may watch from the banks with discretion.

Getting there

Buses leave from the Ratna Park area and from near Boudhanath for Sankhu, taking about an hour to ninety minutes. A taxi from Boudha takes thirty to forty minutes. The road passes Gokarna, where a riverside temple to Shiva and a forest reserve make a worthwhile stop.

Walks from Sankhu

• To Nagarkot. A trail and dirt road climb east for three to four hours to the well-known viewpoint village on the valley rim.

• To Changu Narayan. A walk of about two hours south across fields to the ancient hilltop temple above Bhaktapur.

• From Nagarkot downhill. Many walkers and mountain bikers do the route in reverse, ending in Sankhu and catching a bus back.

Practical points

• There are tea shops and a few simple eateries in town and near the temple steps. Bring water for the climb.

• Dress modestly.

• Foreign visitors may be asked for a small entry fee.

• Weekday mornings are the quietest time.

Why go

Sankhu shows what the valley's smaller towns have been through in the past decade, and how they are recovering. The temple above it offers something the famous sites cannot: a major shrine in deep woodland, with birdsong instead of traffic and hardly another visitor on the stairs.