Free Food and Accommodation Provided for Damodar Kund Pilgrims

Mustang. Free accommodation with food has been arranged for two months targeting pilgrims visiting the religious pilgrimage site of Damodar Kund in Loghekar Damodar Kund. Free food and accommodation have been arranged for pilgrims at Ghimethanti and Damodar Kund Dharamshala on the trekking route to the famous religious site located at an altitude of 4,990 meters above sea level.

The Punyaeshwar Mahadev Shivaalaya Subcommittee in Narchyang, Annapurna-3, Myagdi has arranged free food and accommodation in its dharamshala for pilgrims visiting the holy religious site Damodar Kund, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Damodar Kund Muktinath Development Committee, informed Mohan Purja, treasurer of the development committee and coordinator of the Damodar Kund Pilgrim Food Management Committee.

He said that the subcommittee has been arranging free food for two months during the monsoon season every year with the help of donations collected. This year too, as the favorable season for visiting Damodar Kund has begun, a systematic arrangement for food and lodging for pilgrims has been made from Jestha 25 to Saun, informed coordinator Purja. According to Purja, food and other arrangements for pilgrims are being made by spending from the partial endowment fund of the subcommittee, with donations collected annually from Galeshwor Dham in Myagdi.

Four people have been assigned to manage the food arrangements using the amount of donations collected by the subcommittee. Two employees have been assigned to manage food in Damodar Kund and two in Ghimethanti. Manager Purja said that more than Rs 5 lakh is spent annually for this purpose.

Manager Purja informed that the Narchyang-based Gupeshwar Mahadev Subcommittee has been arranging free food for Damodar Kund pilgrims since 2064 BS, but the program was halted for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic when pilgrimages were suspended.

Ward member of Loghekar Damodar Kund-4, Krishnakumari, informed that the provision of food and accommodation for pilgrims has been a great relief. She mentioned that it would be difficult for pilgrims to travel by arranging their own food and lodging, and such facilities have made the journey of the devotees easier.

The chairman of the rural municipality, Lopsang Chhomphel Bisht, informed that Loghekar Damodar Kund Rural Municipality built two dharamshalas in 2078 BS for the convenience of Hindu followers at the famous religious pilgrimage site located in the northern region of Nepal-China, with separate facilities for men and women. The rural municipality has constructed dharamshalas along with bathrooms and toilets a little below Damodar Kund, and the rural municipality has also constructed two dharamshalas in Ghime Thanti. Chairman Bisht said that both dharamshalas have a capacity of more than 100 people, while the dharamshala in Ghime Thanti has a capacity of about 40 people.