Bandipur Boudha Gumba

There is a beautiful Raniban at the peak of Bandipur Bazar. A Buddhist Monastery lies in the lap of the Raniban. This monastery was built two decades ago with the initiation of the retired army hawaldar Ganesh Bahadur Gurung.

The monastery has played a significant role in promoting religious tourism in the region. “Since there is no other monastery in Tanahun district, we thought we need one to add attraction to this place,” says Gurung. Statues of Shakyamuni Buddha are kept in the Monastery. Along with these, many books on Buddhism could be found here.

About 108 statues and 108 prayer wheels (Manes) have been installed at the monastery. Prayer wheel is a special item that is installed all around the monastery so that the devotee can rotate it while worshipping. There are special chants encrypted in the Manes, which is written in Ranjana script. This is chanted for the happiness and peace for all the people of the world.

Though the monastery was built in 2004, the municipality began to allocate budget for it only since 2010. A magnificent festival is organised here on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti. For the protection of the monastery, an 11-member committee led by Ganesh Bahadur is working. Ganesh and his wife Laxmi Gurung have been found busy in protecting and maintaining the monastery round the clock.

A stupa (Chaitya) is also being built within the premises of the monastery. This Chaitya is being built in Vietnamese style by a Vietnamese engineer who has designed its structure as well.

People can see beautiful Sunset from here. If you are lucky enough, you can see an alluring mountain range if weather is good. Likewise, the Siddha Cave is also not far from the monastery.

How to reach?

To reach the monastery, you can walk up the hill enroute to Khadgadevi temple while coming from Bandipur Bazar. You can find it on the hiking route from the Siddha Cave to Bandipur. Likewise, a 15-minute walk up from Tindhara can also lead you to the monastery. If you have your own vehicle, you can go off-road uphill to reach Tudikhel.

To keep in mind:

As this is a religious place, kindly put on clothes that cover your entire body. Half pants and miniskirts are not suggested to be worn while making a trip to the monastery.