Halesi is one of the famous religious and tourist place situated at the Eastern part of Nepal. It lies on the Khotang district in Sagarmatha zone and is situated above 3,100 ft. – 4,734 ft. above sea level. Situated in Diktel, headquarter of Khotang district, Halesi lies 8 miles away from Diktel market in the Western part in a range of 86’35 to 86’40 East longitude and 27’10 to 20’14 North latitude. The main attractive centre in Halesi is the temple of Halesi Mahadev, the main religious place of both Hindus and Buddhists. It is also known as one of the most important place for tourism. The invasion of different religious people, as well as tourists is seen here. From religious, cultural and tourism viewpoint the impact of Halesi Mahadev can be seen not only in Nepal but also in India, Bhutan, Bharma, Japan, France, Tibet, America and several other countries as well. There exist four big rocky caves and many other small caves too. Beside this many temples, monasteries and other several religious places can be seen as well. As it lies in the middle of the thick forest, amazing twittering sounds of birds can be heard. On the other hand, flower like Laligurans and others add beauty to the forest. There happens a big ceremony in the temple of Halesi four times in a year though worship (puja) is done daily. The ceremonies such as Falgun Shivaratri, Mangsir Bal Chaturdarsi, Ram Nawami and Tij occurs four times in a year. The door of the temple is faced towards East which seems like half moon shaped. There used to exist a river in front of the temple but later on got dried leaving just mark. Especially statues of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are placed in the temple. Behind the temple there is a cave with a capacity of thousands of monks. Pure water is extracted with a power of God just above ShivaLinga (stone image of Lord Shiva). There is a religious shell made up of rock towards the door which sounds in the whole temple when it is blown.

Attraction:

Halesi Mahadev temple is the important site for tourism. Many people from several countries come to this place for trekking. You can view beautiful environment along with the high hills, plain area of Terai region and fascinating mountain range of Sagramatha of Solukhumbu district. Among the four big caves Bashasthan is the one biggest cave. Similarly other caves are Garvadwar, Dharmadwar, Janmadwar, Papdwar, Basahagufa. And other temples are Mahadevthan, Bhairavthan, Parvatithan. Halesi Mahadev temple is one of the most interesting places in the world.

Physical Features:

Halesi Mahadev temple is known to be pearl of East and is made up of hard rocks separately. It is located in between the dense forest where the residence of different types of birds and wild animals are found. Fruits like Bayar dhari and some houses can be seen lightly around the forest. This Halesi Mahadev temple is made up of strange layer of solid rocks and consists of different caves. Among the different types of caves such as Swargdwar (heaven entrance), Janmadwar (birth entrance), Paapdwar (Sin entrance), Dharmadwar (religion entrance), Parvatithan (place of Parvati), Bhairavthan (place of Bhairav) and so on Mahadev cave and Basaha cave are the most important.

Mahadev Cave:

This cave is located in a depth of 67 feet under the surface level of land and is considered as the most religious and tourism place. Its entrance is half moon shaped which is faced towards east. It is 193 feet round in shape. There is a separate cave lying just beneath this cave. Such underlying cave is shaped flat in some parts and blown in some parts. The surface level is 223 feet in round.

Basahasthan:

It is the biggest cave among the several caves of Halesi Mahadev temple. Its entrance is faced in west and is round in shape. The height is 8 feet and the width is 12 feet respectively. There is a hole just above the final part of this cave from where the island of the forest and sky can be viewed. The height of the inner cave is 143 feet and downward lying cave is 103 feet. The upper part is 166 feet in round. The two upper caves are covered by forest whereas the way to make round tour is 1553 feet long.

Similarly, other entrances are shaped differently. Garvadwar is situated below land surface and is strangely shaped by rocks whereas Dharmadwar consists of two strangely shaped poles that are made up of smooth rocks. Likewise, Janmadwar is shaped smoothly below land surface. The length is 4 feet and 9 inches. Paapdwar is 6 feet above the land level. There is a hole lying just above the door of the cave which is also known as the shell of Mahadev. Such hole is 4 feet 3 inches above the land surface. If the shell is blown with great force the sound is heard till far distance.

There is big ground in front of the temple from where the surrounding scene can be viewed as well. While viewing the flat land can be seen in the east whereas the steep part made up of black rock is seen in the north. In order to reach the cave of this Mahadev temple, visitors should cross over 72 steps which is 7 feet long. There are statues of different Gods and Goddesses and every one of them is made up of strange type of rock. There is a statue of God Mahadev which is 1 feet 3 inch high. It is 1 feet 5 inches in round. There is a rocky stone shaped like the nipple of cow just above this. It is known as Kaamdhenu cow. There is seen the droppings of milk from the nipple of cow over the statue.

Cultural tradition:

Halesi Mahadev temple is accessible via the route of Lamidanda. There are different castes having residence in the place such as Newar, Chetri, Bahun including other castes as well. There are culture, tradition and ritual that represent the own belonging castes. They celebrate Dashain and Tihar as their main festival. As they belong to Hindu religion, the festivals are celebrated in such respect. After the journey goes via Lamidanda, the travelers reach a place called Bijuli Bhanjyang where the maximum number of Rais and people of other castes have their residence. The main festival of Rai people are Dhan nach (Crop dance) and Chandi nach (Chandi dance), etc. On the course of these festivals they entertain and share good wishes to each other by wearing the caste related costume, singing and dancing in group and local musical instruments. After one night rest at Bijuli Bhanjyang, Halesi is reached via Arkhaule and Kavre. Halesi is the main residence of the castes like Rai, Newar, Sherpa, Chetri, Bahun and so on. They follow their own traditional culture, costume, ritual behavior respective of their castes.

Sherpa caste follows Buddhist religion while others follow Hindu religion. Sherpa people celebrate Lhosar as their festival which falls generally on the month of January and February. Lhosar is a term which means New Year. They worship their God and pray by wishing the successful New Year by putting Buddhist flags on top of their houses. There is a saying that by doing such one can get far from evil things and negative sights causing happy New Year.

Local things:

There is a small local market in Lamidanda. It has rural village surrounding and is well known as a mine for orange and litchi. The fruits such as orange, mango, litchi, banana, guava, etc are available here. Likewise, pure typical Ranikhola’s fishes are also found. Such fishes are not chemical mixed food eating like kept in pond. But they are found in pure, cold and clean stream and eat small water plants in water. So they are fresh and pure organic. Similarly most of the things found here are organic. Pure and fresh vegetables are also found here. Likewise local chicken, local mutton, milk, curd, ghee, etc can also be tasted here. Similarly world’s nutritious rice that is produced in Rakha Khola is also available here. The non chemical foods which are organic in nature can be found here. The water found here is also non chemical and pure. As the population in Bijuli, Halesi is widely covered by Rais, pure local alcohol and Chyang (alcohol made from rice) are also found here. People are fascinated by the amazing environment and pure food of Halesi.

Time schedule:

There are two routes to go Halesi; one is via flight from Kathmandu to Lamidanda and other via bus along the way of Kathmandu, Gurmi, and Jayaram Ghat to Halesi Mahadev temple. Such two types of services are provided for access of this region. Tour by flight is accessible three days in a week while bus service is run regularly. The time schedules taken to reach the place via flight are given as under