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Destination: Resunga Temple
Location: Tamghas, Gulmi, western Nepal
Getting there: Take a bus to Tamghas (Rs 500) or fly to Bhairahawa, then take a direct bus from Butwal to Tamghas. From there you must hike for at least three hours to reach the temple.
What to do: Walk through the jungle, listen to the birds, drink in the beauty of the majestic Machhapuchhre and Dhaulagiri Himalayas, climb up the newly-built lighthouse and enjoy the view.
What to take: A bottle of water, digital camera and a pair of binoculars.

PRERANA MARASINI

Resunga Temple
Around 375 km west of Kathmandu is Tamghas, Gulmi's district headquarters. Tamghas is a small town surrounded by beautiful mountains. Resunga, the tallest, stands at 8,000 ft. At its peak is a temple built by Juddha Shumsher Rana in 1926 AD. This was our destination.

Climbing Resunga requires a lot of stamina, patience and at least two litres of water. The villagers didn't think we would make it in one piece but we went anyway. At 9.30 AM, with a dozen oranges and a bottle of water, I started off with my cousin Yadav.

The mountain is steep and the trails rocky and narrow. I had to hold on to weeds and rocks most of the way, gritting my teeth and praying every step of the way. It reminded me of Taranath Sharma's 'Ghanaghasya ko ukaalo kaatda', which we had to study back in high school. Autumn leaves made the trails beautiful but slippery. It was an exhausting climb. There were 'paatis' built by locals for weary travellers to rest in. Just when I was thinking of collapsing on one such 'paati', I saw young girls walking down merrily, their backs weighed down with 'dokos' of grass for cattle. They smiled at me, I smiled back. Compared to their burden, mine was nothing. So we walked on.

Halfway up, the trails turned white. Snow is normal here in winter but this wasn't snow, it was frost. The temperature did not dip enough for snowflakes this year. We walked, our breath coming out in short bursts. The air was crisp and chilly; the jungle, dense and eerily quiet. Just then a brown animal shot out of the bush. I froze, petrified and stopped Yadav. It was just another cow. Yadav laughed saying, "They rear cows at the Resunga Temple to worship Shiva's idol with milk."

A half-hour later, we reached Saraswati Lake. It was a pond that had its boundaries cemented; at its centre was a 'shiva linga' on a plinth. According to legend, in Dwapar Yug, Ram hit the rocks of Resunga with his arrow and brought out water for meditating saints.

A little further up was our destination, the temple at the mountain's peak. It didn't look like a temple from the outside, with two palm trees standing at its entrance, the bronze roof glinting in the sun and the Himalayas forming a stunning backdrop. Unlike other temples, it had a big fireplace for religious ceremonies, a blackened vessel hung above it. Small tridents surrounded the fireplace. We lit some incense sticks.

The priest, Salik Ram Marasini, has been looking after the temple for almost a decade. "Pilgrims flock here in July for Haribodhani Ekadashi," said he, "Resunga was put on fire in 1961 by Yadukananda, an aggressive yogi who meditated here. He wanted to stop the hunting of animals in Resunga's jungle. King Mahendra, who was on his way here then, couldn't make it. Later, the police arrested Yadukananda and put him in jail."

At one end of the peak, a 25-foot tower was being built. We couldn't climb because the staircase was still incomplete. The construction workers said the tower would be finished in two months' time. "The tower's architecture is based on the lighthouse concept," said one of them. We sat at the edge of the hill in the winter sun, peeling sour Gulmeli oranges, the cold breeze from the Himalayas drying our chapped faces. The amazing view made up for the exhausting hike. No matter how poor our economy is, Nepal is indeed an amazing place.

PHOTO GALLERY

Resunga with Tamghas valley at its base	The newly-built tower, still under construction

Inside the Resunga Temple	Saraswati lake