As it is told

In the Swayambhu Purana, the valley was a lake called Nagdaha, home to serpent kings. A lotus bloomed on it, giving off a light that was the self-born Buddha, Swayambhu. The bodhisattva Manjushri came from the north, cut a gorge in the southern hills with his sword so the water drained out at Chobhar, and people settled the land. Hindu tellings give the same work to Krishna, who split the hills with his discus. Locals still point to Chobhar gorge as the cut.

Local legend says Bhairav, the fierce form of Shiva in his temple at Taumadhi, grew restless and troubled the town. King Bhupatindra Malla was told to build a temple for a goddess stronger than Bhairav, so he raised Nyatapola for Siddhi Lakshmi beside Bhairav's shrine. People say the king carried the first bricks himself, and that the stone guardians on its stairs grow ten times stronger with each step, ending with the goddesses at the top.

In the Tibetan telling, a poultry keeper's widow asked the king for as much land as a buffalo hide would cover to build a stupa. The king agreed. She cut the hide into thin strips and laid them round a large plot. When officials complained, the king replied that he had given his word and could not take it back: jarung khashor, permission once given cannot be withdrawn. The stupa still carries that name in Tibetan.

Local legend says a twelve-year drought struck the valley after the yogi Gorakhnath sat in meditation on the nagas, the serpents who bring rain. King Narendra Deva, the priest Bandhudatta and a farmer travelled to Kamaru in Assam and brought back Karunamaya, the compassionate one, in the form of a bee in a pot. When Gorakhnath stood to honour his guru Machhindranath, the rain returned, and the god made his home at Bungamati.

Local legend says a cowherd's cow went each day to a champak tree on this hill and poured her milk at its roots. Her Brahmin owner, suspecting something evil in the tree, cut it down. Blood flowed from the trunk, and Vishnu appeared. He told the Brahmin that the blow had freed him from an old sin, and the place became sacred. The temple of Changu Narayan was raised where the tree stood.

Near Dhulikhel, at Namobuddha, Buddhist tradition tells a Jataka story from one of the Buddha's earlier lives. Prince Mahasattva, walking in the forest with his brothers, came upon a tigress so starved she could not feed her cubs. Moved by compassion, he cut himself and offered his body so she and her cubs would live. A stupa marks the place, and a stone carving nearby shows the prince and the tigress.

Local legend says Kasthamandap was built from a single tree. The wish-fulfilling tree, Kalpavriksha, came down in human form to watch the Rato Machhindranath chariot festival. A tantric priest recognised him and held him with mantras until he agreed to a ransom: one sal tree. From that one trunk the people built a three-storey pavilion, Kasthamandap, the wooden shelter, and the city around it came to be called Kathmandu.

Local legend says that at the foot of the Kirtipur ridge, at Chobhar, the bodhisattva Manjushri cut the hills with his sword to drain the valley lake. As the water rushed out, many of the serpents who lived in it were left stranded. Their king, Karkotak, was given a new home in a small pond nearby: Taudaha, where people say he still lives, which is why its waters are never fished.

Local tradition links Panauti's great temple to Indra, king of the gods. Cursed for his misdeeds, Indra is said to have come to this confluence to do penance and worship Shiva, who appeared to him here, and so the temple is Indreshwar, Shiva as lord of Indra. A Newar legend of yomari, too, is often set in Panauti: a couple named Suchandra and Krita made the first yomari from a new harvest of rice.

Local legend says Shiva once came to the forest of Mrigasthali, on the east bank, and took the form of a deer to live there freely. The other gods came looking for him and caught him by a horn, which broke into pieces. One became the linga. It was lost for ages until a cow was seen pouring her milk onto one spot each day; people dug there, found the linga and built the first temple.

Local legend says Patan's Rato Machhindranath came to the valley to end a twelve-year drought. The yogi Gorakhnath, offended at not being welcomed, had sat down in meditation on the nagas, the serpents who bring rain. A king, a priest and a farmer named Lalit travelled to Kamaru in Assam and brought back Karunamaya. Gorakhnath rose to greet his guru Machhindranath, the nagas were freed and the rain fell. Some say the city's name Lalitpur honours Lalit.

Tibetan tradition says that while Guru Rinpoche meditated at Yanglesho, powerful spirits caused drought, famine and disease across the land, blocking his practice. He sent to India for the teachings of Vajrakilaya. As soon as the texts arrived, the rains returned, the sickness ended and the obstacles cleared. Pilgrims point to a handprint in the rock of the Asura Cave above, said to be his.

In the Swayambhu Purana, the valley was a great lake, and on it bloomed a lotus from which a light shone: the self-born Buddha, Swayambhu. Manjushri came from the north, drained the lake by cutting the hills at Chobhar, and the lotus came to rest on this hill, where the stupa now covers it. Local legend adds that the monkeys grew from lice in Manjushri's long hair, which is why they are treated as holy.

Local legend says Phewa Lake was once a valley with a rich village. A goddess came disguised as a poor old woman asking for food, and every house turned her away except one poor couple, who shared what little they had. She warned them to flee to higher ground that night. The valley flooded and became the lake, and the goddess, the story goes, is the Barahi honoured in the island temple of Tal Barahi.

Gurung tradition, recorded in accounts of the sanctuary, held it to be a store of gold and treasure guarded by the nagas, serpent gods. Machhapuchhre at its gate was the home of Shiva, and the plume of snow streaming from its summit on windy days was the smoke of his incense. To keep the gods content, villagers forbade carrying eggs or meat into the sanctuary, a rule some lodges above Chhomrong still honour.

Local tradition says the Khadga Devi temple in Bandipur keeps a sacred sword that Shiva gave to Mukunda Sen, a king of Palpa, and that its power is such that it is hidden from view, wrapped in cloth, and brought out only once a year during Dashain, when devotees crowd the temple to see it.

Gurung tradition long held the Annapurna Sanctuary, up the Modi Khola from Ghandruk, as a sacred place, home to deities from Hindu, Buddhist and older beliefs, and a store of treasure left by the naga serpent gods. Machhapuchhre at its gate was said to be the home of Shiva, and the plume of snow blowing from its summit the smoke of his incense. Until recently villagers forbade carrying eggs or meat into the sanctuary.

A popular story in Gorkha tells that the yogi Gorakhnath, guardian of the town, appeared to the young Prithvi Narayan Shah and asked for curd. The prince brought it; the yogi ate, then spat some back into his hands and told him to swallow it. Disgusted, the prince let it fall onto his feet. The yogi said that had he swallowed it, his words would have come true; instead, every land his feet touched would be his.

In Tibetan Buddhist tradition the yogi Milarepa wandered the Nyeshang region, and local Buddhists point to a cave above the valley near Braga as one of his retreats. A story told here, from his songs, is of a hunter chasing a deer that took refuge beside the meditating yogi. Milarepa sang to the hunter of the suffering of all beings; the hunter laid down his bow and became his disciple.

Gurung tradition holds Machhapuchhre, which towers over the Mardi Himal ridge, as a sacred mountain and a home of Shiva. On windy days a long plume of snow streams from its twin summit; in the old telling, that plume is the smoke of the god's incense. Respect for the mountain is one reason Nepal has kept it closed to climbers since 1957.

Local legend says the valley under Phewa Lake once held a rich village. A goddess came as a poor old woman begging for food and was refused at every door except the hut of a poor couple, who fed her. She told them to leave for the hill that night. The valley flooded, the village vanished under the water, and the couple survived. Devotees say the goddess is Barahi, worshipped today in the island temple of Tal Barahi.

Sherpa tradition holds that Khumbu is a beyul, a hidden valley blessed by Guru Rinpoche, the eighth-century teacher Padmasambhava, as a sanctuary to be opened in times of trouble. Its guardian is Khumbu Yul Lha, the god of the Khumbu country, who lives on the sacred peak of Khumbila above Khumjung and is shown riding a white horse. Everest itself is home to the goddess Miyolangsangma, and climbers ask her permission at a base camp puja before setting foot on the mountain.

Sherpas believe Everest is the home of Miyolangsangma, one of the Five Sisters of Long Life, the goddess of inexhaustible giving who is often shown riding a tiger. Before any expedition climbs, a lama leads a puja at base camp to ask her permission and protection, and climbers burn juniper, raise prayer flags and offer food at a stone altar. Many Sherpa climbers will not set foot in the icefall until this ceremony is done.

Lodge keepers on the way to Gokyo tell of Machhermo, a day below the lakes. Local accounts say that in 1974 a young Sherpa woman herding yaks near the village was attacked by a yeti, which also killed several of her animals before vanishing up the slopes. Police and journalists came; no creature was found. Machhermo still tells the story to anyone who asks, and guides point out the meadow where it is said to have happened.

Sherpas say Khumbila, the 5,761 m peak above Khumjung, is the home of Khumbu Yul Lha, the god of the Khumbu country, protector of the region and its people. In gompa murals he appears as a white-faced figure in white robes riding a white horse. Because the mountain is his home, local tradition holds that no one should stand on its summit, and it has never been climbed. Families offer juniper smoke and prayer flags to him before journeys.

Sherpa belief holds that springs, lakes and rivers are home to lu, serpent spirits of the water and underground. Offend them by polluting a spring, cutting trees around it or disturbing the soil without ritual, and illness follows. Local elders say that is why Namche's spring at the head of the bowl, marked by prayer flags and small shrines, is kept clean, and why lamas are called to perform rituals before new houses are built.

Local legend says that Lama Sangwa Dorje, founder of the Pangboche gompa, scattered hairs from his head on the hillside, and that they grew into the great juniper trees that still surround the temple. For this reason the trees are sacred, never cut, and their needles are burned as incense offering. Villagers also tell that the lama left a footprint on a rock at Tengboche, foretelling the monastery that would later stand there.

Solu's Sherpas regard Numbur, the 6,957 m snow peak north of Junbesi, as the home of Shorong Yul Lha, the protector deity of Solu, much as Khumbila guards Khumbu. Local belief holds that he watches over the valleys and their herds, and families honour him with juniper smoke and prayer flags. The milky lake beneath Numbur, Dudh Kunda, is a place of pilgrimage at the August full moon.

Monastery accounts say that long before Tengboche was built, Lama Sangwa Dorje, founder of Pangboche's gompa, meditated on this ridge and left the print of his foot on a rock. Through his clairvoyant vision he foretold that a monastery would one day stand here. When Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, regarded as Sangwa Dorje's fifth incarnation, blessed Lama Gulu to found Tengboche in 1916, the prophecy was said to be fulfilled.

Thame tells the story of the Lawudo Lama, a hermit who meditated for years in a cave at Lawudo above the trail from Namche. Local accounts say that after his death a small boy born in Thame in 1946 kept trying to climb to the cave and insisted he was the Lawudo Lama. Lamas recognised him as the hermit's reincarnation. He grew up to be Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who taught Buddhism across the world.

In the Ramayana, King Janaka of Videha was ploughing a field as part of a ritual when his plough struck a golden casket in the furrow. Inside lay a baby girl. He named her Sita, from the word for furrow, and raised her as his daughter. Years later he set a test for her suitors: whoever could string the great bow of Shiva would marry her. Only Rama could lift it, and it snapped in his hands. Janakpur claims the palace, Dhanusha Dham claims a piece of the broken bow.

Local tradition says the gods themselves came down to bathe at this meeting of rivers, which is why it is called Devghat, the gods' landing. Pilgrims also visit a cave that devotees associate with Sita, the heroine of the Ramayana. Bathing at the confluence on Maghe Sankranti is believed to bring great merit.

In the Ramayana, King Janaka set a test for Sita's suitors: string the great bow of Shiva. Kings and princes could not even move it. Rama lifted it with ease, and as he drew the string the bow broke with a sound like thunder. Local belief holds that one piece of that bow fell at this spot, where pilgrims now worship it in the Dhanusha temple.

In the Ramayana, King Janaka found the infant Sita in a furrow while ploughing. When she grew up, he declared that only a man who could string Shiva's great bow could marry her. Princes failed one after another; Rama lifted the bow and broke it. Local tradition says a golden image of Sita was found at the site of the Janaki Mandir in 1657, which is why the temple stands here.

In Hindu belief the gharial is linked with the goddess Ganga, who is shown riding a makara, a river creature often drawn with a long crocodile snout. Boatmen on the Narayani say a gharial basking on a sandbank brings good fishing, and older families along the river treated the animal with respect rather than fear, since it never attacks people.

Nepal's chronicles say that when Harisimhadeva fled Simraungadh ahead of the Tughlaq army, he carried with him the goddess Taleju, the protective deity of his house. She travelled into the hills with the fleeing court and later became the royal goddess of the Malla kings, enshrined in the Taleju temples of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Historians debate the details; devotees do not.

Buddhist texts tell that when the Buddha died at Kushinagar, eight peoples claimed his ashes and armies gathered. A brahmin named Drona calmed them and divided the remains into eight shares. The Shakyas carried their share home to Kapilavastu, and the Koliyas built a stupa over theirs at Ramagrama. Centuries later, says the Mahavamsa, Ashoka opened the relic stupas to share the relics across his empire, but at Ramagrama the guardian nagas turned him away.

Buddhist commentaries tell that the Shakyas and Koliyas once nearly went to war over the water of the Rohini river, which ran between their lands and which both needed for their fields in a dry year. The Buddha came and asked the two armies which was worth more, water or the blood of warriors. Shamed, they made peace. The story is told at Devdaha as a reminder that both his families were saved from fighting.

In the Buddhavamsa, Kakusandha Buddha was born to a brahmin family in the town of Khemavati, lived as a householder, left home after seeing the signs of age, sickness and death, and found enlightenment under a sirisa tree. Local tradition and many pilgrims place Khemavati at Gotihawa. The story mirrors Gautama's own life, which is the point the texts make: every Buddha walks the same road.

The Buddhist texts tell that when the Buddha first returned, the proud elders of the Shakya clan would not bow to a younger man. To soften their pride he rose into the air and performed a wonder. King Suddhodana bowed to his son, and the Shakyas followed. Later the Buddha's wife Yashodhara sent young Rahula to ask his father for his inheritance, and the Buddha answered by having him ordained.

Buddhist tradition tells that Queen Maya Devi dreamed of a white elephant carrying a lotus that entered her side. Months later, travelling from Kapilavastu to her parents' home in Devdaha, she stopped to rest in the Lumbini grove, reached up for the branch of a sal tree and gave birth standing. The newborn, the story goes, took seven steps, and a lotus opened under each one. He was first bathed in the pond now called Puskarini. Maya Devi died seven days later.

Buddhist tradition counts Konagamana, called Kanakamuni in Sanskrit, as the second Buddha of the present age, after Kakusandha and before Kassapa and Gautama. The Buddhavamsa says he was born in the city of Sobhavati and found enlightenment under an udumbara fig tree. Pilgrims link his birthplace and stupa to the country around Niglihawa, and Ashoka's inscription shows his stupa was already old and honoured by the 3rd century BCE.

The Sri Lankan chronicle Mahavamsa says that when Ashoka went to collect the relics of Ramagrama for his 84,000 new stupas, he found the stupa guarded by nagas, serpent beings who worshipped the relics, and he left them in peace. Another Theravada tradition says a flood later broke the stupa and the nagas took the relic casket into their realm, from where monks carried it to Sri Lanka for the Ruwanwelisaya stupa.

Local people tell that Tej Kumari asked, before she died, for a place of pilgrimage to be made in her name, and that Khadga chose the Kali Gandaki because the river is sacred and its banks are where Hindus come to be cremated and to bathe. Whether or not those were her words, the palace sits beside a ghat where pilgrims still stop on their way to Ridi.

Local tradition says that in the Treta age the sage Rishyashringa, the horned sage of Hindu legend, chose Resunga's forest for his meditation, and that the hill's name comes from his. In the Ramayana, Rishyashringa is the sage who led the sacrifice that brought sons to King Dasharatha, among them Rama. Pilgrims honour him at the summit temple, and many believe prayers made on Resunga are especially strong.

Local legend says a devout girl named Ruru performed long penance at this confluence, and Vishnu, pleased with her devotion, appeared to her here; the place took her name as Ruru Kshetra. Devotees also say the image of Rishikesh in the temple seems to change through the day, looking like a child in the morning, a young man at midday and an old man in the evening.

Swargadwari means the gateway to heaven, and local tradition says the five Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata stayed on this ridge. Some pilgrims say it was here that they rested on their final journey towards heaven. Devotees also tell of Swami Hamsananda meditating in the Gaumukhi cave, near a spring shaped like a cow's mouth, and believe that worship at Swargadwari opens the door to heaven for the faithful.

Local tradition says that when Mukunda Sen returned to Palpa from his campaign against Kathmandu, he brought back an image of Bhairab taken from the valley. He installed it at Bhairabsthan, about 9 km from Tansen, where pilgrims still come on Tuesdays and Saturdays and during Dashain. The temple is known for a huge trident, said to be the largest in Nepal, and for rot, a spiced rice-flour bread fried in ghee and shared as blessed food.

Buddhist tradition says Prince Siddhartha left his father's palace at night, riding his horse Kanthaka with his charioteer Channa, after seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a wandering ascetic on four trips outside the walls. Local guides at Tilaurakot point to the eastern gate as the one he rode through on this Great Departure. Treat the exact gate as a story; the departure itself is told in the oldest Buddhist texts.

Local legend in Lo says that when Guru Rinpoche, the eighth-century teacher Padmasambhava, passed through on his way to found Samye in Tibet, a demoness kept undoing the work of the faithful. He killed her near Ghami. Her blood stained the cliffs of Dhakmar red, her intestines became the long mani wall below Ghami, and her heart was buried at the place where Ghar Gompa, also called Lo Gekar, now stands. Pilgrims still walk this route in that order.

Local legend says that when Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, came through Lo on his way to Tibet, a demon tried to stop him and the building of the great monastery of Samye. Guru Rinpoche fought and killed the demon here. The demon's blood stained the cliffs of Dhakmar red, and its intestines were laid out as the long mani wall near Ghami. The gompa of Lo Gekar is said to stand where the struggle was finally won. Villagers point to each landmark as part of the story.

Hindu tradition says the black stones in the Kali Gandaki are forms of Vishnu. One version of the story, from the Puranas, tells of Vrinda, the faithful wife of the demon Jalandhara, who cursed Vishnu to become a stone after he deceived her. Vishnu accepted the curse and became the shaligram, and Vrinda became the river Gandaki and the tulsi plant. This is why pilgrims on the road to Muktinath still look for shaligrams on the riverbed near Jomsom and carry them home to their shrines.

Hindu pilgrims say that offerings made at the confluence of rivers carry special merit, and that the meeting of the Kali Gandaki and the stream from Muktinath at Kagbeni is among the most powerful places in Nepal for shraddha, the rites for dead ancestors. Pilgrims believe that rice balls offered here bring peace to the souls of parents and grandparents, which is why many Hindu families stop at Kagbeni on the way to or from Muktinath.

Tiji, Lo Manthang's great May festival, retells a legend of the deity Dorje Jono. A demon born in Lo, the story goes, brought drought and suffering to the land, and Dorje Jono, a form of the Buddha's power, took on the task of defeating him. Over three days in the palace square, masked monks of Chhoede gompa dance the tale, until the demon is destroyed and Lo is purified for the year ahead. Many villagers still see the festival as protecting their crops and families.

Lubra's people tell how the village began with a sign. Local legend says that the Bon lama Tashi Gyaltsen, arriving in the valley, planted pine needles in the ground and vowed that if one of them grew into a tree he would found a village on this spot. A tree grew, he stayed, and Lubra was born. The story is told as the reason the village and its monastery stand exactly where they do, in a narrow side valley rather than on the main trail.

Villagers tell a story about the chorten painted on the cliff above the gompa. Long ago, they say, Marpha was struck by leprosy and nothing the people tried could stop it. A monk from Tukuche, the village to the south, told them to build a chorten on the rock face and hold rituals there. They did as he said, the sickness ended, and Marpha prospered again. The painted chorten and the small stone chortens on the ledges below it are still looked after today.

Hindu belief holds that Vishnu attained liberation here and is worshipped as Muktinath, the Lord of Liberation, and that bathing under the 108 spouts washes away the sins of a lifetime. Tibetan Buddhists tell that Guru Rinpoche meditated at Chumig Gyatsa on his way to Tibet and blessed the springs, and that the flame burning over water in the Mharme Lhakhang shows that the five elements meet here. Pilgrims of both faiths see the flame as proof that the place is holy.

In Hindu tradition, Gosaikunda was created when Shiva, his throat burning from the poison he swallowed at the churning of the ocean, struck the mountain with his trident to bring out cold water. In Buddhist tradition, Langtang, Yolmo and Tsum are beyul, hidden valleys that Guru Padmasambhava blessed as refuges for hard times, and the yogi Milarepa is said to have meditated in caves in Tsum.

In Hindu tradition, when gods and demons churned the ocean for the nectar of immortality, a deadly poison rose first. Shiva drank it to save the world, holding it in his throat, which turned blue. Burning with pain, he came to the Himalaya and struck the mountainside with his trishul, his trident, and cold water burst out of the rock to form Gosaikunda. Pilgrims believe the lake is linked underground to the Kumbheshwar pond in Patan.

In Hyolmo and Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Yolmo is a beyul, a hidden valley blessed by Guru Padmasambhava as a place of refuge and meditation in troubled times. The name Yolmo itself is often explained as a place surrounded by high mountains under the protection of a goddess. Lamas and pilgrims have come to its caves and gompas to practise for centuries, and local stories link several sites to Guru Rinpoche's meditation.

The Langtangpa regard Langtang Lirung, the great mountain above Kyanjin, as their yul-lha, the local god who protects the valley and its herds. Offerings of juniper smoke and prayer flags on the ridges around Kyanjin are made to keep the mountain god content. In Langtang tradition the whole valley is also a beyul, a hidden land blessed by Guru Padmasambhava.

Local legend explains the name. A lama was following a yak that had wandered off, and the animal led him up into this valley. In Tibetan, lang can mean ox or yak, and teng or tang to follow, so Langtang became the valley found by following the yak. Langtangpa also hold the valley to be a beyul, a hidden land blessed by Guru Padmasambhava as a refuge in hard times.

Temple tradition at Nuwakot says the goddess Bhairavi protects the fort and its people, and her chief priest, the dhami, is bound to her territory. By old custom the dhami may not cross the Trishuli or the Tadi rivers without the king's permission, and when he dies the office passes to his eldest son. During Sindure Jatra the dhami is believed to carry the goddess, and people bring him their troubles and questions.

The name Manaslu comes from the Sanskrit manasa, meaning intellect or soul, and is usually translated as the mountain of the spirit. For the people of Sama, the mountain and its glaciers are the home of deities who must be respected. Local belief held that the avalanches which destroyed Pungyen Gompa in the 1950s were the anger of those gods, roused by foreign climbers on their mountain.

Buddhist tradition says the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa came to Tsum to meditate and lived in caves in the valley. The best known, Piren Phu, the pigeon cave, near Chhokangparo, is visited by pilgrims who believe it holds traces of his presence, including a footprint said to be pressed into the rock. Tsumba also regard the whole valley as a beyul, a hidden land blessed by Guru Padmasambhava.

The Limbu Mundhum tells how Tagera Ningwaphumang, the supreme creator, made the world, and how Yuma Sammang, the ancestral grandmother goddess, became the guardian of the Limbu home and its people. She is honoured at every Chasok Tangnam with the first grain of the harvest. Rai traditions in the Mundhum tell their own creation stories and of ancestors who moved up and down the hills with the seasons, a journey remembered in the Sakela dance.

A story told in Ilam's tea shops says the first tea bushes in Nepal grew from seeds the Chinese emperor sent as a gift to Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, and that some of those seedlings were carried east and planted on these slopes. Historians argue about the details, and some point instead to plants and know-how from Darjeeling next door. Locals tell it either way with a smile and a refill.

Sherpa and Rai stories speak of Khembalung, a beyul or hidden sacred valley in the Makalu-Barun country, said to have been set aside by Guru Rinpoche as a refuge for the faithful in times of trouble. Caves in the lower park are linked to the legend and visited by pilgrims. Locals say only those with the right merit can find the hidden valley's true heart.

People in Sikkim and among the Lepcha tell of a hidden valley of immortality on Kanchenjunga's slopes, a sacred refuge that will open to the faithful in a time of great danger. For Buddhists of the region the mountain is the dwelling of a protective deity, which is why the first climbers stopped short of the summit. Standing at Pang Pema, the stories feel close.

Local legend says that shepherds once grazed their flocks on this hilltop, and one day hundreds of their sheep vanished without trace. That night the goddess appeared in a dream to one of the shepherds and asked for an offering and a shrine on the summit. When the shepherds made the offering, the tradition of worship began. Pilgrims still say the goddess of Pathibhara grants the wishes of those who climb with a sincere heart.

People who live in the shadow of Kanchenjunga say its name means the five treasures of the high snow. In a belief held by the Lhopo of Sikkim and shared in stories on both sides of the ridge, the five summits hide treasures such as salt, gold and turquoise, sacred scriptures, armour, grain and medicine, which will be revealed to the devout when the world is in danger. From Sandakpur you look straight at those five summits.

Local legend says that when the goddess Sati died and Shiva wandered the world carrying her body, parts of it fell across these hills. Pilgrims in Bajura believe her left shoulder fell on Mallagiri mountain, now Badimalika, and in Dailekh people link the flames of Shirasthan and Nabhisthan to the head and navel of a divine body, though tellings differ on whose body it was. In Jumla, tradition holds that a sage named Chandannath came from Kashmir, set up the temple in Khalanga and brought marshi rice with him.

According to Hindu legend, when Sati threw herself into her father Daksha's sacrificial fire and Shiva carried her body across the world, her left shoulder fell on Mallagiri, now Badimalika. Local tradition adds that King Dipraj Chhatyal, out hunting, found his bow held by an unseen force; the goddess then appeared in his dream and told him to build her temple here instead of shedding blood. Later, after he tried to discover who brought him daily feasts, she told him to build a second temple at Nateshwori, where pilgrims still worship after visiting Badimalika.

Local tradition explains the flames through the body of a deity scattered across the hills: Shirasthan for the head, Nabhisthan for the navel, Padukasthan for the feet, and Dhuleshwar where ashes fell. Many people in Dailekh tell it as the body of the goddess Sati, carried by the grieving Shiva; others link the sites to Vishnu. Pilgrims treat each flame as a living presence of the divine.

Tradition says a holy man named Chandannath came from Kashmir carrying an image of Dattatreya, and that the temple in Khalanga was built where he set it down. He is also credited with bringing marshi rice to Jumla, having found the valley's seasons like those of Kashmir. Another story says a cow that would give no milk at home let it flow freely on this spot, showing villagers it was sacred.

Local belief holds that the Khaptad plateau has been a place of sages since ancient times, and that the shrine of Sahasralinga, the thousand lingas, marks a spot where Shiva himself is present among the stones. At the Ganga Dashahara fair, pilgrims bathe at Triveni, the meeting of three streams, believing it washes away sins and helps the souls of their ancestors.

Tradition in Limi holds that Rinchen Zangpo, travelling through the western Himalaya to found temples, built Rinchenling at Halji as one of a chain of monasteries across Ngari, Ladakh and Spiti. Villagers say the old images and wall paintings inside date from his time, and treat the monastery as the spiritual heart of the whole valley.

Local people give two stories for the name. One says Ramaroshan is named after two brothers, Rame and Roshan, who lived in the area long ago. The other ties the name to Shiva and Parvati, who are believed to have rested on the plateau, with the lakes and meadows marking their presence. Both stories are told with equal conviction in the villages.

Old genealogies of the Khasa kings say the dynasty's founder, Nagaraj, came south from Khari, the Ngari country of western Tibet, and chose the Sinja valley as his capital. Local people add that the Deuda circle dance, now sung across the far west, was first danced in Sinja's royal courtyards, and that it spread from here to the neighbouring hills.