The temple a king found in the river
Ridi's story is tied to Palpa's Sen kings. Tradition says that King Mukunda Sen, bathing in the Kali Gandaki at the confluence, found an image of Vishnu in the water. He set it up in a temple on the bank and named the god Rishikesh, a name of Vishnu as lord of the senses. Palpa's rulers kept the place as a royal pilgrimage, and the bazaar grew around the temple.
Over the centuries Ridi became one of the great religious centres of the western hills. Its ghats became a favoured place for cremation, because dying or being cremated by the Kali Gandaki is believed to bring liberation. Female mendicants known as bhaktini ama have long lived and worshipped here. The old bazaar still keeps much of its medieval character.
In 2008 Nepal added the Rishikesh complex of Ruru Kshetra to UNESCO's tentative list. Today a road links Ridi with Tansen and Tamghas, and the old pilgrim trails are less used, but at Maghe Sankranti large crowds still come on foot, by bus and by jeep.
