Discovering Ancient Gods, Ghosts, And Grains-Kagbeni, Nepal

Kagbeni is one of the most interesting villages in all of Nepal with it’s take on Western shopping and food culture. But it’s much more than that. Ancient Bonn Animist beliefs, statues and a picturesque location in the Kala Gandaki, the world’s deepest gorge, .  Join me John Saboe for a special edition of Far East Adventure Travel Podcast on the Buddhist trail to the Upper Mustang-The Medieval village of Kagbeni, Nepal 

The Kag in Kagbeni was once Ghag, meaning center and it is,  with the important Buddhist/Hindu pilgrimmage site Muktinath to the east and the town of Jomson to the south. The beni in Kagbeni means confluence of two rivers where the Kala Gandaki and Jhong Rivers meet is where the village sits.

It’s also the furthest north you can trek without a permit to the former Kingdom of Lo, the restricted Upper Mustang region. 

It’s an enriching experience just walking through the village admiring its’ almost 600 year old Buddhist monastery and observing everyday life. 

I wanted to get a deeper understanding of Kagbeni’s history and it’s ancient beliefs that still sculpt the life of the town today.  So I asked Dara Tsepten, the managing director of the YakDonald’s Hotel and restaurant and a native of Kagbeni to give me some background and context to the town’s most significant sites. 

It certainly explained this God’s appearance of being in a perpetual state of bliss and a village hungry for making babies.

Dara showed me the archway which contains two prayer wheels. 

We then visited Dara’s grandparents home. This mask  was once used by his grandfather for an almost forgotten village dance. Excerpts from “Ancient Gods, Ghosts, And Grains-Kagbeni, Nepal”.