Dawn had barely broken over the horizon as Bikas Shrestha and eight other Hindu pilgrims made their way along the narrow mountain road between Kagbeni and the village of Ranipauwa. Having spent nearly three days searching for Shaligrams along the banks of the Kali Gandaki River below, they were eager to reach Muktinath temple by no later than mid-day and begin their ritual bathing in the 108 waterspouts of the Vishnu mandir. Bikas was especially excited as he clutched the embroidered bag that now held his four most recent Shaligrams, each of which he hoped to lay at the feet of Sri Muktinath (Vishnu/Avalokiteshvara), the principal deity of Muktinath temple, during the afternoon darshan. “It is said,” he began breathlessly, still struggling against the thin high-altitude air, “that wherever there are twelve or more Shaligrams, that place is the same as the dham. It is no different than Muktinath. These four make fourteen for me now, so I think that this will be my last pilgrimage. I have enough for my children to take when they are older and two that I will give to my guru. Wherever I go now with them, it is pilgrimage to Muktinath.”

Several hours later, as we approached the temple complex just beyond the village, we passed a small group of Buddhist nuns of the Nyingma order on their way to the Vishnu mandir.