Pinay sa Nepal

Dakshinkali Temple is the farthest temple that I have visited so far. It’s three buses far from Chapagaun, Lalitpur, and commuting using public vehicles is totally uncomplicated. From Chapagaun, we go down in Satdobato Road and wait for a bus going to Balkhu. In Balkhu bus stop, we walk for 5 minutes until Dakchhinkali road, on the left side of the road, there are buses waiting for a passenger going to Dakshinkali Temple. The bus going in the place is few, so expect that the bus is already full and you need to stand, you’re so lucky if you have a place to sit down. However, you are free to wait for another bus if you don’t like to stand up but it will take a little longer.

The bus will stop directly at the entrance of the temple. The main path from the bus stop to the temple is lined with businesspeople selling offerings for Gods like coconuts, garlands, flowers, uncastrated male animals like chickens and goats and a lot more. 

Before you enter in the temple, you need to remove your shoes and socks. One of the etiquettes of the temple is to remove your feet covering to show respect. They have a shoe rack to place your shoes, I don’t see any guard that look after the shoes but when we return our shoes are still there.


Since there are a lot of followers that wanted to go inside the temple, devotees are requested to fall in line and wait for their turn. The temple is crowded; however, there’s a staff that manages the line so it’s kind of harmonious. When it’s our turn, we placed our offering, prayed and kept a blessed flower from the altar of Goddess Kali. 

The travel is approximately 3 hours far and we go from home without eating breakfast. It’s passed 9 o’clock already and we have decided to eat breakfast. There are affordable restaurants nearby which offer famous Nepali foods and snacks like momo, chowmein, fried potato, burgers, sell and much more. 

View from Mata Temple

After filling up our tanks, we proceed to the Mata Temple which was believed dedicated to Kali’s mother. As usual, needs to remove the shoes, we offer flowers and prayers. The view from this temple is mesmerizing; the location of Dakshinkali is in the top of the hills so you can see the view of the forest and the Pharping (Buddhist Monastery), which we haven’t visited because it’s out of our way. But I have read the reviews that the place is amazing. We take photos .Our travel going home is quite easy because there’s bus going directly to the bus stop of Laghankhel. So from Laghankhel bus stop, we ride a bus going to Chapagaun. The fare price is worth 40 rupees per head.

Image from tripadvisor.com

There are just a few things that I hope the management of the temple will rehabilitate. 1.) Garbage were just thrown on the side of the main entrance and were not segregated either. I saw in the cliff near the Mata Temple, wastes like flowers, plastics, cartoons were just thrown.  2.) The bathroom, it’s filthy. They should assign a person to maintain the cleanliness of the restrooms. 3.) The slaughter area where people clean the animals like goat and chicken after they offered in the temple is unsanitary. The washed blood and hair/feathers of the animals were just thrown in the river.

There are many foreigners visiting the place. I think little effort from the management to make the place as neat as a button is not a pain in the neck, instead, it can attract more visitors to enjoy the heavenly scenery of the temple.

However, our trip is awesome! I feel so blessed after visiting the temple. Dakshinkali is one of the historical temples in Nepal that everyone should visit!