Kathmandu - Teku Dhoban

There are more ghats beyond the suspension bridge linking Kathmandu with the Patan district to the east. A series of little shrines, some of them hidden in the courtyards of houses, terminate at the Teku Dhoban, a temple at the confluence of the Vishnumati and Bagmati. It was on this spot, made holy by the merging of the two rivers, that the goddess Mahalakshmi instructed King Gunakama Deva to found Kathmandu, saying that Kamesvara, an incarnation of Shiva whom Indra and other gods came daily to worship, had his abode there. Although today the sacred site on the Bagmati is more like a peaceful residential suburb, it continues to be the preferred place of cremation for both Buddhists and Hindus.

Teku Dhoban is also a favorite spot during the Tij Brata Festival. Every year in August or the beginning of September large numbers of women gather here for the climax of the Festival, ending their fast with ritual ablutions to wash away their sins.