Godavari lies some 10 km (6 mi.) east of Patan/Lalitpur on the Pulchowki river. It is a straggling community with a motley array of buildings and sights, completely lacking the compactness of a traditional Newari village. A marble works has operated in the vicinity since 1890.
The favorable climate and good soil enable a rich selection of orchids, ferns, succulents and cacti to thrive in the 24 ha (59 acres) Botanic Gardens. Unfortunately, few of these plants, typical of Nepal's wealth of flora, are marked. On Saturdays and public holidays the gardens are crowded; numerous families organize boisterous picnic parties and stroll through the park.
Water from the sacred Godavari Kunda (spring) collects in a pool in the inner temple courtyard before flowing via nine stone gargoyles into a stepped tank below. The Godavari spring and the river of the same name in Madras (southern India) are linked in legend by the miracle of an Indian sadhu who, having lost his precious possessions - rosary, club, pouch, tiger skin and gourd - while bathing in Madras, found them again in the Godavari Kunda. Every twelfth year when Jupiter is in the sign of Leo a mela (gathering) takes place here attended by thousands of Hindu pilgrims.
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