"Soul-Searching in the Himalayas: Unlocking the Buddhist Secrets of Upper Mustang"

Buddhism teaches us about the peace of mind, achieving the mental state where we can detach from all the needs and desire and freeing our soul and mind to achieve the enlighten and well-being. With that, as per the Hindu mythology, Himalayas has always been like heaven and a place where gods have lived during Satya Yug. Saying that, Nepal is one of the wonders of world where we can explore different beauties in the Himalayas. One of the fascinating and amazing creation of the god is Upper Mustang region of Nepal. Located beyond Annapurna Region and on the north of Mustang district, bordering with Tibet, Lo Manthang is the home of Buddhist monasteries, mysterious sky – caves and prosperous Buddhist realm. We can not only find solace with Himalayas, rather we can also get to explore the root Tibetan – Buddhist culture, the ancient history of Upper Mustang and the soul touching monasteries and Buddhist painting in the monastery.

Upper Mustang was one of the forbidden kingdoms till 1992 where travellers / visitors were not allowed to enter. Also, they had monarchy, where King had the power over their Kingdom. The Buddhist Kingdom of Himalayas, Upper Mustang - Lo Manthang has the meaning where ‘Lo’ represents the local language, ‘Man’ represents the heart and ‘Thang’ represents land. This place is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing Himalayan deserts on earth, currently listed on one of the beautiful destinations to visit as per the CNN Research Report, 2023.

The history of Lo Manthang is one of the most hear story which attracts and amaze all the travellers from the world. The history of Upper Mustang begain with the landing of warrior from Tibet side, Ame Pal (Buddhist from Western Tibet). As he came to Lo Manthang, he made Mustang one of the independent Kingdom and he started the kingdom by bringing the people from Tibet side. To defeat the local warlords, he constructed a walled city in Lo Manthang. The history says Mustang was under the rule of Yarlung dynasty (central Tibet) and in later days it came under the rule of Western Tibet Ngari. With the history coming from Tibet side and close to the Tibet border, this place is also known as the mini-Tibet of Nepal.

With the establishment of walled city of Lo Manthang by King Ame Pal, there are still 180 houses with narrow street including the 4 major Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, beautiful 1000s of century old tree, Royal Palace inside the walled city. These 4 major Monasteries (gompas) of Lo Manthang around where one of the grand Tiji Festival is held are: Bricke – Red Jampa Lhakhang of 14th century, Thubchen Gompa of 15th century, Chhoede Gompa and Choprang Gompa of 15th century. With the modernization, the road facility has reached to Lo Manthang but we can still see the true culture, Tibetan Buddhist people, monks, and tradition rooted amongst the people of Upper Mustang which makes this place one of the purest and most beautiful place on the earth.

While we are exploring Upper Mustang, we can connect with our soul and can see the beautiful blend of Buddhist culture in the Himalayas, which had started from the Tibetan influence but beautifully blended within the Mustang district of Nepal. Lo Manthang is one of the beautiful destinations anyone can ever visit and here we can see the Tibetan Buddhism and pre-Buddhist Bon religion being blended beautifully. This kind of blended culture, warming tradition and religion is one of the purest practices which is rare to find in the world. We can also get the chance to explore one of the holy and religious Hindu temples in Lower Mustang which is the perfect example of two different culture being blended in one place, and this makes Mustang trek or tour special and soul touching to visit and explore. 

Lo Manthang was the ancient forbidden Kingdom of Nepal and now also it is one of the restricted are where travellers have to get Special Restricted Area Permit to enter the Upper Mustang zone of Nepal. The restricted area of Mustang region starts from Kagbeni and ends in Jomsom. With the accessibility of road facility, now Mustang tour is also getting popular amongst the traveller. With that, still three are numerous of traveler from around the world who wants to explore Buddhism and one in a life time experience of trekking in the Mustang region.

The trek to Mustang region begins from Jomsom; then after trek leads to Kagbeni. Then after we begin the Upper Mustang tour to Chhuksang, then to Samar, Geling, Dhakmar, Tsarang and Lo Manthang. After exploring Lo Manthang for a day, we will descend via different route, i.e., at first Dhie and then Tange, then Tetang and other day to Muktinath and finally back to Jomsom.

For more information, visit: Upper Mustang Trek - Explore the Buddhism in Himalayas

In overall, Upper Mustang is one of the beautiful, mysterious destination we have ever visited in my whole life. Exploring the Buddhist culture in the himalayas of Lo Manthang was one of the once in a life time opportunity where we got to know about the culture, tradition, very interesting history of Upper Mustang. Also, on the way to Upper Mustang we could see the red cliffs, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri range, Kali Gandaki river flowing on the side of almost desert side, Saligrams. Also, the blend of Tibetan Buddhism culture was the most beautiful part and even best part was even with the modernization, the people have Upper Mustang have still managed to keep the monasteries, very fascinating ancient houses, and alleys along with their Tibetan - Buddhist culture alive.