Kharpunath

Kharpunath lies at the meeting of the Humla Karnali and the Dotsam in the high valleys of northwestern Nepal. The confluence is a place of pilgrimage, centred on a shrine of Shiva amid the mountain country of Humla. Paths follow the rivers towards the higher passes and the Tibetan plateau, while settlements occupy the slopes and valleys below. Worship at Kharpunath ties the river meeting to the sacred geography of the western Himalayas.