Bagmati River

The Bagmati River is Nepal's most culturally and religiously significant river, flowing around 586 kilometres in total and running for about 10 kilometres through the Kathmandu Valley. It passes directly beside Pashupatinath temple, where its banks are used for Hindu cremation ceremonies, and is considered sacred throughout the valley.

The Bagmati rises at Bagdwar in the Shivapuri hills north of the city and leaves the valley through the Chobhar gorge. Within Kathmandu it is badly polluted by untreated sewage, and a volunteer clean up has run on Saturday mornings since 2013, among the longest sustained civic campaigns in the country. The gap between the river's ritual standing and its actual condition is one of the first things visitors to Pashupatinath notice.