Dhaulagiri in the context of "Annapurna"

Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country. (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal.) Nanda Devi is the 23rd-highest peak in the world and ranked 74th by prominence in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India.

Nanda Devi was considered the highest mountain in the world before computations in 1808 proved Dhaulagiri to be higher. It was also the highest mountain in India until 1975, when Sikkim, an independent kingdom until 1948 and a protectorate of India thereafter, became a state of India. It is located in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, between the Rishiganga valley on the west and the Goriganga valley on the east.

The eight-thousanders are 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) with summits that exceed 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in elevation above sea level and are sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks as measured by topographic prominence. There is no formally agreed-upon definition of prominence, however, and at times the UIAA has considered whether the list of 8,000-metre peaks should be expanded to 20 peaks by including the major satellite peaks of the canonical 14 eight-thousanders. All of the Earth's eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits lie in the altitude range known as the death zone, where atmospheric oxygen pressure is insufficient to sustain human life for extended periods of time.

From 1950 to 1964, all 14 of the eight-thousanders were first summited by expedition climbers in the summer season (the first to be summited was Annapurna I in 1950, and the last was Shishapangma in 1964); from 1980 to 2021, all 14 were summited in the winter season (the first to be summited in winter was Mount Everest in 1980, and the last was K2 in 2021). As measured by a variety of statistical techniques, the deadliest eight-thousander is Annapurna I, with one death (climber or climber support) for every three summiters, followed by K2 and Nanga Parbat (each with one death for every four to five summiters), and then Dhaulagiri and Kangchenjunga (each with one death for every six to seven summiters).

Pokhara (Nepali: पोखरा [ˈpokʰʌɾa]) is a metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the second largest city after Kathmandu, with 600,051 inhabitants living in 120,594 households as of 2021 census.

Pokhara is located 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, on the shore of Phewa Lake, and sits at an average elevation of approximately 822 m above sea level. The Annapurna Range, with three out of the ten highest peaks in the world—Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu—is within 15–35 mi (24–56 km) aerial range from the valley.

The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left-bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area is 46,300 km (17,900 sq mi), most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, the Gandaki is notable for its deep canyon. The basin also contains three mountains over 8,000 m (26,000 ft), namely Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna Massif. Dhaulagiri is the highest point of the Gandaki basin. In its upper reaches, the river is known as Kali Gandaki (or Gandaki) as it flows through the Mustang District and the famous Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal. When the river reaches the Terai plains of Nepal, it is referred to as the Narayani River. This name change typically occurs near the confluence with the Trishuli River at Devghat in Chitwan. Upon entering India, the river is known as the Gandak River.

Phewa Lake or Phewa Tal (Nepali: फेवा ताल, [ˈpʰewa tal]) is a freshwater lake in Nepal formerly called Baidam Tal located in the south of the Pokhara Valley that includes Pokhara city and parts of Sarangkot and Kaskikot. It is the third largest lake in Nepal and the largest in Gandaki Province after the Phoksundo lake in comparison to Nepal's water bodies. It is the most popular and most visited lake in Nepal. Phewa lake is located at an altitude of 742 m (2,434 ft) and covers an area of about 5.7 km (2.2 sq mi). It has an average depth of about 8.6 m (28 ft) and a maximum depth of 24 m (79 ft). The maximum water capacity of the lake is approximately 43,000,000 cubic metres (35,000 acre⋅ft). The Annapurna range on the north is only about 28 km (linear distance) away from the lake. The lake is also famous for the reflection of Mount Machhapuchhre and other mountain peaks of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges on its surface. The Tal Barahi Temple is situated on an island in the lake. It is located 4 km from the city's centre Chipledhunga.

Mustang District is one of the eleven districts of Gandaki Province and one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal which was a Kingdom of Lo-Manthang that joined the Federation of Nepal in 2008 after abolition of the Shah dynasty. The district covers an area of 3,573 km (1,380 sq mi) and in 2021 had a population of 14,452. The headquarter is located at Jomsom. Mustang is the fifth largest district of Nepal in terms of area. The district is home to Muktinath Temple ('lord of liberation or moksha') and is a sacred place for Hindus and Buddhists.

The district is a part of Gandaki Province in northern Nepal, straddles the Himalayas and extends northward onto the Tibetan Plateau. The district is one of the remotest areas in Nepal and is second in terms of the sparsity of population. The elevation ranges from 1,372 to 8,167 meters (mt.Dhaulagiri, the 7th highest mountain in the world), with several peaks above 7,000 meters.