Muktinath in the context of "Vaishnavism"

Manang (Nepali: मनाङ) is a town in the Manang District of Nepal. It is located at 28°40'0N 84°1'0E with an elevation of 3,519 metres (11,545 ft). According to the preliminary results of the 2011 Nepal census, the district has a population of 6,527 people living in 1,495 individual households. Its population density is 3 persons/km.

It is situated in the broad valley of the Marshyangdi River to the north of the Annapurna mountain range. The river flows to the east. To the west, the 5,416-metre (17,769 ft) Thorong La pass leads to Muktinath shrine and the valley of the Gandaki River. To the north there is the Chulu East peak of 6,584 m (21,601 ft). Most groups trekking around the Annapurna range take resting days in Manang to acclimatize to the high elevation, before taking on Thorong La pass. The village is situated on the northern slope, which gets the most sunlight and the least snow cover in the winter. The terraced cultivation fields are on the north slope.

Manang District (Nepali: मनाङ जिल्ला Listen, in Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Chame as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,246 km (867 sq mi) and in 2011 had a population of 6,538.

The Thorung La pass, at 5,415 meters above sea level, connects the district with Mustang district by providing a route between the towns of Manang and Muktinath. Manang district gets the lowest amount of rainfall among the districts of Nepal as it lies to the north of the Himalayas, which block monsoon winds. The Manang Valley, which lies close to the Nepal-Tibet border, offers tremendous opportunities due to its rich natural flora and fauna. Three tracks start from here. The first, via Thorangla, Muktinath, and Mustang to Lhasa—a journey that takes four days; the second via Naur Khola and Naurgaon, which takes five days to Lhasa; and the third via Larkiya bazar, which is the one most commonly used by the people of Central Nepal.

Thorong La or Thorung La is a mountain pass with an elevation of 5,416 metres (17,769 ft) above sea level in the Damodar Himal, north of the Annapurna Himal, in central Nepal. Thorong Ri is on the slope of Khatung Kang and Yakawa Kang are the mountains forming Thorong La. The pass is located on a trail that connects the village of Manang in the Manang District to the east, with the temple of Muktinath and the nearby village of Ranipauwa, in the Mustang District to the west. Thorong La is the highest point on the Annapurna Circuit, a 300 km (190 mi) route around the Annapurna mountain range. In addition to trekkers, the pass is regularly used by local traders.

Divya Desam (Sanskrit: दिव्यदेशम्, Tamil: திவ்ய தேசம்) or Vaishnava Divya Desams are the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that are mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. By comparison, the Paadal Petra Sthalam are the 276 Shiva temples glorified in the works of the Shaiva Nayanars.

Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the last two are believed to be outside the earth, in Tirupparkatal/Kṣīra Sāgara and Vaikuntham. In India, they are spread across the states of Tamil Nadu (84), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (2), Gujarat (1), Uttar Pradesh (4), and Uttarakhand (3). Muktinath, Saligramam is the only Divya Desam outside of India, in Nepal. Tamil Nadu is home to the most number of Divya Desams with 25 of them being located in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. The Divya Desams are revered by the 12 Alvars in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses. The Divya Desams follow either Tenkalai or Vadakalai modes of worship.

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.

The Char Dham of Nepal (Nepali: नेपालको चार धाम) is a set of four Hindu religious sites in Nepal. They are Pashupat Kshetra, Mukti Kshetra, Ruru Kshetra and Baraha Kshetra.