Janai Purnima at Gosaikunda: Nepal's Highest Pilgrimage Falls on 28 August 2026
On the August full moon, tens of thousands climb to a sacred 4,380 m lake in Langtang. Here is the festival, the trek, and how to plan it.
Key facts
- Janai Purnima 2026 falls on Friday, 28 August; Gai Jatra follows on Saturday, 29 August.
- The pilgrimage centres on Gosaikunda, a sacred lake at 4,380 m in Langtang National Park.
- More than 30,000 pilgrims reach the lake for the full-moon night.
- You need a Langtang National Park permit and a TIMS card; the shortest trek to the lake takes about 7 to 9 days.
Every year on the full moon of Shrawan, something happens in the mountains north of Kathmandu that you will not see anywhere else in the trekking world. Tens of thousands of pilgrims — Hindu and Buddhist, young and old, many of them barefoot — climb to a lake at 4,380 metres and bathe in its cold waters at first light. This is Janai Purnima at Gosaikunda, and in 2026 it falls on Friday, 28 August, with the satirical cow festival of Gai Jatra the following day.
For us it is the one time of year when a high Himalayan trek and a living religious festival become the same journey — and it is one of the most extraordinary things a visitor can witness in Nepal.
The festival
Janai Purnima is the sacred-thread festival. Across the country, Brahmin and Chhetri men replace the janai, the cord worn across the chest, in a ritual of renewal; priests tie the yellow raksha protection thread on the wrist of anyone who asks. At Gosaikunda the day takes on a far older, wilder character. Pilgrims who have walked for days reach the lake through the night and immerse themselves at dawn, jhankri shamans drumming among them.
The lake itself is sacred to Shiva. In the myth, after drinking the poison churned from the cosmic ocean, the burning god struck the mountainside with his trident and the springs that burst out filled the basin that became Gosaikunda. On a clear morning you can pick out a dark rock at the lake centre that pilgrims believe to be Shiva himself.
The trek
The classic approach drives from Kathmandu to Dhunche or Syabrubesi (a long 7 to 9 hours), then climbs through rhododendron forest to Chandanbari, Cholangpati and Lauribina before the trail breaks out above the tree line into the lake basin. Most reasonably fit trekkers reach Gosaikunda in three to four walking days from Dhunche, which makes a 7 to 9 day round trip from Kathmandu.
For a fuller journey, the Langtang and Gosaikunda circuit links the Langtang Valley and Kyanjin Gompa with the lakes and can finish by crossing the Laurebina La (4,610 m) down into the Helambu hills — 13 to 17 days of some of the most varied walking in Nepal.
| Permit | NPR | USD ≈ |
|---|---|---|
| Langtang National Park entry | 3,000 | 22 |
| TIMS card (via agency) | 2,000 | 15 |
| Total | 5,000 | ~37 |
What this means for trekkers
Our honest take
August is monsoon, and we will not pretend otherwise — the road to Dhunche can be slow after heavy rain, the lower trail is muddy and leechy, and afternoon cloud is the rule. But the lake basin sits high above the worst of it, and walking to a 4,380 m shrine in a river of pilgrims under a full moon is something the dry season simply cannot give you. Come with eyes open, a flexible day or two in hand, and a guide who knows the current road conditions.
If the festival timing does not suit, the very same trek is glorious in October and November or March to May, when the lake mirrors the peaks without a ripple and the trail underfoot is dry.
Planning to be in Nepal in late August? Talk to us about timing the Langtang and Gosaikunda trek to the full moon, or the shorter Gosaikunda Lake trek straight to the pilgrimage. Confirm current rules first on our permits page.
Source: Nepal Tourism Board — Janai Purnima; festival date Bhadra 12, 2083 BS (28 August 2026).
Source: Nepal Tourism Board
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