The Nepal temple where fire burns on water, and why it never goes out

Records & People At 3,762 metres in Mustang, natural gas keeps a flame burning beside a spring at Muktinath, a shrine Hindus and Buddhists have shared for centuries. By Dawa Sherpa · Aug 23, 2026 Read the full story

At Muktinath, 3,762 metres up in Nepal's Mustang district, natural gas seeping through the rock keeps a small flame burning beside a spring that never stops running. Fire and water sharing one small chamber is the reason pilgrims have climbed here for… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

What is actually burning

Methane, rising through fractured rock and igniting where it meets the air. Mustang sits on a fault-riddled stretch of the Himalaya, and the same collision that built these mountains keeps the ground cracked enough for gas trapped in the rock to reach the… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

One shrine, two religions

Muktinath is one of very few Himalayan sites where Hindus and Buddhists have shared the same shrine for centuries rather than building side by side. The name means "Lord of Liberation", and Hindu pilgrims come for moksha, release from the cycle of rebirth… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

The 108 spouts

A semicircle of 108 stone spouts, the Mukti Dhara, pours glacial spring water around the main temple, and pilgrims bathe beneath every one. In both traditions 108 stands for completeness; bathing under all of them is said to wash away 108 defilements of the… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Muktinath is not the only eternal flame

Natural gas seeps burn in a handful of places on Earth, which makes Muktinath remarkable rather than unique. What sets it apart is the company: a spring, a shared shrine and a pilgrimage at 3,762 metres. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

How to get there, and the one mistake to avoid

Walk up rather than drive up. Trekkers on the Annapurna Circuit reach Muktinath the day they cross the 5,416 m Thorong La; others fly Pokhara to Jomsom and continue by foot or jeep. You need an Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, and there is no separate… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Jomsom Muktinath Trek

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