The Haleshi temple of Lord Shiva is situated at a small hilly area in between the holy rivers Dudh Koshi to the right and Sunkoshi to the left of Khotang district in eastern Nepal.


This holy place is the religious destination for both the Hindus and the Budhist pilgrims. Buddhist monk Padmasambhava from Tibet meditated here a long time ago..In the same way Hindu sage called Mirchaya Baba who is still alive 130 years of age has also medit- ated here. Mahaguru Sankaracharya of India has also visited this place.People believe that wishes come true if one worships the god here whole heartedly. It is only the place in the eastern Nepal ,which is said to the common playground for both the Buddhists and the Hindus.

Geographers claim the formation of such a natural cave in the earth takes nearly 60 million years. It shows how antique it is. It can even be a good source for research and studies.
IIt is the place that one should visit at least once in a life time for it bears religions, historical, methodological, archeological, cultural & natural importance.



About haleshi:
2Among the most ancient and holiest places of Nepal, The Haleshi is one of them. It is very popular as The Pashupatinath of the eastern Nepal. There lie other numerous small beautiful caves. Everybody, who reaches there, can't resist themselves without appreciating its location,beauty as well as its natural inheritance. This is the place, which is famous for its historical, religious, cultural and tourism importance. Here, the image of the god is inside the cave, which is full of natural beauty. It is also a kind of pride for the people living there, as it is as famous as other temples like the Pashupatinath, the Lumbini etc. even internationally. It is the natural cave, which lies in 4th remote hilly region and is believed to be in existence since 6000 years. It is the place full of natural beauty and cultural inheritance.
The place is perhaps not an artificial creation but a gift of nature. There are three mysterious caves, which are believed to be the three eyes of lord Shiva. as we see in the first cave, we see an image of lord Shiva which is called as Haleshwar Mahadev. In the second cave there is an image of Nandi. So, the cave is know Basaha Gupha. And there is an image of bhairav an in the third cave.


This is the famous religious destination not only of the district but of the whole Eastern Development Region along with god mahadeva there are other god and goddess such as parbati. The cave is full of various entrances and images of different gods. Each and every stone of the cave is full of natural artistic images and the holes in the different corner. An angel stands as attractive doors of the cave. The whole cave is like a big stone which is beautifully carved by the hands of a good artist who worked hard to make it so beautiful. This is one of the most beautiful creations of nature more artistic and pure than the artificial creations. Different images and the different doors in the cave carry their own significance . Among them there are five doors, which are more important than the other doors. They are believed to do judgement whether the people coming here are religious or not. The doors are :


Ghoptay Dwar:
This door is named after its location. Ghoptay Dwar is a nepali word which means downward facing door. It is located to the Northwest of the image of the god. People enter here from the South and come out of the North. It is about 9 feet long.


Janma Dwar:
3A little further the Ghoptay Dwar to the east after walking 6 feet sliding way we can get to another door where one is allowed to enter first by putting one leg and the head carefully. It is Janma Dwar which means the birth door
Pap Dwar
To the East-South of the image of the god, there is an another door called Pap Dwar. In this door people enter from the east and come out hardly from the West.


Dharma Dwar:
After praying the Haleshwar Mahadev when we move forward in the West-North there are two 9/9 feet square shaped stones with a small gap between them. There is a tradition of going in and coming out from that gap. This gap is called Dharma Dwar.

 
Swarga Dwar:
There is another famous door called as Swarga Dwar. it looks really amazing if it is viewed from Yagya Shala , close to pap dwar. People can't reach there, as it is located really in a difficult place where there is no way to get through. It may have been named Swarga Dwar as Swarga in Nepali Means heaven where no people can reach and live in.
There is a legend that people who are really religious can easily enter the four dwars. But those who are not, cannot enter any of these dwars.


Pap Dwar:
To the East-South of the image of the god, there is an another door called Pap Dwar. In this door people enter from the east and come out hardly from the West.

Nature is really beautiful, mysterious and amazing as there are different things that look like artificial stones finished after a long hard work by a stone-carving artist. So not only religious people but also the people who believe only in scientific evidences also can't resist themselves without praising the beauty of the cave after watching its mechanism as well as the surrounding.


Basahasthan is the second cave of the place.It is also called as Basaha Dulo(hole). It is to the west of the temple of Shiva. The breadth of this cave is 45 to 50 feet and the length is about 220 feet. As we enter the cave from the west and reach 220 feet,we may find a hole there from where we can see the sky. Close to the hole there is about 80-85 feet wide jungle called 'Kailash'. People spend whole night inside this cave during festivals. Another important and amazing thing about the cave is that inside the Basaha hole one can see the sky from there, if people stand facing towards the sky open handed asking for milk to 'Kamdhenu' shouting 'Dudh Dau Mai' milk like white drops fall in some people's hands and water drops in some other's.According to the legend People who get milk like white drops are believed to be lucky and religious and in the same way those who get water drops are believed to be unlucky and not religious. So people who get white drops like milk thinks themselves lucky and get proud but the people with water drops think they are unlucky and get shy in sorrow.

People believe that the big stone, which is at the entrance of the Basahasthan, is Basaha (Sandhey) and some say it as the bones of Brikashur. In the same way in front of it, there is a stone shaped conch which is believed to be the Gauri Sankha that Vishnu blowed after killing Bhashmashur and the stone near the Gauri Sankha is believed to be the head of Bhashmashur. There is a small place near the door where one can hide himself is believed to be the same place where lord Vishnu had hidden himself with the aim to kill Brikashur.


Festival:
Lord Vishnu was the first ever devotee to pay homage to the Haleshi Mahadeva in the Satya Yuga, the golden age where as Balaram did in the third age called Dwapar Yuga. Afterwards, many kings, sages, devotees, philosophers, thinkers, hermits, abbots, ascetics and shankaracharya have been paying homage to this sacred place.

Today, abbots and ascetics, the descendants of Manohar Giri, daily worship in the temple on a provision of year. The puja is mainly conducted two times a day, during the morning and the evening hours by unmarried lads. They worship by offering leaves and fruits of wood apple, seeds and flowers of thornapple, coconuts, grains of rice, sandlewood paste, whit flowers, lead powder and lighting and incensing etc. Bells are rung and conches are blown in the temple. During the homage hours, kettledrum, cymbal, clarinet etc, there is a custom of performing special ceremonial rites of the Haleshor Mahadeva during some festivals such as Bala Chaturdashi, Shiva Ratri, Ram Nawami and Teez etc. In between, devotees perform various other religious performances like fire sacrifice and recitals of the Rudri, the Chandi and the Vedas, our religious epics, burning of 10 millions holy threads and offering millions of wood apple leaves etc. Guthi alone offers millions of wood apple leaves a year.

The Haleshwor Mahadeva is taken as the god of fulfilling wishes and giving boons to the real devotees. So devotees vow solemnly and act accordingly as their wishes have been fulfilled. King Rana Bahadur shah introduced guthi system in Nepal in 1843 B.S. Since then, a daily homage is being paid to the Mahadeva temple at Haleshi. Manorath Achrya of Khotang was given a red seal of offering 10 million leaves of wood apple annually to lord shiva. In 1874, he was also ordered to present a copper seat or alter to the Haleshi Mahadeva. It is found mentioned in the book written by a famous historian and explorer Mr. Gyan Mani Nepal