Maha Shivaratri at Bhaleshwor Mahadev, Chandragiri

Maha Shivaratri falls on Falgun Krishna Chaturdashi, the fourteenth day of the waning fortnight in the Nepali month of Falgun. In Gregorian terms that is February in most years, occasionally sliding into the first days of March. As with every festival on this site, the exact date moves annually with the lunar calendar and should be checked against a current Nepali calendar.

The observance is a night festival. The important hours are from dusk until dawn, which is what makes it awkward and rewarding at a summit shrine 2,551 m up a cold ridge.

Bhaleshwor Mahadev sits on the highest point of the Chandragiri ridge, directly above Thankot. Tradition holds that this is where the forehead, bhala, of Sati Devi fell when Shiva carried her body across the world, which is where the shrine takes its name. As a Shiva site it is the natural focus for Shivaratri on this side of the valley, and it draws people who cannot get to or do not want the enormous crowds at Pashupatinath in the city.

The shrine also anchors the Swasthani Brata Katha period, the month-long recitation and fast that runs through Magh and finishes close to Shivaratri, which brings a steady flow of pilgrims to the summit through the coldest part of the year. Our Bhaleshwor Mahadev page covers the shrine, its opening hours and the ordinary-day visit.

Devotees fast through the day and keep a vigil through the night, with offerings of milk, water, bel leaves and flowers to the lingam and continuous chanting. Bonfires are lit on the open ground near the summit and people cluster around them; at that altitude in February the temperature drops close to freezing after midnight and the wind on the ridge is genuinely cold.

The other thing that happens on Shivaratri, in Nepal generally, is the licensed consumption of bhang, a cannabis preparation associated with Shiva, by sadhus and by some laypeople. You will see it. It is legal only in this specific ritual context and only at certain sites, and the sensible position for a visitor is to observe and decline.

The unexpected reward is the view. Late February is one of the clearest periods of the Kathmandu Valley year, and from the ridge after dark the whole valley is a bowl of lights with the Himalaya sometimes visible on the northern horizon at first light.

The Chandragiri cable car climbs from the base station at Thankot to the summit in about nine minutes. On Shivaratri it is the bottleneck for the entire event. Expect the queue at the base station to be long from mid-morning and to be at its worst in the late afternoon as day visitors and vigil-keepers arrive together, and expect the descending queue at the summit to be worst around mid-morning the following day.

Two workable strategies. Either go up early, before about 9am, look around in relative calm and come down before the afternoon build-up; or accept that you are staying for the vigil, go up in the early evening, and come down after sunrise. The uncomfortable option is arriving at four in the afternoon, which puts you in both queues.

Walking is the third option. Trails climb from the Thankot side in roughly two to four hours depending on route and fitness, and on Shivaratri many pilgrims walk up rather than queue. Do not attempt the descent in the dark without a proper torch. Current fares and running hours are on our cable car page, and route options are in the getting there guide.

Shivaratri is the peak, but it is the end of a longer season rather than an isolated night. From the Poush full moon to the Magh full moon, roughly mid-January to mid-February, many households across Nepal observe the Swasthani Brata Katha, a month of daily recitation of the story of the goddess Swasthani accompanied by a fast. The narrative is saturated with Shiva and with Sati, and Bhaleshwor Mahadev, as a Sati site and a Shiva shrine, draws a steady stream of observers through the whole period.

The practical effect is that the coldest six weeks of the year are also the shrine's busiest stretch outside festival days. Weekend cable car queues in Magh are longer than a first-time visitor expects, and the summit temperature is at its lowest. It also means that if you want the ridge to yourself, the window is the shoulder period in Poush before the recitation begins, or the weeks after Shivaratri once Falgun is under way.

One more scheduling note. The Chandragiri ridge is at its clearest between roughly November and February, which is exactly the Swasthani and Shivaratri window. If your interest is the Himalayan view rather than the observance, you will be sharing the summit with pilgrims whatever you do. Going up on a weekday morning is the compromise that works: the air is still clear, the queue is short, and the shrine is active without being impassable. Our seasonal guide sets out the trade-offs month by month.

• A real jacket. The summit at 2,551 m in February is close to freezing after midnight, and the wind makes it feel colder.
• A head torch if there is any chance you will walk down.
• Cash in small notes for offerings and food stalls.
• Water and something to eat. Stalls run out and queues are long.
• Patience with the queue. Trying to jump it at the base station is the fastest way to sour the night for everyone around you.
• Modest dress and shoes you can take off easily at the shrine.