Bagmati River

The Bagmati River flows through the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, separating the cities of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, before flowing through Madesh Province of southern Nepal and joining the Kamla River in the Indian state of Bihar. It is considered holy by both Hindus and Buddhists. A number of Hindu temples are located on its banks. The importance of the Bagmati also lies in the fact that Hindus are cremated on the banks of this holy river, and Kirants are buried in the hills by its side. According to the Nepalese Hindu tradition, the dead body must be dipped three times into the Bagmati before cremation, so that the reincarnation cycle may be ended. The chief mourner (usually the first son) who lights the funeral pyre must take a holy river-water bath immediately after cremation. Many relatives who join the funeral procession also take a bath in the river or sprinkle holy water on their bodies at the end of the cremation. It is believed that the Bagmati River purifies people spiritually.

The name "Bagmati" is considered to be a Sanskrit translation of the indigenous Newar name nvakhu. In the Newar language, nva translates to "mouth" and khu to "river", thus nvakhu means "mouth river" or "murmuring river." The name nvakhu was translated as vākmati, from which the modern name Bagmati evolved.In the text Pashupati Purana, the river is mentioned as Vaagvati. Local religious traditions offer several mythological etymologies for the name. For instance, according to the Nepalese Hindu Puranas, the name derives from the Sanskrit words vāk (speech or mouth) and mati (wisdom/mind) as these texts describe the river as originating from the mouth of Shiva. Meanwhile, Nepalese Buddhist texts suggest the river was formed when the vāk (mantra or speech) of the Buddha Kakusandha struck a rock, releasing the water. The Bagmati River is considered the source of Nepalese civilization and urbanization. The river has been mentioned as Vaggumuda (Sanskrit: वग्गुमुदा) in Vinaya Pitaka and Nandabagga. It has also been mentioned as Bahumati (Sanskrit: बाहुमति) in Battha Suttanta of Majjhima Nikaya. An inscription dated 477 CE describes the river as Bagvati parpradeshe (Sanskrit: वाग्वति पारप्रदेशे) and subsequently also in the 14th century Gopalraj Vamshavali.

The basin of the Bagmati River, including the Kathmandu Valley, lies between the much larger Gandaki basin to the west and the Koshi basin to the east. These adjacent basins extend north of the main Himalayan range and cross it in tremendous gorges, in fact, the Arun tributary of the Koshi extends far into Tibet. The smaller Bagmati rises some distance south of the Himalayas. Without glacial sources, its flow is more dependent on rainfall, becoming very low during the hot season (April to early June), then peaking during the monsoon season (mid-June to mid-August). In these respects, the Bagmati system resembles the (West) Rapti system lying between the Gandaki basin and the Karnali basin in the far west of Nepal. The Bagmati originates where three headwater streams converge at Bāghdwār Falls (Nepali: बाघद्वार, lit. 'Tiger Gate'), where the water flows out through a gargoyle shaped like a tiger's mouth, situated in Shivpuri Nagarjun National Park near Sundarijal in Nepal . This lies above the southern edge of the Shivapuri Hills, about 15 kilometers (9 mi) northeast of Kathmandu. Here the Bagmati is wide and swift with a high load of suspended solids, giving it a grey appearance. The river flows southwest about 10 km (6 mi) through terraced rice fields in the Kathmandu Valley. Resistant rock strata interrupt the flow in places, including at Pashupatinath Temple. Beyond the temple, the river flows south until joined by the larger west-flowing Monahara River, then turns west itself. After entering Kath

Flows through: Nepal.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.