Kathmandu empties for Dashain. Pokhara does the opposite: it empties a little for the tika and then fills to the brim. For Nepali families and groups of friends with a week's holiday, the lake, the mountains and the short treks behind them are the obvious place to go, and the days after the tenth are the busiest Lakeside sees all year.
That makes Pokhara a good place to spend the festival and a place to book ahead. This guide covers what the city offers during Dashain and how to use it as a base. The town in general is covered in our Pokhara travel guide.
The Festival in Pokhara
Pokhara is a Hindu town in Gurung and Magar country, and it keeps Dashain fully. The old bazaar, north of the lake, is where the festival is felt: markets busy in the first week, the main temple crowded on the eighth and ninth days, kites over the rooftops. Lakeside, the tourist strip, is a little apart from it — the restaurants stay open and the only sign may be a tika on your waiter.
The villages on the ridges above are where it looks best. Every one has a swing, and from Sarangkot or Dhampus the backdrop is the whole Annapurna range.
Bindhyabasini Temple
The city's oldest and most important temple stands on a wooded hillock in the old bazaar, a white shrine dedicated to a form of the goddess Durga. That makes it the centre of Pokhara's Dashain. On Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami a queue of worshippers winds up the steps from first light, and goats, ducks and chickens are sacrificed in the enclosure beside the shrine.
On other days of the festival it is calmer: families bringing offerings, bells, a wide view north to Machhapuchhre from the terrace. Visit early in the morning. If you would rather not see sacrifice, avoid the eighth and ninth days — the background is in animal sacrifice at Dashain. The temple is a stop on our Pokhara day tour.
Tal Barahi and the Lake
The two-tiered pagoda on the small island in Phewa Lake is dedicated to Barahi, another form of the goddess, and is reached only by boat. Through Dashain the boats shuttle steadily from the Lakeside jetty carrying families with offerings, and the priest gives tika to those who come. It is the gentlest way to see the festival's religious side: ten minutes on the water, a small crowded shrine, and the mountains reflected behind it on a still morning.
Swings and Villages Above the Lake
The best Dashain outing from Pokhara needs no temple. Drive or walk up to one of the ridge villages — Sarangkot, Kaskikot, Dhampus, Astam — and you will find a bamboo swing on the village ground, children queuing for it, houses freshly painted, and on the tenth day a great deal of coming and going between them. Visitors who stop to watch are usually handed a turn on the swing.
Sarangkot at sunrise is the classic, and on a Dashain morning the light on Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre comes with kites going up below you — Pokhara day tour with Sarangkot sunrise. The five viewpoints tour links several ridges in a day. See Dashain swings and kites for what you are watching being built.
For the tika itself, a Gurung homestay puts you inside a household for it. Sirubari in Syangja and Ghalegaun in Lamjung are both a few hours from Pokhara — see our guides to Sirubari and Ghalegaun.
Day by Day
| Period | 2026 dates | Pokhara |
|---|---|---|
| Before Phulpati | 11 – 16 October | Normal October: busy with trekkers, old bazaar lively |
| Phulpati to Navami | 17 – 20 October | Bindhyabasini crowded; Lakeside open and relaxed; trails quieter than usual |
| The tika | Wed 21 October | Very quiet. Some Lakeside restaurants closed until evening; villages at their best |
| After the tika | 22 – 26 October | The domestic holiday rush. Lakeside full, boats queuing, trailhead jeeps busy from dawn |
| After the full moon | From 27 October | Back to normal peak season |
Dates for other years are in our Dashain calendar.
Getting There and Away
Fly. The road from Kathmandu is at its worst in the days before Phulpati and again after the tika, and the flight takes twenty-five minutes. Book it with the trip; seats go early. Tourist buses run on most days except the tika. The detail is in getting around Nepal during Dashain.
If you are coming for the busy days after the tika, reserve your hotel as well. Lakeside has a great many rooms and in that week they fill.
Treks and Activities From Pokhara
Pokhara is the gateway to the Annapurna treks, and the trick at Dashain is to walk before the crowd rather than with it. Start a short trek on Phulpati, spend the tika in a mountain village, and walk out as the rush walks in.
- Treks: Poon Hill, Mardi Himal and Annapurna Base Camp, all from Pokhara — see Annapurna treks during Dashain.
- In the air: tandem paragliding from Sarangkot and the ultra-light flight both operate through the festival. October's stable mornings are the best flying weather of the year.
- On the water: boating on Phewa Lake, and rafting on the Seti.
- For the mountains without walking: the Annapurna Base Camp helicopter tour.
Book activities ahead for the days after the tika, when Nepali holidaymakers fill the slots. Our paragliding guide and short treks from Pokhara have the detail.
A Quiet Corner
If Lakeside in the rush is more company than you want, there are easy escapes: the north shore of the lake beyond the last hotels, the World Peace Pagoda at dawn, and Begnas Lake, forty minutes east, which stays calm when Phewa does not. Couples timing a trip for the festival will find the hill resorts above the town quieter than the strip — see our Pokhara Honeymoon Tour. And after a trek, Pokhara's yoga and meditation studios keep their schedules through the holiday: meditation and yoga in Pokhara.
