The Manakamana cable car runs from a base station at Kurintar on the Prithvi Highway, roughly midway between Kathmandu and Pokhara, up to the Manakamana temple at 1,302 metres in Gorkha district. The ride takes around ten minutes and replaces a walk that used to take three hours or more. It generally operates from early morning to late afternoon, with extended hours during Dashain and other peak festival periods.
This page is logistics only: timings, tickets, queues, journey times and what is actually at the top. If you want the story of the temple, the goddess and the priest lineage, that is in our Manakamana temple guide, and it is a better read than a timetable.
Where the cable car starts
The base station is at Kurintar, on the Prithvi Highway, the main road between Kathmandu and Pokhara. It is on the Kathmandu side of Mugling, the junction where the road to Chitwan and the Tarai splits off. Every long-distance bus between Kathmandu and Pokhara passes it, which is what makes the temple so easy to add to a journey you were making anyway.
Coming from Kathmandu, allow around three hours in normal conditions. Coming from Pokhara, allow a similar amount. Both numbers are optimistic on a Friday afternoon, during a festival, or when roadworks are under way on the Prithvi Highway, which is often. A private car does it faster than a tourist bus, which stops; a tourist bus does it faster than a local bus, which stops constantly.
If you are on a tourist bus and want to break the journey here, tell the driver before you set off rather than at the moment you want to get down. Buses will normally drop you at Kurintar, but you then need to flag another one afterwards, and that is easier northbound than southbound.
| Detail | Manakamana cable car |
|---|---|
| Base station | Kurintar, on the Prithvi Highway |
| Top station | Manakamana, Gorkha district |
| Temple elevation | 1,302 metres |
| Ride time | Around ten minutes each way |
| Drive from Kathmandu | Around three hours in normal conditions |
| Drive from Pokhara | Around three hours in normal conditions |
| Typical operating pattern | Early morning to late afternoon, daily |
| Busiest days | Saturdays, Dashain, and the Nepali festival calendar generally |
| Walking alternative | A long uphill footpath, several hours |
Opening times and how they change
The cable car runs daily and, in normal operation, from early in the morning until late afternoon. During Dashain and other major festivals the service typically starts earlier and finishes later to handle the volume, and there are occasional short closures for annual maintenance.
Because those hours shift with the season, the festival calendar and maintenance schedules, this page will not print a specific opening time. A stated time that has changed is worse than no time, because it is the reason people arrive at a closed gate. Confirm the current hours with the operator or with your hotel the day before you travel, particularly if you are planning to arrive late in the day or during a festival period.
The practical rule that does not change: go early. The first hours of the morning are quieter, cooler and clearer, the queue is shortest, and you leave yourself margin if anything goes wrong. Arriving at three in the afternoon on a festival Saturday is how people end up not getting up the hill at all.
Tickets and the queue
Tickets are bought at the base station rather than online, and there are separate fare categories for Nepali citizens, visitors from SAARC countries and other foreign nationals, which is standard across Nepali attractions. There are also reduced rates for children and, usually, concessions for older passengers. Return tickets are the normal purchase; one-way is available if you intend to walk one leg.
Fares change, so this page does not quote them. Check the operator directly before you travel and budget generously rather than precisely. Bring cash in Nepali rupees, and bring smaller notes than you think you need.
The queue is the real variable. On an ordinary weekday morning outside festival season it can be minimal. On a Saturday, which is Nepal's weekend and the day families make temple trips, it builds substantially. During Dashain it can become a multi-hour wait in both directions, and the queue to come down in the late afternoon is often worse than the queue to go up in the morning, because everybody wants to leave at once.
Two things follow from this. Go on a weekday if you possibly can. And if you go on a busy day, start the descent earlier than feels necessary, because being stuck at the top station at dusk is a genuinely common outcome.
The ride itself
Around ten minutes, in an enclosed gondola cabin, climbing steeply out of the Trishuli valley with the river dropping away behind you. On a clear morning there are mountain views to the north; in the haze of late spring there are not. The cabins are small and shared, and there is a separate cargo service for goods, and notably for goats being taken up for sacrifice, which is a detail visitors are often surprised by and which is part of the temple's ordinary religious life.
If you get motion sick, this is a short ride and the towers produce a brief lurch each time. Anyone with a serious fear of heights should think about it honestly before buying a ticket, because there is no way to stop halfway.
The footpath is still there and still walked, mostly by pilgrims doing it as an act of devotion. It is a hard uphill climb of several hours and there is no shade for much of it. Walking up and riding down is a reasonable plan for a fit walker in cool weather; walking both ways in May is not.
What is at the top
A small settlement has grown around the temple, and it is busier and more commercial than the shrine itself. Shops sell offerings, prasad, souvenirs and snacks. There are simple restaurants doing dal bhat and noodles, tea stalls everywhere, and basic guesthouses for people who want to be there for the first ritual of the morning.
The temple courtyard is active from early morning. Expect a queue for darshan on busy days, and expect animal sacrifice, which is an ordinary part of worship here and is done in a designated area. Visitors who would rather not see it should keep to the outer courtyard.
Allow two to three hours at the top for a normal visit: the walk from the station, time in the courtyard, food, and the wait to come down. On a festival day, allow considerably more or plan to stay overnight.
Fitting Manakamana into a Kathmandu to Pokhara journey
The strongest argument for Manakamana is that it costs you almost no detour. It is on the road you were driving anyway. Leaving Kathmandu early, riding up, spending a couple of hours and continuing to Pokhara in the afternoon is a comfortable single day, and it turns a dull six-hour road transfer into a trip with something in it.
Other stops on the same corridor pair well. Devghat, the river confluence pilgrimage town near Bharatpur, is covered in our Devghat guide and sits off the same highway via Mugling. North of Kathmandu, Nuwakot Durbar is on the upper Trishuli. For where Manakamana sits among the country's major shrines, see our guide to the top temples of Nepal.
Accessibility, luggage and travelling with children
The cable car is the accessible route up a hill that is otherwise a hard climb, and that is a large part of why it exists: it put the temple within reach of elderly pilgrims who could no longer walk it. Boarding involves stepping into a moving-then-stopped cabin, and staff assist, but the top station still leaves a walk through the settlement to the temple courtyard on uneven surfaces with steps.
Anyone with limited mobility should plan for that last stretch rather than assume the cable car delivers them to the shrine door. Going on a quiet weekday makes it substantially easier, because the crowd is the main obstacle.
Large luggage is not what the cabins are for. If you are breaking a Kathmandu to Pokhara journey, the practical arrangement is to leave bags with your onward transport or at a hotel rather than hauling them up. There is a separate goods service, and it carries what pilgrims bring, which includes goats destined for sacrifice.
Children generally enjoy the ride. It is short, enclosed and not frightening for most, and the settlement at the top is full of snack stalls. Carry water, because the walk from the station in the sun is warmer than the cabin suggests.
If the cable car is not running
Closures happen: annual maintenance, technical stoppages, and weather in the form of high wind or an electrical storm. There is no timetable that guarantees a service, and a closure on the day is a real possibility rather than a theoretical one.
Your options are the footpath, which is several hours of steep climbing, or continuing your journey and coming back another time. Since almost everyone visits as a stop on a longer road trip, the second is usually the sensible choice. Building the visit into a morning rather than an afternoon leaves you the option of waiting a few hours for a stoppage to clear.
Gorkha Durbar, the hilltop palace where Prithvi Narayan Shah began the campaign that unified Nepal, is in the same district and is a reasonable substitute if you have a vehicle and a spare half-day. Our post on Prithvi Narayan Shah and the unification of Nepal explains what happened there.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does the Manakamana cable car open?
It runs daily from early morning to late afternoon, with extended hours during Dashain and other major festivals and occasional closures for annual maintenance. Because the exact times shift with the season and the festival calendar, confirm with the operator or your hotel the day before rather than relying on a figure published online.
How long does the Manakamana cable car take?
Around ten minutes each way. The walking alternative up the same hill takes several hours and is a hard climb with little shade.
How high is Manakamana temple?
1,302 metres above sea level, in Gorkha district. That is mid-hill elevation, so there is no altitude concern, but it is noticeably cooler and clearer than the highway below.
Where is the Manakamana cable car station?
At Kurintar on the Prithvi Highway, the main Kathmandu to Pokhara road, on the Kathmandu side of the Mugling junction. Every long-distance bus on that route passes it.
How much does the Manakamana cable car cost?
Fares are set separately for Nepali citizens, SAARC nationals and other foreign visitors, with reductions for children. They are revised periodically, so check the current rate with the operator before travelling rather than budgeting from a figure on a blog. Bring cash in Nepali rupees.
How long is the queue for the Manakamana cable car?
Minimal on a quiet weekday morning, substantial on Saturdays, and potentially several hours in each direction during Dashain. The descent queue in the late afternoon is often worse than the ascent queue, so start down earlier than you think you need to.
Can you book Manakamana cable car tickets in advance?
Tickets are normally bought at the Kurintar base station on the day. Arriving early is the effective substitute for booking, because it puts you ahead of the queue rather than in it.
Can you walk up to Manakamana instead?
Yes. The footpath predates the cable car and pilgrims still use it as an act of devotion. It is a steep climb of several hours with little shade. Walking up and riding down is reasonable for a fit walker in cool weather; walking both ways in the pre-monsoon heat is not.