The Manakamana Devi temple, situated in the Gorkha district of Nepal, is regarded as a wish-fulfilling temple and is worshipped by most of the Hindu population around the world. In the
Nepali Language, "
Mana" meaning heart and "
Kamana" meaning wishes hence, making Manakamana the ‘goddess of hearts wishes’. The legend of the Manakamana goddess dates back to the 16th-century
King Ram Shah of Gorkha, who mysteriously died after witnessing his queen’s divine power as an incarnation of the Hindu goddess
Durga. Shortly after his death, the queen had to practice the historical and sacrificial custom of ‘
sati ’. Lakhan Thapa Magar, a devotee of the queen, grieved and pleaded with the queen before her death and she promised him that she would reappear soon. Years later when a farmer was ploughing his field, he struck a boulder and to his surprise witnessed the appearance of blood and milk coming from it. Hearing about this phenomenon, Lakhan Thapa was convinced that it was a symbol of the late queen’s return and that his wish had come true. The discovery site became the present-day shrine where he chose to devote the rest of his life to serving the goddess Manakamana thus, starting a tradition of patrilineal descent of Thapa-Magar priesthood that continues in their 21st generation of devotion. ==Stations==