Temples fell, faith did not: “Shila” mark lost shrines at Nepal’s Devighat

Oct 20, 2026

Nuwakot (Nepal), Oct 19 (ANI): At the confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers, the picturesque town of Devighat in Nuwakot district was once a thriving pilgrimage town, but the scene has changed since the August 26 flood. The quiet expanse is now filled with sand and silt, but the simple act of devotion continues amid these ruins.Devotees have begun returning to the very place where the temples once stood. They have placed holy stones, known as “Shila”, at the exact spots where the temples and other shrines once stood, offering flowers, incense and prayers to the goddess whose physical home the river erased. The catastrophic flash flood on August 26, triggered by a massive ice-and-rock collapse high in the Himalayas near the Nepal-China border, surged down the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems. The gushing ice, water and debris buried or swept away homes, shops, bridges and sacred structures across Devighat. With the fortnight-long festival of Dashain being celebrated nationwide, devotees have also thronged the riverbed to pay obeisance to the gods.