Janai Purnima, when the moon is full in August, high caste Hindus chant the powerful Gayatri mantra and change their Sacred Thread (or janai) while a red or yellow protection chord (a rakshya bandhan) is tied around the wrists of other Hindus and Buddhists. Many pilgrims journey to the mountains north of Kathmandu to emulate Lord Shiva by bathing in the sacred lake of Gosaikunda. Those unable to make the trek north, celebrate at Shiva's Kumbheshwor Mahadev temple. Here a pool with an image of Shiva at its centre is filled with water believed to have come from Gosaikunda.
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