Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chair Rabi Lamichhane is travelling to India on Friday for a three-day pilgrimage that his office describes as a private and family visit. According to his personal secretariat, the RSP chair will worship with his family at a series of religious sites across the neighbouring country, with the well-known Kainchi Dham in Nainital, Uttarakhand, among the destinations on his itinerary. The trip begins on Kartik 6 and lasts three days, the secretariat said, framing the journey as an act of worship rather than an official or political engagement.
Three Days of Worship with Family
The plan for the visit was made public through a statement issued by Lamichhane's personal secretariat, which outlined the timing, duration and purpose of the journey. As reported by Nepal Press, the RSP chair will depart for India on Friday, corresponding to Kartik 6 in the Nepali calendar, and will spend three days in the country on a pilgrimage. Nagarik News, which also covered the announcement, similarly described the trip as a three-day visit to India for religious purposes.
The key details confirmed by the secretariat are as follows:
- Travel date: Friday, corresponding to Kartik 6 in the Nepali calendar
- Duration: Three days
- Nature of visit: Private and family pilgrimage
- Identified destination: Kainchi Dham, in Nainital district, Uttarakhand, India
During the three days, Lamichhane plans to worship alongside his family members at various religious sites. While the secretariat did not publish a site-by-site schedule, it specifically identified Kainchi Dham as one of the places the family intends to visit for worship. The statement presented the entire journey as a personal and family pilgrimage, setting it apart from the official programmes that typically accompany foreign travel by senior political figures.
The timing of the visit coincides with the month of Kartik, a period widely regarded as auspicious for worship and religious observance among devotees in Nepal. That backdrop aligns with the purpose stated by the secretariat, which has consistently described the trip as time devoted to worship with family.
Kainchi Dham: A Renowned Pilgrimage Destination
Kainchi Dham, the destination singled out in the announcement, is a widely visited ashram and temple complex situated in the hills of Nainital district in Uttarakhand, a northern Indian state often referred to as a land of pilgrimage sites. The ashram is regarded as one of the best-known spiritual destinations in the region and draws a steady flow of devotees from different parts of India and abroad throughout the year. For many devotees travelling from Nepal, the site is a familiar stop on religious journeys through the Uttarakhand hills.
Nainital itself counts among Uttarakhand's most visited destinations, and the district's hill shrines and ashrams have long attracted pilgrims seeking quiet settings for worship and reflection. The prominence given to Kainchi Dham in the announcement underlines the religious character of the visit, which the secretariat has framed purely as a pilgrimage. It remains the only site named publicly, with the rest of the itinerary described simply as worship at various religious places.
A Private Journey for a Public Figure
As chair of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Lamichhane is a prominent figure in Nepali politics, and news of his foreign travel tends to attract considerable public attention. On this occasion, however, the announcement has come not through the party but through his personal secretariat, which has presented the trip entirely as a family pilgrimage. The statement made no reference to political meetings or official programmes during the three days in India.
Both Nepali outlets that reported the announcement characterised the journey in the same terms, noting that the RSP chair would be accompanied by family members and would devote the visit to worship at religious sites. The consistent framing across the reports points to the personal nature of the trip: three days set aside for pilgrimage, with Kainchi Dham in Nainital as the best-known stop along the way.
The secretariat's statement was brief, confined to the basic outline of the journey, its timing and its purpose. It did not specify the composition of the family delegation, the exact route of travel or the precise sequence of the sites to be visited.
The visit is expected to conclude after three days, in line with the schedule announced by the secretariat. Further details of the full itinerary, including the other religious sites the family plans to worship at, were not included in the announcement.
