Mani Rimdu 2026: Tengboche Dates, Ceremonies, and How to Get There
Mani Rimdu 2026 runs October 26-28 at Tengboche Monastery. This guide covers the three public days, the nineteen-day cycle behind them, and the backwards trek planning — including the Ramechhap flight shift — needed to actually be there on the day.
Quick Answer
Mani Rimdu at Tengboche Monastery runs Monday, October 26 to Wednesday, October 28, 2026 — Kartik 9-11, 2083 BS. Three public days close a nineteen-day monastic cycle that begins in private around October 8.
Tengboche sits at about 3,867 m on the Everest Base Camp trek, three to four walking days above Lukla. That single fact is what makes this festival different from every other one in Nepal: you cannot decide to attend it a day in advance. Getting there on the right date is a trek-planning problem, and the planning has to run backwards from October 26.
Use the October 2026 calendar for date browsing and the canonical Mani Rimdu page for the full festival entity and photographs.
2026 Dates
| Festival | Public days start | Public days end | Nepali calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mani Rimdu 2026 (Tengboche) | Monday, October 26, 2026 | Wednesday, October 28, 2026 | Kartik 9-11, 2083 BS |
Mani Rimdu follows the Tibetan lunar calendar, so the Gregorian dates move every year: the Tengboche festival fell in mid-November in 2024 and in early November in 2025. The public days open on the full-moon day of the lunar month — the astronomical full moon in this window is October 25, 2026.
Confirm before you book flights. Published 2026 dates vary by a day or two between sources — some trekking operators list October 24-26, others October 26-29. Our dates follow the same lunar reckoning as the rest of this site's festival calendar, but Tengboche announces its own schedule and the monastery or a Khumbu-based operator is the authority. A two-day error is survivable on a trek with buffer days built in; on a tight itinerary it is the whole trip.
The Three Public Days
The public festival is one named ceremony per day, in a fixed order.
| Day | Date | Ceremony | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monday, October 26 | Wong — the empowerment | The head lama confers the empowerment of Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion, and distributes rilwu — the blessed pills the festival is named for — along with blessed cord. Held inside the assembly hall. |
| 2 | Tuesday, October 27 | Cham — the masked dances | Monks in brocade and large painted masks dance in the courtyard from morning to late afternoon, through a sequence of protective and wrathful figures with comic interludes between. This is the day most visitors come for. |
| 3 | Wednesday, October 28 | Jinsak — the fire offering | A fire ritual in the courtyard closes the cycle. Shorter and quieter than the dances, and often the most affecting of the three. |
If you can only be there for one day, make it Cham on October 27. If you can be there for two, arrive for Wong and stay for Cham — the empowerment is the substance of the festival for the Sherpa families who walk in for it, and watching the dances without it is watching the outside of something.
What Happens Before The Public Days
The three days people photograph are the end of a much longer piece of work that is not open to onlookers. Over roughly two and a half weeks beforehand, the monks construct a mandala of coloured sand inside the gompa, grain by grain through narrow funnels, and recite the mani mantra over it many thousands of times. The empowerment, the dances and the fire offering all draw on what has been gathered into it. Near the end of the cycle it is dismantled and the sand given to the water; nothing is kept.
The festival is held at a Nyingma monastery, in the lineage founded by Guru Rinpoche — Padmasambhava — and the dances stage his subduing of the forces that opposed Buddhist teaching in Tibet. Knowing that changes how the masks read: the frightening ones are largely protective, and their ferocity is pointed at what obstructs practice rather than at the audience.
Getting There In Time
Work backwards from the day you want to be standing in the courtyard.
The standard acclimatised approach from Lukla takes four days, and skipping the Namche rest day to save one is how people end up descending with altitude sickness instead of watching the dances:
| Day | Date (for Cham on Oct 27) | Stage | Sleeping altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursday, October 22 | Fly to Lukla, walk to Phakding | ~2,610 m |
| 2 | Friday, October 23 | Phakding to Namche Bazaar | ~3,440 m |
| 3 | Saturday, October 24 | Namche — acclimatisation day, do not skip it | ~3,440 m |
| 4 | Sunday, October 25 | Namche to Tengboche | ~3,867 m |
| 5-7 | Oct 26-28 | Wong, Cham, Jinsak | ~3,867 m |
Then add buffer on top of that, and add it in Kathmandu rather than in the mountains. Lukla flights are cancelled for weather regularly, and a two-day hold at the start is normal enough that a trek with no slack in it is a trek that may simply miss the festival. Two to three spare days before your intended Lukla flight is the realistic minimum — so be in Kathmandu by around October 19.
Autumn Lukla flights do not leave from Kathmandu. Through the autumn season — roughly late September to the end of November, which covers this entire festival window — the Lukla flights are shifted about 130 km east to Manthali Airport in Ramechhap, because Kathmandu's airport cannot absorb the volume of small aircraft. That means a 4-5 hour road transfer and a departure from Kathmandu in the small hours, typically between 1 and 3 a.m., to make a morning slot. Budget a lost night of sleep at the front of the trek and confirm the arrangement with your airline or operator when you book — it is reviewed season by season and it is the single detail most trip plans get wrong.
For the rest of the logistics — permits, insurance, guide requirements and what the teahouses are actually like — see the Everest Base Camp tips, the first-time trekker checklist and the Nepal trekking permits guide.
Where To Stay
Tengboche has a small number of lodges and a monastery guesthouse, and they fill completely for these three days. So does Deboche, twenty minutes further down the far side of the ridge, which is the usual overflow and is more sheltered and warmer to sleep in. Book months ahead through an operator, or plan to sleep lower and walk up.
Walking up from Namche for the day is possible but hard: it is a long descent to the Dudh Koshi and a steep climb back out, and doing it twice in a day at that altitude is not a casual outing. Sleeping at Deboche and walking the twenty minutes over the ridge each morning is the comfortable version.
The Other Mani Rimdus
Tengboche is the best known but not the only one. Chiwong Monastery, on a cliff above Phaplu in Solu, holds its own Mani Rimdu in the same autumn window — its monastery says the festival opens on the first day of the tenth Tibetan month, which falls somewhere between mid-October and mid-November, with only the last three days public. Chiwong sits far lower than Tengboche and is reached from Phaplu rather than Lukla, so it is worth looking at if the altitude or the mountain flight is the obstacle; its dates are set independently of Tengboche's, so check them with the monastery before you plan around them. Thame Monastery, west of Namche, holds its Mani Rimdu in the fourth Tibetan month instead — May or June. Mani Rimdu is not one fixed event, and if your travel dates cannot be moved it is worth checking which of the three they fit.
Conditions And What To Bring
Late October in the Khumbu is the good season — stable weather, clear mornings, sharp views of Ama Dablam from the Tengboche meadow and of Everest and Lhotse up the valley. It is also cold, and the specific problem of this festival is that you spend most of two days sitting still outdoors, in courtyard shade, at nearly 3,900 m.
Dress for that rather than for walking: a warm layer more than you think you need, something to sit on, gloves, sun protection for the hours the courtyard is in sun, and a full water bottle, because you will not want to give up your place. Days are mild in the sun and nights drop well below freezing.
Visitor Etiquette
Mani Rimdu is a religious occasion that visitors are permitted to attend, not a performance staged for them. The distinction shows up in small decisions all day.
Sit where you are directed and stay seated once the dancing starts. Do not step into the courtyard to get a photograph, and do not stand in front of seated people who have walked two days to be there. Walk clockwise around the monastery and its chortens. Remove shoes and hats where others do, and ask before photographing individual monks or families closely — inside the assembly hall during Wong, assume photography is not welcome unless you are told otherwise.
During the distribution at Wong, let the Sherpa families go first. They came for the blessing; most visitors came for the dances.
Related Pages
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Mani Rimdu 2026 dates at Tengboche?
The three public days of Mani Rimdu 2026 at Tengboche Monastery run Monday, October 26 to Wednesday, October 28, 2026 — Kartik 9 to 11, 2083 BS. They close a nineteen-day monastic cycle that begins in private around October 8. Published dates vary by a day or two between operators, so confirm with the monastery or a Khumbu-based operator before booking flights.
What are the three days of Mani Rimdu?
Day one is Wong, the empowerment, when the head lama confers the blessing of Chenrezig and distributes the blessed pills the festival is named for. Day two is Cham, the masked dances in the courtyard, which is the day most visitors come for. Day three is Jinsak, the fire offering that closes the cycle.
How many days does it take to reach Tengboche for Mani Rimdu?
Four days from Lukla on an acclimatised schedule: Lukla to Phakding, Phakding to Namche Bazaar, an acclimatisation day at Namche, then Namche to Tengboche. Add two to three buffer days in Kathmandu before your Lukla flight, because autumn flight cancellations are common. To be at Tengboche for the dances on October 27, 2026, plan to fly to Lukla around October 22 and be in Kathmandu by around October 19.
Do Lukla flights leave from Kathmandu during Mani Rimdu?
Usually not. Through the busy autumn season — broadly from late September into November, which covers the festival — Lukla flights are generally moved to Manthali Airport in Ramechhap, about 130 km east of Kathmandu, because Kathmandu's airport cannot absorb the traffic. That means a 4 to 5 hour road transfer leaving Kathmandu in the small hours, typically between about 1 and 3 a.m., to make a morning departure slot. The arrangement is reviewed season by season and the exact window shifts, so confirm it with your airline or operator when you book.
Where do you stay for Mani Rimdu at Tengboche?
Tengboche has a small number of lodges and a monastery guesthouse, and they fill completely for the three public days. Deboche, twenty minutes down the far side of the ridge, is the usual overflow and is warmer to sleep in. Book months ahead, or sleep lower and walk up.
Can visitors attend Mani Rimdu?
Yes. Mani Rimdu is open to visitors for its three public days, but it is a religious occasion rather than a performance. Sit where you are directed, stay seated during the dances, walk clockwise around the monastery, ask before photographing people closely, and let Sherpa families go ahead of you during the distribution at Wong.
Is Mani Rimdu held anywhere other than Tengboche?
Yes. Chiwong Monastery above Phaplu in Solu holds its own Mani Rimdu in the same autumn window — the monastery reckons it from the first day of the tenth Tibetan month, which falls between mid-October and mid-November, and opens the final three days to visitors. It is far lower than Tengboche and reached from Phaplu rather than Lukla. Thame Monastery, west of Namche, holds its Mani Rimdu in the fourth Tibetan month instead, in May or June. Each monastery sets its own dates, so confirm directly.
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