Devis Fall of Pokhara

Watch the Pardi Khola vanish into a limestone sinkhole and resurface inside a sacred cave across the street — Pokhara's strangest natural landmark.

Sort by:
22 results
Filters
Booking
Experience
Minimum age
Guidance

Admission

Entry to Devi's Fall and entry to Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave are two separate tickets, sold at their own gates on opposite sides of the road — the options below make clear which is included.

Tours & Activities

Most visitors pair Devi's Fall with the cave across the street and a few nearby stops; these guided options handle the sequencing, transport, and cave scramble so you don't have to plan it yourself.

Devi's Fall is the point where the Pardi Khola, the natural overflow channel of Phewa Lake, drops into a limestone sinkhole and disappears underground entirely. The water travels through a karst tunnel roughly 150 meters (500 ft) long before resurfacing across the street inside Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave, a sacred Shiva shrine built around the same passage. Locals called the site Patale Chhango — "underworld waterfall" — long before it had any foreign name, a direct reference to this vanishing act rather than to any legend.

The name most visitors know today comes from a specific, if debated, 1961 story: a Swiss woman, recorded locally as Mrs. Davis, was swept into the sinkhole after the Phewa Dam gates opened suddenly while she was in the water; her body was recovered several days later in the Phusre Khola downstream. "Davis Fall" gradually shifted to "Devi's Fall" through local pronunciation and the coincidence that Devi is both a common Nepali name and the Sanskrit word for goddess — which is why you'll see the site written as Devi's Fall, Davis Fall, and David's Fall almost interchangeably, with several conflicting versions of exactly what happened still told on-site.

Plan your visit

  • Flow varies dramatically by season — during monsoon (June–September) the sinkhole roars and throws up spray; from December through May the same spot can be a modest trickle, so set expectations accordingly if you're visiting in the dry months.
  • Viewing is from fenced platforms above and beside the sinkhole; you can't walk down to the water's edge, which is a safety measure given how the falls got their name.
  • Buy a separate ticket at Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave (across the road) to descend through the shrine and reach the damp chamber where the same underground river reappears — this is the best way to understand how the two sites connect.
  • The cave path is low-ceilinged, uneven, and slick with spray; wear closed-toe shoes with grip, and mind your head on the low sections.
  • Site hours generally run 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily; early morning avoids both tour-bus groups and the midday heat.
  • A small souvenir market sits just outside the entrance — a reasonable stop for gifts, but prices are aimed squarely at tourists, so bargain if you're buying.
  • The site is a common stop on half-day Pokhara tours that also cover the Tibetan refugee camp and World Peace Pagoda — worth booking as a combo if you're short on time rather than arranging taxis between each stop yourself.