Which river flows through Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayas?

The Bagmati River flows through Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayas.

It rises in the Shivapuri Hills north of Kathmandu and passes through the capital before continuing south into Nepal’s Terai region and India. The river is central to the cultural landscape of the valley, flowing beside important Hindu and Buddhist sites, including the Pashupatinath temple complex.

The Bagmati has long been used for religious ceremonies, cremations and ritual bathing. Its condition has also become a major environmental concern because urban growth, sewage and industrial pollution have degraded sections of the river, especially near Kathmandu.

The Bagmati is not the same river as the Kali Gandaki, Trishuli or Koshi. Those rivers also drain parts of Nepal, but they follow different valleys and have separate tributary systems. Downstream, the Bagmati eventually joins the Ganges basin in northern India.