The Halesi-Maratika Caves (also the Haleshi Mahadev temple) are located next to the village of Mahadevasthan, in the Khotang District of eastern Nepal, 3,100 ft. – 4,734 ft. above sea level.
The cave and temple are about 185 km south west of Mount Everest. The temple is a venerated pilgrimage site for Hindus, Buddhists and Kirat.[1] The caves are called the Halesi Mahadev Temple
by Hindus who associate them with Mahadeva, a form of Shiva; while they are known as the Pashupatinath to Buddhists, who consider them to be the caves associated with the legend of Padmasambhava.[2]
The Kirati Rai of the region worship Halesi as an ancestral deity of the community. The Kirat mundhum, a rich oral tradition of the Kirats, manifests that their ancestor Raechhakule (Khokchilipa) also known as Hetchhakuppa used
to stay inside the Halesi cave in the remote past. For that reason, the Kirat/Rais consider Halesi as their ancestral place.

The most famous natural cave in Khotang District is said to have been the abode of Mahadeva while hiding away from the monster Bhasmasur. It is an important pilgrimage centre located in east Nepal for both Hindus and Buddhist.
The cave is nicknamed ‘the Pashupatinath of the east’. Well attended religious fairs are observed here on Shivaratri and Bala Chaturdash