The importance of the Bagmati also lies in the fact that Hindus are cremated on the banks of this holy river, and Kirants are buried in the hills by its side.
According to the Nepalese Hindu tradition, the dead body must be dipped three times into the Bagmati before cremation, so that the reincarnation cycle may be ended.
Many relatives who join the funeral procession also take a bath in the river or sprinkle holy water on their bodies at the end of the cremation.
[2] An inscription dated AD 477 describes the river as Bagvati parpradeshe (Nepali: वाग्वति पारप्रदेशे) and subsequently also in the Gopalraj Vanshavali.
'Tiger Gate'), where the water flows out through a gargoyle shaped like a tiger's mouth, situated in Shivpuri Nagarjun National Park near Sundarijal in Nepal .
Flowing generally south although with many curves, the Bagmati reaches the edge of the Kathmandu valley and enters Chobhar gorge near the Dakshinkali temple complex.
[9] On 18 May 2013, under the initiative of then chief secretary Leela Mani Poudyal, the Bagmati Mega Clean-Up Campaign was started.
There is no effect of flood in most of the areas that it touches, but it has caused widespread sufferings to the people in Terai and northern districts of Bihar.
Poor water management, lack of proper weather forecasting and awareness were the main cause of mass destruction.