CHOVAR

On the west side of the gorge are several meditation caves. An enclosed overhang forms a kuti where Gorakhnath himself (or one of his lineage) is reputed to have mediated. Rwa Lotsawa is also said to have meditated in one of these caves. Behind the caves is a labyrinth of tunnels that penetrate to an underground lake. There are no images within. One of the tunnels that are now bricked up leads up to the Adinath Temple of Karunamaya/Machhendranath in the Co Bahal of Chobar Village high on the ridge. Ganes dug it after he had been omitted from a meeting of the south end of the gorge, he arrived enraged at the centre of the convocation and demanded an explanation of the slight.
   Rwa Lotsawa rDo-rje grags-pa (Rwa-lo) was one of the luminaries of the phyi-dar, the later spreading of the dharma in Tibet. He came to Nepal to receive initiation from 'Ba'-ro (probably Bharo, an honorific title) who gave him the Vajra Varahi and Vajra Bhairava transmissions. 'Ba'-ro lived in the Nyi-ma stong (Thousand Suns) Vihara in Patan. Rwa-lo defeated the heaviest of 300 Hindu yogins at Swayambhu; and he did puja and meditation at Yanglesho, Jarungkhashor, Godavari, Tsha-ba tsha-shod (Gung-thang), Namo Buddha, Manicura and Swayambhu. This was in the 11th century. [Rwa-lotsawa rnam-thar]