Windows to the Annapurna
Dudhpokhari Museum sits above Phewa Lake in Pokhara, at the gateway to the Annapurna Sanctuary. Founded by a coalition of Gurung, Magar, and Thakali community elders alongside conservators from Tribhuvan University, the museum exists to keep the material culture of the Gandaki highlands in the hands and memory of the people who made it.
From hand-loomed Ghumto headdresses to ice axes carried on early Annapurna expeditions, our collection traces a region shaped equally by ridgeline villages and the mountaineers who came to test themselves against Annapurna I — the first eight-thousander ever climbed.
To collect, conserve, and interpret the cultural and mountaineering heritage of the Gandaki Province, and to keep that heritage active in the communities it comes from — not sealed behind glass.
A future where every village from Sikles to Ghandruk has a living connection to its own material history, and where the story of Annapurna is told as much through Gurung weaving as through expedition photographs.
Dudhpokhari Museum opened its doors in 2021, after three years of community consultation and artifact donation drives across Kaski district. What began as a single room of donated textiles has grown into a full collection spanning ritual objects, mountaineering history, and an active oral-history archive recorded in villages throughout the Annapurna Conservation Area.
Dedicated professionals committed to preserving Kaski's mountain heritage.
Chief Curator
PhD in Himalayan Anthropology from Tribhuvan University. Specializes in textile conservation and the material culture of trans-Himalayan trade routes.
Lead Conservator
Trained in preventive conservation at the National Museum, Kathmandu. Oversees the care of the museum's textile and metalwork collections.
Education & Outreach Officer
Runs the museum's school programs and the ongoing oral-history recording project in villages across Kaski and Lamjung.
Founder & Director
A retired schoolteacher from Sikles who spent a decade collecting oral histories before founding the museum in 2021. Leads community partnerships across the Annapurna Conservation Area.
