THREE days of smoky camp fires, sweet tea, dreadlocks, drums banging, naked torsos with beads, face paint and the pungent smell of cannabis. If you close your eyes for a moment, you could be at Glastonbury.

Except that this is a festival dedicated to the celebration of the Hindu Lord Shiva - the great creator and destroyer - and not the pursuit of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

You are more likely to trip over a severed buffalo head than a wasted student here in Kathmandu, despite the smoking of charas (as cannabis is known here) being an obligation for the hundreds of colourful sadhus, or holy men, who come from all over Nepal and the Indian subcontinent to worship at the temple complex of Pashupatinath.

Charas is part of their divine gift of communication with the gods, and the many disciples and Westerners who sit at their feet as they dispense tikkas on foreheads as blessings indulge in the chillum pipe alongside the mystics.

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We were among them last March, and the spectacle beat the pants off standing in front of the pyramid stage.

Spiritual tourism is not for the faint-hearted. If the sight of a ritual slaughtering of a goat - its blood sprayed over a shrine like the champagne of a victorious racing driver - is enough to send you scuttling back to the hotel for a vodka tonic, you may need to prepare with a diet of mild horror movies.

Some of the sadhus wearing Tantric skull beads and boar tusks around their necks are scary, radiating a fierce power, while others will converse happily in surprisingly good English.

Normally hermitic, the sadhus turn show-offs for the Shiva Raatri festival, performing yogic knots, snake charming, or, as one did for us, flashing open his skirt to reveal his lingam (penis) with padlock and bells on it. Sadhus worship the linga, and, although most stay celibate, they aren't afraid to show how they have achieved mind over matter in lingam training. One showed us a photo of him pulling a truck with his, enough to make even female eyes water.

If, however, you prefer your religion a little more gentle, the Buddhist festivals are also ready to welcome you in with a spin of the prayer wheel. It was here in the tiny kingdom of Nepal in about 623BC that Buddhism began, the night that Prince Siddharta first sneaked out of the royal palace to wear ordinary clothes and begin a pilgrimage in search of enlightenment through India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Buddhist teaching and tradition is everywhere in Kathmandu. The valley supports a large community of Tibetan exiles, and we joined the many other Westerners for the celebration of Losar - new year - at the giant shrine at Boudhanath, freshly painted like a huge white breast.

Instead of Hindu offerings of blood, rice and marigolds, the stupa flapped with hundreds of prayer flags, each carrying a mantra to be borne away by the wind. We were offered tea and kapse biscuits at the nearby monasteries, and blended in with the rich silk and brocade dresses and fur hats bought new for the occasion.

Walking around the steps of the stupa, we stopped by a large group of magenta-robed monks. Instead of fireworks, these monks chanted until, at the same given moment, they threw handfuls of tsampa - fine barley flour - high up in the air in one orgasmic burst.

The ritual is built up with much tension and chanting before the final cheer, and all of the onlookers were covered in fine powder as a blessing of peace and prosperity for the forthcoming year.

In that moment, the Buddhist teachers switched from serious to laughing and joking, and the happy mood rippled through the crowd. So much more civilised than throwing up in the fountain in Leicester Square. We Westerners still have a lot to learn from the East.

NEED TO KNOW

The Ultimate Travel Company (020-7386 4646, www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk), offers tailor-made journeys in Nepal. A six-night trip coinciding with the festival, with B&B at Dwarikas Hotel in Kathmandu, is from £1,540pp. The cost includes from London via Delhi, private transfers and daily sightseeing with car and driver.

This year, new year in Nepal falls on April 13. For details of other festivals visit the Friends in High Place website (www.fihp.com/festivals.html)

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