Khaptad is Nepal's newest national park, receiving its designation only in 1985. It consists of 225 sq. km of forest and grassland, and lis on a plateau where the districts of Bhajhang, Bajura, Doti and Achham meet. Khaptad Swami among Nepalis, Khaptad is best known as a holy site and is closely associated with a widely revert ascetic who lived here for Mandu years and who was known simply as the 'Khaptad Swami'. The origins and background of Khaptad Swami, who died in 1996 at the grand old reported age of 110, are shrouded in mystery. Some speculate that he was a doctor from India who renounced his worldly life in favor of a purely spiritual existence in a remote part if the holy Himalaya.