The Khumjung Gompa is famous for a yeti scalp it houses inside a glass donation box in the main chamber . A framed write-up tells the story.
A long, long time ago, before the advent of Buddhism in the region, the people of Khumjung, Thame and Khunde met in Thame for a festival. At the end of the festivities, the people of Khumjung were handed the yeti scalp as a parting present. The Khumjungites were expecting a more valuable gift, and in their anger, kicked it around all the way back to their village. It was only later in the 1950s, that the scientific community took interest in the relic.
What the write-up does not go on to mention however, is that in 1960, a team led by Hillary and Desmond Doig took the skull to the US for tests and found it a fake. Spoilsports! Still, I part with a hundred rupees to look at it. It might not be of any value as a biological specimen, but it’s perfectly authentic as a piece of mythology, and after all, mythology is what we are in search of, here in the shadow of the Everest.