Pashupatinath temple

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Pashupatinath Temple, Eastview

A holyman crosses Bagmati river with a plank of wood

Pashupatinath Temple

Pashupatinath temple (पशुपतिनाथ मन्दिर) is a Hindu temple located on the shore of the Bagmati river on the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

It is regarded as the most sacred temple of Shiva (Pashupati) in the world. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world, particularly from Nepal and India pay homage to this temple everyday. "Shivaratri" or night of lord Shiva is an especially important day in this temple when tens of thousands of people throng here for the annual celebration.

Locals have long regarded Pashupatinath temple as a very important part of the city, both religiously and culturally. Thousands of locals begin their day by visiting the temple and receiving blessings from lord Shiva early in the morning. Along the shores of the Bagmati river near the temple lies "Arya Ghat", the most widely used place of cremation for the deceased in Nepal, especially in and around the Kathmandu valley. There is also a large market in the streets surrounding the temple. Vendors sell souvenirs to tourists, but also cloth, dyes, and religious supplies.

Believers of the faith Hinduism are allowed to enter the temple. Non-Hindu visitors are allowed to have a look at the temple from the other bank of Bagmati river

The unique feature of this temple is that only four priests can touch the idol. The priests are always from south India. This tradition is supposed to have started by Sage Shankaracharya in 6th century, ostensibly to stop human sacrifice which was prevalent in that temple.

The more official view of Indian priests being stationed at Pashupatinath is because when the King passes away, the entire Nepali people are supposed to stop religious services and enter a year long period of mourning. As the Pashupatinath needs to be eternally worshipped, Indians were brought to make sure that the Pashupatinath is worshipped even at the time of official mourning.

The temple is of pagoda architecture. The two level roofs are of copper with gold covering. It has four main doors, all covered with silver sheets. The western door has a statue of large bull or Nandi, again covered in gold. The idol is of black stone, about 6 ft in height and about 6ft circumference.

The priests are called Bhattas and the chief priest is known as Mool Bhatt or Raval. The chief priest is answerable only to the King of Nepal and reports to him on the matters of temple on periodic basis.

East of the temple is the Vasukinath.

One of the most known Chief Priest was Raval Padmanabha Shastri Adiga (1927-2005). He started as a priest in 1955 and was promoted as Chief priest in 1967. In his time, he started a movement to use the temple funds for local development. He retired in 1993 and moved back to his home town Udupi.