Everything about Pashupatinath Temple totally explained
Pashupatinath temple (पशुपितनाथ मन्िदर ) 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
Nepal. "
Shivaratri" or night of lord Shiva is the most important festival celebrated in this temple. 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 priests who perform the services at this temple 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. Another interpretation is that Indian priests are stationed at Pashupatinath 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. One of the best known of these priests was Raval Padmanabha Shastri Adiga (1927-2005). He started as a priest in 1955 and was promoted to 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.
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 deity 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.
Gallery
Image:Pashupatinath.JPG|Pashupatinath Temple
Image:Pilgrim in Pashupatinath.jpg|Pilgrim in Pashupatinath
Image:Pashupatinath dye seller.jpg|Dye seller outside Pashupatinath
Image:Shiva temple in Pashupatinath.jpg|Shiva temple in Pashupatinath
Image:Pashupatinath Entrance Bull.JPG|Entrance to main temple, forbidden for Non-hindu's. Shiva's Nandi bull can be seen from the rear
Image:Pashupatinath_Cremation.jpg|Cremations on Bagmati riverbank
Image:Pashupatinath_Sadhu.jpg|Sadhu at Pashupatinath
Image:Bagmati-river.jpg|A holyman crosses Bagmati river with a plank of wood
Further Information
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