Hindus Flock to Nepal’s Ancient Pashupatinath Temple for Shivaratri Celebrations · Global Voices
Priests performing aarati (burning lights) to worship Lord <PERSON> at Pashupatinath Temple on the eve of Maha Shivaratri in Kathmandu. Image by <PERSON>. Copyright Demotix (11/2/2010)
Shivaratri (also known as Maha Shivaratri), the birthday of Lord <PERSON>, was celebrated with a huge fanfare by Hindus at Pashupatinath shrine in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.
The temple, dating back to 400 AD, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most significant <PERSON> temples in the world.
On February 17, over a million visitors visited the temple to pay obeisance to Lord <PERSON>, according to the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT).
As per the officials, 150,000 Indian pilgrims visited the temple along with devotees from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
<PERSON> from Vijayawada, India tweeted:
#MahaShivratri Nepal,Millions of Hindus attend Shivaratri together from all over the world at Pashupatinath Temple pic.twitter.com/RFolN8g6az
— <PERSON> (@srithh) February 16, 2015
During the festival, the temple sees a surge of sadhus, or Hindu holy people, from India and other parts of Nepal. This year around 6,000 sadhus of different sects arrived at the temple.
The sadhus are a special attraction at the temple. People not only come to worship at the temple but also visit the sadhus.
<PERSON>, a stock photographer based in Kathmandu, tweeted a picture of sadhu:
Today at #Pashupatinath, sadhus were getting ready for #Shivaratri! #Nepal #Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/5Zn1pCAY09
— <PERSON> (@dutourdumonde) February 16, 2015
<PERSON>, digital foreign editor at The Washington Post, tweeted:
Even a hermit wants to make sure he is looking pretty. 765
Happy Shivaratri, and ॐ नमः शिवाय, to all Hindus! pic.twitter.com/cGwGFe3rMg
— <PERSON> (@AnupKaphle) February 16, 2015
The festival, a national pride, sees a lot of advance preparation from the PADT and the Government of Nepal.
The Clean Bagmati Campaign supporters removed 26 metric tonnes of waste from the Pashupati-Gaurighat section of the holy Bagmati River, which flows by the temple, on the Saturday preceding the festival.
The Kathmandu Post tweeted:
Clean Bagmati Campaign: Gaurighat, Pashupati areas cleaned ahead of Shivaratri http://t.co/93EilC6fBX pic.twitter.com/qutRwCHqWa
— The Kathmandu Post (@kathmandupost) February 15, 2015
Likewise, the authorities deployed 6,000 security personnel and 3,500 volunteers in and around the temple to manage and assist the crowd.
The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division was kept busy diverting vehicular movement on all major roads around the temple so as to make it easy for the devotees to get to the temple.
Following the custom, President <PERSON> and Prime Minister <PERSON> offered Pooja (worship) at the temple. And the authorities had to manage the visit and the crowd at the same time.
While the authorities were busy managing the crowd, people from all walks of life enjoyed the aura of the festival at the Pashupati.
<PERSON>, a feminist and activist, tweeted:
#ShivaRatri festival at #Pashupatinath. #Sadhu holy men, #Dada blessings and #cremations along the river. #Nepal pic.twitter.com/bQEfGR8XtI
— <PERSON> (@kelskoontz) February 16, 2015
Due to the increasing population and modernization, the celebrations are completely different from the past.
Nepal Picture Library, a Nepali digital photo archive, tweeted a photo by <PERSON>:
One more #Shivaratri celebration from the archives. #Pashupati circa 1986 Photo: <PERSON> pic.twitter. 765