A visit to Pashupati Nath temple

It was some years I was not to Pashupati Nath temple. When I was a college boy, I used to visit the temple every Saturday especially for two reasons: exercise (walking) and to meet friends. Now, the visit purpose has been changed, little bit of cultural faith and more of sight seeing. Last Saturday, I went to the Pashupati Nath and other temples. When I reached the temple, I found it more managed and clean than my earlier visit. I saw green garden in the areas where old houses were demolished earlier. There was an extra wooden and metal stair pass in front of the main temple door. The pass is being used by pilgrims to go out after worshiping at the temple and a quick worship for people who do not want to be in queue. There used to be a rope earlier instead of this pass. Another development I experienced was a queue in every gate of Pashupati Nath temple. Earlier there used to be a queue only at main gate and when other gates were open, all people used to push each other to get their first turn. It looks more systematic and relief for worshiper. There are possibilities to collect the money offered to different idols in the area as a single unit for further development and management of the site. It is also possible to offer something to each visitor and invest to clean the Bagmati river which flows from the Pashupati Nath area.

If you are visiting the temple, please keep in mind that you are not allowed to carry mobile phones, camera or wear leather goods inside the temple area. Plastic bags are also banned so keep your offerings either on paper bags or traditional ‘leaves plate’. According to scientific analysis, it has been stated that Bagmati river water is chemically and biologically not suitable for drinking and bathing however people used it religiously for both.