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The temple of Pashupatinath is Nepal's most sacred Hindushrine and
one of the subcontinent's great Shiva sites. Pashupatinath Temple,
NepalPashupatinath, beside the sacred Bagmati River, is the holiest
place in Nepal. Pashupatinath's supreme holiness has two major
parts. One is that Shiva linga enshrined in the main temple and its
location on the banks of Bagmati. Hindu devotee plunge into the
holy Bagmati river daily and recite the verse from the ancient
Vedas. It is believed that plunging or bathing into the holy river
releases from the cycle of rebirth.
It is believed that sex organ of Shiva fell to Nepal. The main temple of Pashpati nath ( meaning Lord of Beasts believed to be divine protector of Nepal) contains a lingam of Pashupati which is three and a half feet high and has four faces sculptured on it.
Pashupatinath is Nepal's most renowned Hindu
cremation site. In HIndu
culture, after the person is dead, his/her dead body is wrapped in
cloth and placed on bamboo litter and bodies are delievered by
barefoot pallbearers accompanied by the male relatives. The eldest
son from the family performs the cremation ceremony and the dead
body is burnt. A few hours later the ashes are collected and swept
in the river which will join the Holy Ganges
eventually.
The magnificent temple of Lord
Pashupatinath about 5 kms north-east of Kathmandu, is situated
amidst many other temples on the right bank of the river Bagmati.
Pashupathinath is the guardian spirit and the holiest of all Shiva
shrines in Nepal.
Lord Shiva is known by many
different names; and Pashupati is one. Pashu means leaving beings,
and Pati means master. In other words Pashupati is the master of
all living beings of the universe. This is how lord Pashupati is
eulogized in the Vedas, Upnisada and ohter religious
books.
Legends are numerous as to how
the temple of Lord Pashupatinath came to existence here. As stated
in chronicles, the image of Lord Shiva in the form of Jyotirlinga
was covered with earth over the years, and soft green grass
sprouted over it. Further, as the legend goes, a cow used to come
here mysteriously every day and offer her milk to this holy but
hidden Linga of Lord Shiva. When the Gwala (owner) saw that the cow
had stopped giving milk since the last few days he started keeping
eye on her; and finally came across the place where the cow used to
offer her milk. With a natural curiosity to know the importance of
the place, where his cow used to make offering of her milk, the
gwala dug the place and found the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva. After
this number of gwalas gathered to worship this Linga according to
religious conformity, starting the tradition of worshipping this
Linga. As the time passed Lord Pashupatinath started gaining more
and more popularity and reverence of the devotees as a guardian
spirit and gradually the temple of Lord Pashupatinath became a
great place of pilgrimage.
The rulers of Nepal, over
centuries made contributions in enriching and beautifying this holy
temple. According to Gopalraj Vamsavali, the oldest ever chronicle
in Nepal, this temple was built by Supus Padeva, a Linchchhavi King
who according to the stone inscription erected by Jayadeva 11 in
the courtyard of Pashupatinath in 753 AD happened to be the ruler
39 generation before Manadeva (464-505 AD). Yet, there is another
chronicle which states that this temple was in the form of Linga
shaped Devalaya before Supus Padeva constructed a five storey
temple of Pashupatinath in this place. As the time passed, the need
for reparing and renovating this temple arose. It is learnt that
this temple was reconsturcted by a mediaeval King named Shivadeva
(1099-1126 AD). It was renovated by Ananta Malla adding a roof to
it.
As described in the history,
this temple was attacked and badly destroyed by Sultan Samsuddin of
Bengal in the mid 14th Century. This plunder caused so much damage
to the temple that it needed reconstruction. It was only after ten
years, in 1360 AD, that it could be reconstructed and renovated by
Javasimha Ramvardhana. Another renovation work here after was taken
up by Jyoti Malla in 1416 AD.
The present architectural nature
of Pashupatinath temple came into existence as a result of
renovation by queen Gangadevi during the reign of Shivasimha Malla
(1578-1620 AD).
The temple of Lord Pashupatinath
stands in the middle of an open courtyard. It is a square shaped
pagoda temple built on single platform measuring 23.6 meters from
the ground. There are gold gilt doors on all the four sides of the
temple. Inside the temple there is a narrow walk engulfing the
sanctum from where one can have closer view of
Shivalinga.
On the both sides of each door
of the temple there are artistic niche of different sizes
containing attractiv images of Apsara, Ashtha Bhairava and other
gods and goddesses. These images and niches, painted with gold
enhance the grandeur of the temple. The latticed windows below the
roof are another elements of attraction. The struts supporting the
roofs and depicting the image of different postures are equally
alluring. The gold gilt images of birds in flying posture in all
the four corners of the roof and the winged images of lion,
griffin, Ajarapurusa and Mahanaga on the struts in all the corners
of the temple gies soaring beauty to the temple. On the upper part
of the struts supporting the lower roof, the images of moon, sun
and a Purna-Kalasha are carved out. This Purna Kalasha is worshiped
as a symbol of Guheshwori.
In the sanctum of the temple,
there is a very attractive, about three feet high Shivalinga with
four faces. All these faces have different names and significance.
The face facing east is known as Tatpurusha and the one facing
south as Aghora. Similarly, the faces looking west and north are
known by the name Sadhyojata and Vamadeva respectively. The upper
portion of this linga is known as Ishan. These faces are also
defined as the symbol of four dharmas (the most famous places of
pilgrimage for Hindus) and four Vedas (sacred books of Hindus). The
images of Vishnu, Surya, Devi and Ganesh are also placed in the
sanctum of the temple.
Pashupati area is regarded as
one of the most important places of pilgrimages for the followeres
of Hinduism. Thousands of devotees from within and outside the
country come to pay homage to Pashupatinath every day. And on
special occasions like Ekadasi, Sankranti, Mahashivratri, Teej
Akshaya, Rakshabandhan, Grahana (eclipse), Poornima (Full moon day)
people congregate here in far greater number. Pashupati area is
also included in the list
How to Reach Pashupatinath ?From
Airport :
Once you know where is
Pashupatinath then you can plan to visit there. If you are somebody
who just came from Airport and want to go there, then if you are
taking a cab or taxi it will take maximum 10-15 minutes to reach
there. If you want to go from public transportation, you should
take the bus, microbus or tempo ( a three wheeler taxi) which says
it is going to Gaushala or Chabahil. You would be able to find
plenty of vehicles around there.
Going to Pashupati from Newroad / Jamal/ Durbar
marg.
There is a bus stop near these
listed locations and the bus stop is called Old Buspark. If you
plan to go to Pashupati from Old Buspark, then you can go from that
location. Bus may take extra time because it has frequent stops. I
would prefer going by microbus ( small bus looks like van, there
are two distinct colors white and blue ). The microbus stop is just
on the side of Ranipokhari ( A lake where you will see the Building
in the middle). There you will see number of microbus of queque and
you need to take the microbus which is going towards Jorpati,
Gaushala or Mulpani. These are stops that would come after
Pashupatinath. If you feel difficulty remembering these names, you
can just ask whether it goes to Gaushala or not and make sure you
ride on the vehicle that is going from Gaushala. You would be able
to find the blue microbus from this
location.
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