Pashupatinath Temple



Pashupatinath Temple is a famous and sacred Hindu temple complex that is located on the banks of the Bagmati River, in the eastern part of Kathmandu Valley. This temple complex was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites's list in 1979. One of the major festivals of the temple is Maha Shivaratri on which day over 10 Lac devotees visit here.

Only Hindus are allowed inside the gates of the main temple. The inner sanctum has a Shiva lingam and outside sits the largest statue of Nandi the bull. There are hundreds of Shiva lingam within the compound.



The main temple is built in the Nepalese pagoda style of architecture. The main idol is a stone Mukhalinga with a silver yoni base bound with the silver serpent. The lingam is one meter high and has faces in four directions. 

The unique feature of this temple is that only 4 priests can touch the idol. Daily rituals of Pashupatinath are carried out by two sets of priests; one being the Bhatt priests and other Bhandari. Bhatta or Bhatt are the one who performs the daily ritual and can touch the lingam, whereas Bhandaris are the helper and temple caretaker priests who are not qualified to perform pooja rituals or to touch the deity.

The main temple complex of Pashupatinath and the sanctum sanctorum was left untouched but some of the outer buildings in the World Heritage Site were damaged by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

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