Pashupatinath Temple is one of the greatest temples for Hindu religions. Pashupatinath Temple is located in Gaushala, Kathmandu. Gaushala is at 10 minutes walking distance (around 2kms) from Tribhuvan International Airport and around 1.4 kms distance from Chabahil Chowk, Kathmandu. The temple is located in the eastern part of the city and Kathmandu Airport.
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Religious Value of Pashupatinath Temple For Hindu
Pashupatinath temple is one of the greatest temples of its historical and cultural facts. It is one of the biggest temples for Lord Pashupati Nath with a similar value as Kedarnath and the other 11 Jyotirlingas located in India. You might be interested in learning about the connection between Kedarnath and Pashupatinath Temple. The connection between Pashupatinath and Kedarnath is that – Pashupatinath is considered as the other half part of Kedarnath Jyotirling of Lord Shiva. The Kedarnath and Pashupatinath are considered as the two half parts of the Jyotirlinga, which is the main connection of Kedarnath and Pashupatinath temple. There are different names for Lord Pashupati Nath, like Lord Shiva, Mahadev, Nilkantha, and many more.
It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Pashupati Nath. It is also believed that the Pashupatinath Temple is the half body of one Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva (Kedarnath). The rest of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva are in India. The Siva Lingam is worshiped by Hindu religions, and the Shiva Lingam represents the Statue of Lord Shiva.
The beauty of nature inside Pashupatinath Temple
The Temple of Pashupatinath is located beside the beautiful view of Bagmati River. The temple area near the Bagmati River is surrounded by forest. In this forest, you can find beautiful trees, flowers, and plants. It is also said that once Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati came to the Kathmandu Valley. And Lord Shiva was very impressed with the scene of the beautiful forest and so he decided to rest there.
When you go to the Pashupatinath Temple, you can see so many monkeys. And inside the forest, you will really enjoy the beautiful scenery, peaceful environment, and lots of beautiful deer playing over there.
Interesting Things You Will Find in Pashupati Area
The temple is really one most peaceful places you will ever find in Kathmandu. And also the view inside the temple are is naturally beautiful. It doesn’t mean that there are very few people who go to worship the Lord. Every day there are millions of people visiting the temple for worship and some for the tour. The biggest crowd you will see here at Mahashivaratri. Mahashivaratri is the biggest festival to worship Lord Shiva. People from Nepal, India, and other parts of South Asia come to pray to the Lord.
Inside the area of Pashupatinath Temple, you can see shops there. In these shops, you can buy Rudraksha Mala, seeds, herbs, color powder for tika, Chandan (A Wood), figurines of Gods and Goddess,es and many more typical and interesting things originating from Nepal Art and Hindu Religion.
Shape and Design of The Temple
The architectural construction of the Pashupati Temple is in Pagoda Style. Pagoda Style is a cubic shape or curved shape. The roof of the Main Temple where the Shiva Linga (statue) is situated is made of two layers of copper which are supported by wood. The two layers of the roof are covered with Gold.
There are four doors in the main temple. These doors are also very special in the Temple. These are covered with silver. Main Doors of The Pashupatinath Temple are open every day for certain hours only and after that, they are closed by the Bhatta. Therefore if someone wants to worship the Lord Pashupatinath in this temple he/s she has to reach before the closing time, which is 11:00 in the morning.
View the Pashupatinath Temple In The Video
Priest (Bhatta) In The Temple
Priests of the temple are also called Bhatta. Bhattas are well-educated and Vedic Dravida Brahmin Scholars from Karnataka. They are highly educated in Dharma and Shastra. There are 4 Bhatta is the temple that can touch the idol of Lord Shiva. There is another set of priests in the temple called Bhandari and they are not allowed to touch the temple. Bhandari is only the helper for Bhatta. Bhatta Operates the regular rituals of the Pashupatinath Temple and also Bhatta are only authorized to touch idol of God.
Another interesting thing about the Pashupatinath Temple is, that Bhatta are not selected randomly and they are not authorized by the to the heredity. In the rest of the temples, priests are simply selected following the heredity. That heredity system is not followed in Pashupatinath Temple. Priests of Pashupatinath Temple are selected by a group of scholars and educated by Shri Shankaracharya Dakshinamnaya Peeth.
There are more interesting, historical, and cultural facts about Pashupatinath Temple. If you think some of them are missing, or if you want to know any more facts that are not mentioned here, feel free to leave a comment. It would be a great pleasure to share more about Pashupatinath Temple.
