Kailash Manasarovar Yatra -2012 -3

Kathmandu

Pasupathinath temple

After a  wonderful darshan of Budha Neelkant Mahadev we returned to the hotel and had a sumptuous breakfast and left for sight seeing tour of Kathamndu. First we wished to see Narayanhati palace  but to our dismay we found that it was closed that day. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the museum at the palace is closed. The visiting hours are from 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM on working days. Then we left for the most famous temple of Nepal the Pasupathinath temple.  The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Shiva. Here he has manifested himself as a Lingam with four faces. Here the Lord is worshipped as Lord of all animals(pasus) ie the master of all living beings in the universe. Here in this temple no animal sacrifice is carried out.  

The magnificent  Garuda panel in front of Pasupathinath temple

 Lord Ganesh and Moon 

But the according to l Shaivaite philosophy is  animals denotes all Jivatmas are  ensconced in dirt called Pasam which include ego, previous deeds and Maya, once the Jivatma sheds this pasam then it becomes one with Pathi ( Paramathma). For that also the grace of the Lord is required but the Jivathma should make an earnest effort to get rid of pasam.  Pasupathinath temple is sacred to Nepalese as Varanasi is to us. This temple is also situated on the banks of Bhagmati River which is sacred like Ganges. 

Lord Murugan and Sun

The Golden tower of Pasupathinath shrine

The entrance of the temple is  decorated with images of Ganesha and moon on the right side and Murugan and sun on the left side.  The Lord here is depicted as holding  His drum,  Trident and kamandal in His hands and one hand offering salvation to all the  living beings (pasus). There is also big brass Garuda Panel as it is vogue in Nepal in front of the temple. Two lions stand guard to the temple. As we enter the temple we can see the giant  brass Nandi, the mount and flag of the Lord Shiva facing the Lord.  There  are three nandis in this temple.  One is in standing pose inside the sanctum sanctorum  and the other two are in sitting pose on the outer circumblatory paths.

Front entrance of Pasupathinath temple

Babu & Adiyen


Lord Shiva

The sanctum  is built in the pagoda style unique to Nepal with two stage pyramidal towers, the top of the  are lined with Golden plates.   The towers are supported  by  with wonderful wooden carvings tastefully painted the walls of the sanctum are also there are wooden carvings which depict events from the puranas and epics Ramayana and Mahabaratha. There are gates on all the  four directions and are silver plated we can see each face of the Lord form one direction.  The east face of the Lord  is called Tatprush, south face Agor, west face Satyojatham and North face  Vamadevam.  When we visited the temple the ritual bathing of the Lord was going on with the recital of Rudram. As ordained by Jagadguru Adi Sankaracharya the priests of this temple  are Namboodri Brahmins from Kerala. We took the inner circumbulatory path and worshipped the Lord and prayed to Him grant His darshan at Kailash and also that we should be able to complete the parikrama. 

Our group in front of the Holy temple

There are numerous small temples built inside  the temple complex as an offering to the Lord and there are almost thousands of Lingam installed inside the temple complex. Some of the other small shrines are Naga shrine, Bairava shrine the fierce form of lord Shiva who is also considered the guardian deity of the temple. One small replica of the  Buddha Neelkant Mahadev is also there.  There is a 108 Shivalinga shrine in which 108 Lingas are installed in rows and the route is so lined up so that we can worship each lingam. On the North side we can see the Nepal king worshipping Lord Pasupathinath.  On the east side near the giant Nandi there is a idol of Lord Hanuman on the backside of the entrance we can see the Shivsakthi panel. 

Ganesh temple on way to Pasupathinath

A near by gate
( Note  the symbols on the door - Sun and moon, Eyes and flower vase, Lion and bigger eyes on the wall)

There is a legend that Pasupathinath temple is likned to  Panch Kedar.  The  story goes like this. After the great Kurukshetra war, Pandavas wanted to atone for their sin of killing their kin and teachers as advised by saint Vyas they went to Varanasi to seek pardon from Lord Shiva but he was not there. So the pandavas  left for Himalayas as the Lord didn’t give darshan to Pandavas He transformed himself as a Nandi and was grazing in the meadows . When the Pandavas saw the  cattles they could identify the special one and understood that it was  Lord Shiva . Bhima tried to hold the Nandi but to escape from him the Lord dived into ground but Bhima  hold the lod by his hind legs and the different parts of the Lord appeared at different places. The hump raising  at Kedarnath , the arms at  Tunganath, the navel (nabhi) and stomach at Madyamaheswar, the face surfacing at  Rudranath and the matted lock showing up at kalpeshwar.  The Pandavas pleased with the repppearance  of the Lord in five different forms  built temples for venerating and worshipping the Lord. Thus the Pandavas were  freed from their sins. It is also believed that the front portions  of the Lord appeared at Pasupathinath and this temple was also built by Pandavas.    

In and around the temple you can see piegeons, devotees feed these birds as an act of charity . There are lots of small shops selling pooja articles like Rudraksh, Saligram and you can pick up something as a souvenir.  The temple office is nearby where you can donate to the temple and also get tickets for special darshan a cloak room is available in that office where you can deposit your valuables. As photography is not allowed inside the temple you can leave your cameras here.  After a nice darshan of Lord Pasupathinath we left for  Guhyeshewari temple.