Shivaratri At Pashupatinath Temple
Pashupatinath temple is one of the oldest temples which is in the list of the world heritage site in 1979, located in Kathmandu valley. The origin of Pashupati has different stories. In one story it is said that once Shiva and Parvathi are walking then they rest at the bank of Bagmati River. Then Shiva was impressed by the beauty of the jungle. Then Shiva and Parvathi changed their avatar to deer. After some time other gods are started to search Shiva and then they found Shiva as a deer in the jungle and he was refused to leave that jungle. So he was lived in the Bagmati river during as a deer then he is known as the Pashupatinath, which means lord of the all the animals.
In another story, it is said that there was a cow named as Kamadhenu which is known as a wish-filling cow. Every day she went to the bank of the river and poured her milk at the sand of Baghmati River. After thousand year’s people noticed that she was pouring her milk every day on that spot, they get surprised, they started to wonder what is there? Why is she pouring her milk every day in that soil? So they removed the soil and they found amazing, shining Jyotirlinga. And they started worshiping that Shiva lingam.
Mahasivaratri is one of the most celebrated festivals in Nepal and India dedicated to Shiva. Shivaratri means Shiva’s night that means the greatest night of the Shiva. This is the only festival that is celebrated in the night. During celebration Hindu people sings Vajan ( the sings religious song dedicated to shiva) and they offered weed leaves, cold water, milk, and fruits to the Shiva lingam on Mahashivaratri because it is believed that these are the Shiva’s favorite.
Mahashivaratri is celebrated in full moon so, Hindu people believed that those people are lucky who can fast on whole day and night. In Nepal, Mahashivaratri is celebrated in Pashupatinath Temple which is the most famous pilgrimage site also in the world heritage site. It is also believed that lord Shiva once changes his avatar to Deer and come in back forest of the Pashupatinath Temple.
Every year more than 3 thousand Baba are come in Nepal for Celebrating Mahashivaratri. Pashupatinath has more than 10 thousand Shiva lingam. Pashupatinath temple is also the pilgrimage site of the Hindu people dedicated to Lord Shiva which is made in the 11th century, this is why Pashupati is kept in the world heritage site. In Mahashivaratri more than 900,000 people devote in Pashupatinath Temple.
Mahashivaratri is a solemn event notable for its introspective Focus, a meditation on Shiva, fasting, night vigil with burning firewoods and social harmony at Shiva temple Pashupatinath and many other Shiva temple in Kathmandu Nepal. In Nepal on the day of Mahashivaratri Nepal army perform the Paredes tribute to Lord Shiva. In the late night, they burn the fire woods and the married women pray for Shiva to have a long life of their husband and unmarried are pray to Shiva for getting a husband like Shiva ( Shiva is the ideal husband in Hinduism). Shiva is also considered as the first guru who started doing yoga at Mt. Kailash this is why people are also doing the yoga remembering Lord Shiva.
History of Shivaratri:
The history and the origin of the Shiva Ratri describe by the different stories and legends in Puranas. According to one story of Puran once the world is about to end because of the poisonous sea water then all the Gods are run to Shiva. And then Sive drinks all the poison but he does not shallow, he held it in his throat and he saves the whole world. Because of he saved the whole world, Mahashivaratri is celebrated.
Other most celebrated festival at Pashupatinath temple:
Teej festival
Teej is one of the most celebrated festivals in Nepal. Teej is celebrated in Pashupatinath temple and the shiva’s temple. In this festival, most of the girls and women celebrate by singing and dancing on a song that is dedicated to shiva. They also perform the ritual activities throughout the day dedicating to shiva.
Girls and women fast, they even do not drink a single drop of water. Shiva is the ideal husband according to Shiva Purana. Unmarried are pray to Lord Shiva to get a husband like him and married women are praying for long life of their husband.
There are three types of teej, Haritalika teej, Halyali teej and Kajari Teej. But in Nepal, only Haritalika teej is celebrated. This festival is also known as the monsoon festival and women festival.
Haritalika teej is known as the wedding day of Shiva and Parvathi. Parvati made a shiva lingam with her hair and pray for Shiva. Shiva get impressed by her praying then he got married to the Parvathi so that that marriage day is now celebrated as the Haritalika Teej.
Bal Chaturdashi
Bala Chaturdashi is another biggest festival that held at Pashupatinath temple. For celebrating the Bala Chaturdashi pilgrims are come from all over Nepal as well as from India. Like in Mahashivaratri all the pilgrims that come to celebrate the Bala Chaturdashi they vigil all night. They also singing and dancing on the song that is dedicated to Shiva.
Before performing ritual activates first they bath in the Bagmati River because it is believed that bathing in Baghmati makes soul and body pure. Bagmati River is one of the holy rivers in Kathmandu. There are lots of the temple on the bank of Bagmati.
After bathing in holy rover Baghmati they start ritual performance dedicated to fallen relatives. Pilgrims round the Pashupatinath temple by scattering the “Sat Biu” during their walk. Sat Biu is made by the 7 types of the seeds and grains. The Sat Biu is scattered on behalf of the fallen relatives, believing that after this event dead relatives will get a good place in heaven. It takes more than 6-7 hours to complete this event.
As a rich country in cultural diversity, there are different types of the festival according to the different culture. These are only just 3 main festivals that is celebrated in Pashupatinath. Every day more than 3 thousand people visit the Pashupatinath temple. For visiting and for more information please feel free to contact us we are always here to give you full and detail information of Nepal for free.
