Pashupati Temple Becoming Departmental Store

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

My Lord, your day called Shivaratri is on Sunday, March 10, 2013, millions of devotees will visit your shrine called Pashupati temple at Gaushala in Kathmandu on this day. In fact, some devotees have already started coming to Nepal from the neighboring countries and from various parts of Nepal. This time, Pashupati Area Development Committee (PADT) is allowing only the naked Babaji or Sadhus means ascetics to have bonfire around the Pashupati temple, other ascetics have to go to other areas such as Kalmochan if they want to have bonfires. PADT did not allow the Sadhus to smoke hashish last year but this year PADT is willing to allow Sadhus smoke hashish if they would bring it with them; however, they would not be permitted to sell and let others smoke.

PADT has been providing the Sadhus with firewood for bonfires, food for eight days: four days before the Shivaratri and four days after, and then bus fares to return to their destinations in the past. Sadhus come in thousands. They stay around the temple warming their bodies on the bonfires. This year, Shivaratri is one month late, as every three year, we have one more month following the lunar calendar. We celebrate all religious and cultural festival following the lunar calendar. So, Sadhus might find not so cold in Shivaratri of this year. However, they need to warm their naked body on the bonfires at night.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees come to Nepal to have the ‘darshan’ means vision of Lord Pashupati: another name of Lord Shiva to have the blessing from the lord, and for their wish fulfillment. About 50 years ago when the roads had not connected Kathmandu, devotees used to walk from the terai area to Kathmandu for four-five days before reaching Kathmandu for the ‘darshan’ of Lord Pashupati. They walked in one line giving the impression of moving ants. Some of them spent a night in Bhaktapur. They brought with them food items and utensils to cook food on the way. 

After making offerings to Lord Pashupati in Kathmandu, devotees walked to Bhaktapur to have the ‘darshan’ of Lord Dattatraya, and his blessing. This is the only temple to Lord Dattatraya in Nepal. Even in South Asia, only a few temples to Lord Dattatraya are available. So, devotees did not miss to have the blessing of Lord Dattatraya in Bhaktapur.

At that time, Sadhus used to walk completely naked in Bhaktapur. Some of the children used to follow them to see how they walked completely naked without shy and shame. Some of them stayed around the temple to Lord Dattatraya making bonfires for some days.

Now, busloads of devotees come from the south on large buses. Devotees don’t have the problems of coming and going as in the past when they needed to walk to Kathmandu. If they want they can stay in lodges and hotels depending on their affordability in Kathmandu and even in Bhaktapur. Some devotees come equipped with a cooking gear and food items. Wherever, they stop they cook food. Some conservative Hindus don’t eat food cook by others. That might be one of the reasons for cooking food on the way. Another reason might be the cost of food, and choice of food. Some vegetarians might have difficulty to find a vegetarian restaurant in Kathmandu.

Shivaratri is the day on which Lord Shiva appeared in person to give ‘darshan’ to the devotees. People of the Hindu world keep vigil on this day and night anticipating Lord Shiva to appear. Children collect tolls from the drivers and even pedestrians to buy firewood to make bonfires on this night. In order to keep busy the whole night, children and even adults roast peanuts, corn, soybeans and so on, on the bonfires, and eat them as the blessings of Lord Shiva.

Lord Pashupati dwells in a two-tiered artistic Nepalese architectural temple. The temple is roofed in gold-gilded brass sheets. It has four large doors made up of silver sheets. At the center of the inner sanctum of the temple, a Shiva linga means phallus stands. It has six faces. You can see four faces facing four directions but you cannot see the one facing to the sky and another to the earth. It is called Lord Pashupati that has six faces to see simultaneously any directions without moving the head.

Devotees are off-limit to this phallus but they can see it standing at the door. On the Shivaratri day, all four doors are opened to devotees to stand and watch the phallus. On this day, devotees start off lining up to enter the temple and have the ‘darshan’ of Lord Pashupati early in the morning. On other days, only the western door is opened to devotees.

People belonging to the cow-eating religion are off-limit to the temple. They could watch the temple standing at the gate to the temple or from other bank of the Bagmati River. Even Hindus wearing belts made of cow skin are not allowed in to the temple. They need to take off such belts, and leave them outside the temple. Historically untouchable people have an access to the lord after the people’s movement of 2006. In Nepal, killing cow is punishable by a life imprisonment. Cow is the wealth goddess for Hindus.

A large bronze statue of a bull called Nandi sits on a large pedestal facing to the western door of the temple. Nandi is the companion of Lord Shiva. When devotees enter the temple from the western gate; they see the large butt with two large testes of the Nandi.

Lord Shiva is the lover of animals. He wears serpents on his head, on his arms, and around his neck. He wears the tiger skin, and uses elephant skin for his bed. He keeps his body warm rubbing the whole body with ashes. He loves to sit on the snow-capped mountain and meditate all the time.

Lord Pashupati is one of the richest deities in Nepal. During the last two thousand years, many rulers of Nepal donated large plots of land for creating revenue to run the temple. However, these lands have been lost to the Guthi Sansthan the government had set up to run the temples and other religious and cultural festivals, or to the tenants after the selling of the lands owned by the temples.

Even losing the lands, Lord Pashupati has been a richest deity. Every day hundreds of devotees visit the temple and make offerings of cash, flowers and foodstuff. Any devotees can make special offering called puja to Lord Pashupati starting at the price of Rs 1,100 and ending at Rs 1.1 million. South Indian priests called Bhattas perform the special pujas, and attend the deity daily.

Recently, the South Indian priests have stopped performing special pujas according to the local media news. The priests claimed certain amount of the puja fees for themselves whereas the PADT has taken the whole amount and cut out a small amount from the special puja fees and deposited it in its account to run its office following the regulations.

The priests are highly paid but they want certain share of the puja fees. So, in protest, they have not performed any special puja since the mid February of this year. The special pujas will go ahead only after the PADT and the South Indian priests compromise on their respective stand. Previously, the priest used to pocket all the money the deity gets from the devotees. Recently, the PADT has put the priests on salaries, and collected all the monies offered to Lord Pashupati for its maintenance and development.

The government headed by Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda had replaced the South Indian priests with the Nepalese priests in 2009 for some days. However, the anti-national-minded leaders of NC such as Ram Chandra Poudel and Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat marched from the Newbaneswor to the temple to Lord Pashupati at Gaushala demanding to retain South India priests. These NC guys called the Nepalese priest Maoists. So, you find the South Indian priests working at the temple to Lord Pashupati in Kathmandu. Any Nepalis with a bit of nationalistic feelings want to replace Indian priests with the Nepalese priests. These shameless NC guys have not only shamed them but also the nationalistic-feeling Nepalis.

Some devotees have complained that the priests have made the temple to Lord Pashupati as a departmental store. You have to buy the blessings from the deity. You have the choice of prices to pay for the puja to perform. Depending on the price you pay, the priests set the priority of making offerings to the deity. Thus, you can buy the high price pujas or low price pujas.

March 7, 2013