President pays homage to Pashupatinath on Mahashivaratri

Kathmandu, Feb 18: President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Saturday visited the Pashupatinath Temple to pay homage to the Hindu God Shiva on the occasion of the Mahashivaratri festival.     

After performing Puja at one of the major temples of God Shiva on the occasion, the President received Prasad from temple’s main priest Ganesh Bhatta.     

Prior to that, upon arrival at the Pashupatinath Temple area, the Head-of-the-State was welcomed by Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati, also the Chair of Pashupati Area Development Trust Governing Council, PADT member-secretary Dr Milan Kumar Thapa, treasurer Narayan Prasad Subedi, Council members, PADT executive director and the employees.     

As shared by Trust Spokesperson Rewati Raman Adhikari, all four entrances to the temple are to remain open till 7:00 am tomorrow on the occasion of the festival. Devotees have access to the temple since 3:00 am Saturday. According to the Trust, 5,000 saints including Shankaracharya Nischalanda Saraswoti from the Govardhan Math visited the temple to observe the Mahashivartri. Five thousand security personnel and four thousand volunteers were mobilised at the temple in view of the festival.(RSS)