PADT bids farewell to Shankaracharya Nishchalananda Saraswoti

Kathmandu, Feb 20  :  The Pashupati Area Development Trust bid farewell to Shankaracharya Nishchalananda Saraswoti from the Govardhan Math in Jagannathpur in India who arrived at the Pashupatinath Temple to observe the Mahashivarati Festival.    

According to Trust’s Division for Culture Conservation Chief and Information Officer Gauri Shanker Parajuli, the abbot left Kathmandu for Benares this morning. During his stay here, he gave his preaching for three days in the Pashupatinath area.    

Similarly, sadhus and ascetics who gathered from different parts of the country and from India on the occasion of the Shivaratri have started getting back to their places.    
 The PADT has the tradition of bidding farewell with certain cash offerings to the sadhus and ascetics arriving at the temple during the festival.    

The PADT plans to bid farewell to over 4,000 saints simultaneously. They will be offered Rs 500 to Rs 8,000 cash including the Rudrasha Mala being based on their positions in the relevant field. This time, the PADT has manages Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 thousands for cash offerings to its religious guests.    

It is said at least 1.5 million people reached the temple on the occasion of the Mahashivarati Festival on February 18 and the fifty percent of them visited the main temple.  (RSS)