800,000 devotees expected to visit Mahashivaratri festival

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 13: Mahashivaratri, one of the biggest festivals for Hindu devotees, will be celebrated on Sunday with great enthusiasm. The Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has estimated that around 800,000 devotees will visit the Pashupatinath Temple on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.

All preparation work for this year’s Maha Shivaratri has been completed. A 171-member Main Management Committee and eight sub-committees have been formed to manage the security system, free food, water, firewood and logs for the sadhus, health services, footwear arrangements for devotees, and other facilities, the PADT said at a press meet organised on Thursday.

Officials of the PADT stated that they are ready to welcome tens of thousands of devotees on the day of Shivaratri on Sunday. Police personnel will be mobilised to manage the crowd and provide security. Security personnel from Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force, other security agencies, and over 2,000 volunteers will be deployed in the Pashupati area on the day.

Executive Director of the PADT, Subash Chandra Joshi, said, “We have managed to make proper arrangements to celebrate this year’s Shivaratri festival with much fanfare and to ensure that devotees do not have to stand in line for a long time. A budget of Rs. 12 million has been allocated.”

Joshi further said that over 4,000 sadhus and saints are expected to arrive in Kathmandu from different parts of India. Among them, around 1,000 to 1,500 Naga Babas will visit this year. Nepali Army personnel will be mobilised in the core area and on the temple premises.

The PADT has made arrangements for people to offer worship to Lord Shiva at Pashupati by creating separate queues from different points around the temple. The arrangements have been made in such a way that pilgrims can easily pay homage to Lord Shiva within a short time, the PADT said.

All four doors of the temple will open at 2:00 am. More than 112 different organisations will provide free meals, drinking water, juice, and medicines.

For health facilities, a health camp with beds and two ambulances will provide services in the core area of the temple. Other health camps will be set up at Bhandarkhal, Amalkot, Tilganga, Charchivalaya, Ram Mandir, Upakunda, and other areas.