Located approximately 5 kilometers northeast of central Kathmandu in the ancient settlement of Deopatan (the town of the gods), Pashupatinath Temple (Nepali: श्री पशुपतिनाथ मन्दिर) unfolds along both banks of the Bagmati River gorge as a living spiritual city that has endured for sixteen centuries. Standing on the stepped stone terraces of the eastern bank and looking across the ancient stone bridges toward the western shore, visitors behold the two sweeping gilded copper roofs and golden Gajur pinnacle rising 23.7 meters above the main Pashupatinath courtyard through drifting clouds of sandalwood incense and cremation smoke rising from Arya Ghat directly below the temple plinth. Before the western doorway of the sanctum, a colossal gilded bronze statue of the sacred bull Nandi reclines in solemn vigilance facing the inner chamber, where rests the one-meter-tall black stone Chaturmukha Mukhalinga carved with the four sacred countenances of Lord Shiva gazing out toward the four quarters of the cosmos.
Unlike sanctuaries reserved solely for quiet liturgical prayer, the 246-hectare Pashupatinath precinct encompassing 518 subsidiary temples, monastic mathas, pilgrim rest houses (sattals), and hundreds of stone Linga shrines is a place where life and death meet at every moment. Along the waters of the Bagmati River flowing south to join the Ganges basin in India, ritual bathing for the purification of karma, the nightly Bagmati Sandhya Aarti fire ceremony, and open-air funeral cremations guiding departed souls toward liberation (Moksha) proceed side by side day and night, making this complex the supreme Shaiva pilgrimage center of the Himalayas and South Asia.
ILord Shiva as Pashupati, the Five-fold Mukhalinga, and the Legend of Mrigasthali Forest
The Sanskrit title Pashupatinath combines three sacred terms: Pashu (पशु, signifying all living beings, creatures, and individual souls bound within samsara), Pati (पति, meaning Lord or Protector), and Natha (नाथ, meaning Supreme Master). In Shaiva Hindu theology, particularly within the ancient Pashupata Shaiva order and Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy, Pashupati is revered as the compassionate and sovereign manifestation of Lord Shiva who tends and liberates all bound souls from the fetters of cosmic ignorance (Pasha).
According to the Skanda Purana (specifically the Himavatkhanda and Nepal Mahatmya) as well as the Pashupati Purana of Nepalese Sanskrit literature, in primordial times Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati visited the Kathmandu Valley and were enchanted by the forested hills of Mrigasthali (the Deer Park) overlooking the Bagmati River. Taking the form of a pair of golden deer with radiant antlers, the divine couple roamed freely through the woodland. When the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Indra arrived to implore Shiva to return to his cosmic duties, Shiva in his deer form refused to leave. As the gods grasped him by his horn, the antler broke into three pieces that fell to earth and manifested as the primordial Linga of light at Deopatan. Ages later, after the original shrine had been buried beneath the earth, a celestial wish-fulfilling cow named Kamadhenu walked daily to a mound beside the Bagmati River and released milk from her udder onto a single spot. When curious herdsmen excavated the soil at that location, the self-luminous Jyotirlinga of Pashupati was revealed to humanity.
Another foundational Puranic tradition recorded in the ninth chapter of the Koti-Rudra Samhita in the Shiva Purana links Pashupatinath directly with the five Himalayan shrines of Panch Kedar in Uttarakhand, India. Following the fratricidal Kurukshetra war recounted in the Mahabharata, the five Pandava brothers journeyed into the Himalayas seeking Lord Shiva's forgiveness for slaying their kinsmen. Unwilling to grant them an easy audience, Shiva assumed the form of a bull and dived into the earth at Kedarnath. When the warrior Bhima seized the bull's tail and hindquarters, its hump remained at Kedarnath, its arms appeared at Tungnath, its navel at Madhyamaheshwar, its face at Rudranath, its hair at Kalpeshwar, and the supreme head (Shiro-bhaga) of the divine bull emerged at Pashupatinath in Nepal. Consequently, in Hindu pilgrimage tradition, the sacred circuit of Kedarnath is considered complete only after venerating the head of Shiva at Pashupatinath.
The black stone Chaturmukha Mukhalinga and the five cosmic aspects of Shiva
Enshrined at the center of the inner sanctum (Garbhagriha) of Pashupatinath Temple is a sacred Chaturmukha Mukhalinga (four-faced Linga) carved from polished black stone (dense dark metamorphic stone native to the Himalayas), standing approximately 1 meter (over 3 feet) high upon a silver-sheathed Yoni pedestal (Snanadroni) encircled by a silver Naga serpent. Unlike an uncarved cylindrical Linga, the Mukhalinga of Pashupatinath embodies the complete Panchabrahma doctrine (the Five Supreme Aspects of Shiva) governing space, time, and the five elements:
The face looking West is Sadyojata (also called Barun), carved with the pure, youthful features of a newborn child, corresponding to the element Earth (Prithvi) and the cosmic function of creation (Srishti). The face looking North is Vamadeva (also identified as Ardhanarishvara, half-male and half-female), displaying serene, graceful features associated with healing and beauty, corresponding to the element Water (Jala) and the function of preservation (Sthiti). The face looking South is Aghora (Bhairava), depicted with fierce, wrathful eyes and skull ornaments, corresponding to the element Fire (Agni) and the dissolution of evil for regeneration (Samhara). The face looking East is Tatpurusha, showing a tranquil, meditative sage with the third eye on his forehead, corresponding to the element Air (Vayu) and the veiling power of illusion (Tirobhava). Finally, the uncarved hemispherical crown at the top of the shaft pointing straight toward the sky represents the fifth, formless aspect, Ishana (Sada-Shiva), corresponding to Ether or Space (Akasha) and the supreme grace of liberation (Anugraha).
In Nepal, Pashupatinath Temple also exemplifies the deep historical synthesis between Hinduism and Newar and Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. Buddhist practitioners revere the Mrigasthali forest caves and the Bagmati gorge as the meditation ground of the eighty-four Great Adepts (Mahasiddhas), including Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), Tilopa, Naropa, Matsyendranath, and Gorakhnath. In Tibetan Vajrayana tradition, the cremation ground beside the Bagmati at Pashupatinath is counted among the Eight Great Charnel Grounds (Ashtasmashana, known in Tibetan as Lhundrup Tsek, the Spontaneous Mound), where Padmasambhava practiced tantric sadhana and subdued local worldly spirits.
IISixteen Centuries of History from the Licchavi Dynasty to the Malla Kings
The architectural and liturgical history of Pashupatinath Temple is inseparable from the state formation of the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal's oldest royal chronicles, notably the Gopalarajavamshavali (compiled in the late 14th century) and the Bhasha Vamshavali, together with hundreds of Sanskrit and Old Newar stone inscriptions preserved across the temple courtyards, document an unbroken sequence of royal patronage from the 5th century CE to the modern era.
Regarding the earliest monarch to erect a temple over the Linga, Nepalese chronicles preserve two complementary accounts: certain Vamshavali texts state that an early ruler named Supuspa Deva built a five-tiered temple over the sacred site, whereas the Gopalarajavamshavali and epigraphic historians credit the Licchavi monarch Prachanda Deva around the early 5th century CE (circa 400 CE) with constructing the first historical monument at Deopatan. Verified stone inscriptions of King Manadeva (reigned 464 to 505 CE) and King Amshuverma (early 7th century CE) confirm that Pashupatinath served as the supreme state deity of the Licchavi kingdom, with monarchs styling themselves in royal charters as Bhagavat Pashupati Bhattaraka Pada Anugrihita (Favored by the Feet of the Supreme Lord Pashupati).
- Circa 400 CE (5th century)Foundation of the temple under the Licchavi dynastyAccording to the Gopalarajavamshavali chronicle, King Prachanda Deva (alongside traditions of King Supuspa Deva) of the Licchavi dynasty erected the foundational temple of Pashupati on the western bank of the Bagmati River at Deopatan. Subsequent Licchavi rulers such as Manadeva (464 - 505 CE) and Amshuverma (circa 605 - 621 CE) endowed stone Chaturmukha Lingas and elevated Pashupatinath to the guardian shrine of the realm.
- 1099 - 1126 CEMajor reconstruction by King Shivadeva IIIAfter centuries of weathering along the river gorge, the medieval monarch King Shivadeva III (reigned 1099 to 1126 CE) carried out a comprehensive reconstruction of the main sanctuary, expanding its timber superstructure and establishing land endowments (Guthi) to fund daily worship.
- Late 13th century and 1349 CERoof additions by King Ananta Malla and restoration after the 1349 invasionKing Ananta Malla (reigned circa 1274 to 1307 CE) renovated the temple and added a new roof tier. In November 1349, troops led by Sultan Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah of Bengal raided the Kathmandu Valley and shattered the earlier Mukhalinga of Pashupatinath. Following the invaders' withdrawal, Prime Minister Jayasimharama Vardhana commissioned and consecrated the present black stone Chaturmukha Mukhalinga and restored the sanctuary.
- 1692 CE (Nepal Sambat 812)King Bhupalendra Malla rebuilds the 2-tiered gilded pagodaWhen the medieval timber framework suffered severe termite damage and structural decay, King Bhupalendra Malla of Kantipur (Kathmandu) and Queen Mother Riddhilakshmi dismantled the deteriorated woodwork and erected the present 23.7-meter two-tiered Newar pagoda with gilded copper roofs and four silver-plated doors.
- 18th - 19th centuryExpansion under the Shah dynasty and Rana prime ministersFollowing King Prithvi Narayan Shah's unification of Nepal (1768), Shah monarchs including Rana Bahadur Shah and Rajendra Bikram Shah along with Rana rulers commissioned the giant gilded bronze Nandi bull before the western gate, rebuilt the stone cremation steps of Arya Ghat, spanned the Bagmati with bridges, and erected rows of white shikhara votive shrines such as the fifteen Pandra Shivalaya temples on the eastern bank.
- 1979UNESCO World Heritage inscription of Kathmandu ValleyAt the 3rd session of the World Heritage Committee, the Pashupatinath Temple monument zone was inscribed as one of the seven core heritage ensembles of the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site (Ref. 121), recognizing its masterwork Newar wood and metal craft and living religious traditions.
- 2015Survival of the main sanctum during the 7.8 Gorkha earthquakeOn April 25, 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake devastated numerous brick and stone monuments across the Kathmandu Valley, yet the 1692 main pagoda of Pashupatinath withstood the seismic shock intact thanks to its flexible interlocked Newar timber joinery and deep foundations.
IIIGilded Newar Pagoda Architecture, 518 Shrines, and the Cremation Ghats of Arya Ghat
The protected heritage zone of Pashupatinath covers 246 hectares encompassing both banks of the Bagmati River and the wooded ridge of Mrigasthali. According to inventories maintained by the Pashupati Area Development Trust, the complex contains 518 temples, shrines, and monuments divided into two spatial zones: the walled inner courtyard on the western bank housing the main Pashupatinath pagoda, and the open outer precinct along the riverbanks and eastern hillside filled with centuries-old shrines in both Newar pagoda and North Indian shikhara styles.
The two-tiered gilded copper sanctum and the hereditary Bhatta priesthood
Rebuilt in 1692 by King Bhupalendra Malla, the central temple of Pashupatinath is a masterpiece of Newar pagoda architecture. Rising from a square stone platform measuring roughly 16 meters on each side, the building reaches an exact height of 23.7 meters (23 m 7 cm) from base to finial. Its two wide, sloping square roofs are sheathed in hand-beaten copper plates richly gilded in gold leaf and supported by dozens of inclined sal-wood struts (tundals) intricately carved with figures of Shiva, Parvati, Bhairava, and celestial attendants. Crowning the upper roof is a gleaming golden bell-shaped pinnacle (Suvarna Gajur), symbolizing Mount Kailash and the axis of the universe.
The ground-floor brick walls are pierced at the four cardinal directions (East, West, South, and North) by four double doors clad in repoussé silver sheets framed by gilded copper tympanums (toranas). Inside, the floor plan consists of two concentric chambers: an outer circumambulatory corridor and the innermost sanctum sanctorum (Garbhagriha) housing the one-meter black stone Chaturmukha Mukhalinga. Under centuries-old liturgical regulations linked to the tradition of Adi Shankaracharya and the Malla kings, only four Bhatta priests (Vedic Brahmin scholars versed in the Rigveda and Yajurveda recruited from Karnataka in South India and headed by the Mool Bhatta) are permitted to touch the Mukhalinga directly to perform daily bathing, robing, and Puja rites, assisted in outer sanctum duties by a roster of 108 Newar Rajbhandari caretakers who rotate every full moon.
Positioned in the stone courtyard directly opposite the main western entrance of the two-tiered pagoda is a monumental gilded bronze statue of Nandi, the sacred bull mount and gatekeeper of Lord Shiva, cast under royal Shah patronage in the 19th century. Because entry into the inner courtyard is restricted to practicing Hindus, international visitors standing outside the western gateway view the gleaming golden hindquarters of Nandi and the towering bronze Trishula trident framed through the carved outer portal.
Directly below the eastern wall of the main temple on the western bank of the Bagmati River lies Arya Ghat, the holiest cremation ground in Nepal, historically reserved for royalty and nobility (while Ram Ghat south of the bridge serves the general public). At the water's edge of Arya Ghat rests a sloped carved stone slab known as the Brahmanal: just before cremation, the dying or deceased person is laid upon this stone with their feet immersed in the Bagmati waters flowing down from Mount Shivapuri for final spiritual purification before being placed on the funeral pyre.
Located about 1 kilometer northeast of the main Pashupatinath sanctum on the southern bank of the Bagmati River behind Mrigasthali hill is Guhyeshwari Temple, restored by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century. Whereas Pashupatinath embodies the masculine principle of Shiva, Guhyeshwari represents the supreme feminine Shakti (revered as the Shakti Pitha where Goddess Sati's knees or womb fell). Instead of an anthropomorphic statue, its subterranean sanctum venerates a natural spring well (Kunda) covered by a gold-and-silver kalasha lid, sacred alike to Hindu Tantrics and Newar Vajrayana Buddhists (as Nairatma / Vajravarahi).
Facing the main pagoda and Arya Ghat across the narrow Bagmati River rise the terraced stone steps of the eastern bank leading up to Mrigasthali forest. This embankment is lined with the Pandra Shivalaya, a picturesque row of fifteen whitewashed stone shikhara-style temples built in the mid-19th century, along with over a hundred small stone pavilions arranged in neat rows, each housing a black stone Shiva Linga facing the sacred river.
Near Arya Ghat on the western bank stands a shrine housing the half-submerged stone torso of Virupaksha (Kirateshwar), dated by art historians to the 4th to 6th centuries CE and popularly believed to be slowly rising out of the earth as the Kali Yuga progresses. Close by at the water's edge sits an original 6th-to-7th-century Licchavi black stone statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in meditation, bearing witness to the ancient coexistence of Shaivism and Buddhism along the Bagmati.
In the northeastern corner of the inner Pashupatinath courtyard stands the pagoda-roofed shrine of Vasuki Nath (Vasuki Naga, the divine serpent king coiled around Shiva's neck and guardian of the temple treasury). By traditional rule, devotees entering the courtyard must first circumambulate and offer worship at Vasuki Nath Temple before approaching the central sanctum of Pashupatinath.
IVThe Lie of the Land and Sacred Orientation
Hinduism does not employ East Asian compass geomancy, instead laying out sacred precincts according to Vedic spatial science (Vastu Shastra) and the sacred geography of river crossings (Tirtha). At Pashupatinath, the sanctuary is anchored by the confluence of the holy Bagmati (Vagmati) River descending southward from Mount Shivapuri and the forested hill of Mrigasthali (Kailash), while the main pagoda is structured on a four-sided Vastu Purusha Mandala opening to due East, West, South, and North in alignment with the four faces of the Chaturmukha Mukhalinga. The reading below examines the actual river-gorge topography of the complex through the comparative lens of traditional landform geomancy.
Examined on the topographic map of the Kathmandu basin at coordinates 27.7097 degrees North latitude and 85.3486 degrees East longitude (at an elevation of approximately 1,310 meters above sea level), Pashupatinath Temple occupies a dramatic river-gorge node (the node / Dragon Spot (Xue) at a locked water mouth) in the northeastern sector of the valley. The Bagmati River originates high on Mount Shivapuri (2,732 meters) to the due north, meanders across the Gokarna plain, and upon reaching Deopatan and Pashupatinath is suddenly constricted between two steep upland ridges: the wooded hill of Mrigasthali on the eastern bank and the ancient plateau of Kailashkut / Deopatan on the western bank. Immediately after squeezing through this narrow rock-cut gorge in front of the temple (flowing from north to south), the river widens again to receive the Rudramati (Dhobi Khola) tributary before flowing south through the Chobhar gorge toward the Ganges plain. In classical landform water analysis, the two hills pinching the river channel act as natural stone gateposts (Hãn môn / Water khẩu) that lock and retain the vital qi of the northern mountain waters within the sanctuary.
Regarding the four emblems and axial orientation: the main Pashupatinath pagoda sits on a raised terrace on the western bank of the Bagmati River. Architecturally, the temple opens through four silver doors to the four cardinal directions corresponding to the four faces of the Mukhalinga, in ritual practice, the primary ceremonial entrance guarded by the giant gilded Nandi faces West (connecting to the royal pilgrimage avenue from Kathmandu Durbar Square through Deopatan), while the riverfront entrance overlooking Arya Ghat faces East. When read along the east-facing axis looking out from the sanctum across the river: the elevated plateau of Deopatan and Kailash mound behind the temple to the west forms a solid rear backing (Rear Backing Mountain (Hou Zhen)), the sacred Bagmati River flowing directly below the eastern terrace serves as the inner bright hall (Inner Bright Hall (Nei Ming Tang)) that gathers qi, the steep, forest-clad hill of Mrigasthali rising immediately across the narrow river to the east acts as an intimate front screen (Front Table Mountain (Qian An)) shielding the gorge from dispersing winds, to the left on the north (Azure Dragon on the left) rises the ancestral peak of Mount Shivapuri, and to the right on the south (White Tiger on the right) the river curves outward toward the Patan basin. This enclosed configuration of hills embracing a narrow sacred watercourse explains how Pashupatinath has preserved its solemn microclimate apart from the surrounding metropolis for sixteen hundred years.
VMaha Shivaratri, the Women's Festival of Teej, and the Nightly Bagmati Aarti
Pashupatinath Temple is the liturgical heart of Nepal, maintaining a daily schedule of Vedic and Tantric worship from 4:00 AM until 9:00 PM alongside major annual festivals observed according to the Nepalese Hindu lunisolar calendars (Vikram Samvat and Nepal Sambat). The supreme event of the year is the night of Maha Shivaratri, which draws hundreds of thousands of lay pilgrims and thousands of wandering Sadhu ascetics from across India and Nepal to the banks of the Bagmati.
| Time (Calendar system) | Festival / Ritual name | Liturgical observance and activities at Pashupatinath Temple |
|---|---|---|
| 14th night of the dark fortnight of Phalguna (Hindu lunar calendar, approx. February or March) | Great Night of Shiva (Maha Shivaratri) | The largest annual pilgrimage at Pashupatinath, gathering over a million devotees and thousands of ash-smeared Naga Baba and Sadhu ascetics from India and the Himalayas. All four silver doors of the sanctum remain open throughout the night as the Bhatta priests perform the four-watch bathing ritual (Chaturprahar Puja) of the Mukhalinga with milk, curd, ghee, honey, and sugar water, while ascetics keep sacred Dhuni bonfires burning and chant Om Namah Shivaya until dawn. |
| 3rd day of the bright fortnight of Bhadra (Hindu lunar calendar, approx. August or September) | Women's Festival of Hartalika Teej | Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese Hindu women dressed in crimson bridal saris and gold ornaments observe a strict 24-hour fast without food or water, forming queues kilometers long around Pashupatinath Temple to dance, sing devotional songs, and pray to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati for the longevity of their husbands and family welfare. |
| 14th night of the dark fortnight of Mangsir (Hindu lunar calendar, approx. November or December) | Bala Chaturdashi (Scattering of the Seven Sacred Seeds / Satbeej) | Families who have lost relatives during the past year camp overnight in the temple precincts burning oil lamps for the departed. At dawn, after bathing in the Bagmati River, mourners walk a grand clockwise circuit through Mrigasthali forest and past the 518 shrines, scattering a mixture of seven sacred grains (Satbeej: paddy, barley, black sesame, black gram, mustard, maize, and wheat) along the trail to earn merit for their ancestors' souls. |
| Mondays of the month of Shrawan (Hindu lunar calendar, approx. July to August) | Bol Bam Pilgrimage and Mondays of Shrawan (Shrawan Somvar) | Throughout the monsoon month of Shrawan sacred to Lord Shiva, tens of thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims walk barefoot 15 kilometers from the mountain springs of Sundarijal on Mount Shivapuri carrying pots of pure river water while chanting Bol Bam to pour water offerings over the shrines of Pashupatinath. |
| Every evening at dusk (Year-round) | Riverside Fire Offering (Bagmati Sandhya Aarti) | Performed nightly on the eastern stone embankment of the Bagmati River directly opposite the main temple and Arya Ghat. Three priests standing beneath brass canopies raise tiered bronze oil lamps blazing with clarified butter (Aarti) and circle them in synchronized arcs to the accompaniment of bells, Damaru drums, conch shells, and devotional Bhajan hymns echoing across the river gorge. |
The nightly Bagmati Sandhya Aarti on the eastern riverbank offers one of the most moving spiritual scenes in Kathmandu. As darkness settles over the gorge, on one side of the narrow river the three blazing bronze Aarti lamps celebrate the creative grace of Lord Shiva while thousands of worshippers clap and sing hymns, and directly across the water only a few dozen meters away funeral pyres burn on the stone platforms of Arya Ghat returning human bodies to the five elements. This juxtaposition embodies the Vedic realization that life and death are inseparable rhythms within the cosmic dance (Tandava) of Lord Pashupati.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Pashupati Nath Road, Deopatan, Gaushala, Kathmandu 44621, Bagmati Province, Nepal (पशुपतिनाथ मार्ग, देवपाटन, काठमाडौँ)
- Getting there
- The Pashupatinath Temple complex is located at Gaushala along the Ring Road in eastern Kathmandu, just 1.5 to 2 kilometers northwest of Tribhuvan International Airport (about 10 minutes by taxi) and approximately 5 kilometers east of Kathmandu Durbar Square and the Thamel district.
- Coordinates
- 27.7097, 85.3486
When visiting Pashupatinath Temple, please observe its strict traditional regulations: only practicing Hindus (and South Asian Buddhists following local custom) are permitted to pass through the western gateway into the inner walled courtyard of the main two-tiered pagoda, and no leather articles of any kind (such as leather belts, shoes, or bags) may be brought inside the courtyard. International visitors are welcome to explore the entire 246-hectare outer heritage complex, cross the stone bridges to the eastern bank of the Bagmati River for a close view of the gilded roofs of the main sanctum, attend the evening Bagmati Aarti ceremony, and climb the stone paths through Mrigasthali forest. When observing funeral rites near Arya Ghat, please maintain a respectful silence and refrain from intrusive photography of grieving families.
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?Quick Questions
Which deity is worshipped at Pashupatinath Temple and what does the main image look like?
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva in his manifestation as Pashupati (the Lord and Protector of All Living Beings). Inside the inner sanctum stands a one-meter-tall black stone Chaturmukha Mukhalinga set upon a silver Yoni base encircled by a silver serpent, carved on its four sides with the four directional faces of Shiva (Sadyojata facing West, Vamadeva facing North, Aghora facing South, and Tatpurusha facing East) crowned by the uncarved dome representing the formless fifth aspect, Ishana.
When was the main pagoda of Pashupatinath Temple built?
Worship at Pashupatinath is documented in royal chronicles and stone inscriptions as early as the 5th century CE (circa 400 CE) during the Licchavi dynasty under kings Prachanda Deva and Supuspa Deva. Following medieval reconstructions (such as under King Shivadeva III in the 12th century) and severe termite damage to the earlier timber structure, the present 23.7-meter two-tiered gilded copper pagoda was rebuilt in 1692 by King Bhupalendra Malla.
Why is the Arya Ghat cremation ground at Pashupatinath considered so sacred by Hindus?
In Nepalese Hindu belief, the Bagmati River flowing past the foot of Pashupatinath Temple is a holy Himalayan river that joins the sacred Ganges system. Devotees believe that having one's feet washed in the Bagmati waters on the Brahmanal stone slab and being cremated at Arya Ghat directly beneath the gaze of Lord Shiva Pashupati purifies all earthly karma and grants the soul final liberation (Moksha) from the cycle of rebirth.
Who is allowed to touch and perform rituals on the Mukhalinga inside the sanctum?
Under centuries-old temple law, only four Bhatta priests (headed by the Chief Priest or Mool Bhatta), who are Vedic Brahmin scholars rigorously selected from Karnataka in South India, are permitted to touch the black stone Mukhalinga directly to perform its daily bathing, dressing, and offerings, assisted in outer chamber duties by 108 hereditary Newar Rajbhandari caretakers.
Where can non-Hindu visitors view the main temple at Pashupatinath?
Although non-Hindus are not permitted to enter the inner walled courtyard of the central pagoda itself, visitors have full access to the surrounding 246-hectare UNESCO heritage zone. The finest vantage point for viewing the two gilded copper roofs of the main temple, the Arya Ghat cremation platforms, and the nightly Bagmati Sandhya Aarti fire ceremony is from the stepped stone terraces on the eastern bank of the Bagmati River and the Pandra Shivalaya hillside.