By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Transcending religious and geographical boundaries, hundreds of thousands of devotees Wednesday flocked to scores of ancient Hindu temples scattered all over Nepal to pay obeisance to Shiva, the lord of all living beings, on the occasion of Maha Shiva Ratri, the festival of the Hindu god.
Though the centre of attraction for tourists was Pashupatinath, the 7th century pagoda shrine housed in a complex containing over 400 other temples, big and small, crowds also spilled into the Jaleshwor temple in Mahottari in southern Nepal, Halesi Mahadev temple in Khotang in eastern Nepal where 22 Bhutanese pilgrims died in a plane crash in December, and the Shiva temple in Dang in southwest Nepal, believed to have been visited by the five Pandava brothers in the epic Mahabharat.
Pashupatinath resembled a carnival site with pennants fluttering in the breeze, twinkling lights and hordes of sadhus with their faces and bodies smeared with white ash over which were painted various symbols in vivid red and yellow.
Around 5,000 sadhus, who call themselves the sons of Shiva, who is also the god of beggars, pot smokers and drinkers of country liquor, have been camping inside the temple grounds since last week with the government offering them food and shelter.
The babas, as they are called, remained, as always, the object of great interest especially with legendary feats and powers attributed to them, like standing on one foot for 10 years and more.
Of special reverence and awe are the Naga babas from India, who disdain to wear any cloth, even during the height of winter, and the Aghori babas who drink from human skulls.
Tourists from the US and UK, some of whom had arrived via India, said they had come to witness Maha Shiva Ratri in Nepal after reading about it on the Internet and especially seeing amazing photographs.
Pilgrims from India arrived by the busload. They were also reported to have arrived in Mahottari and Parsa, also in southern Nepal, to take part in the celebrations.
The Pashupatinath Area Development Trust, which manages the shrine, said nearly 6,000 volunteers and scouts had been deployed, along with over 2,500 policemen to keep the crowds under control.
Though the four gates of the shrine were opened at 4 a.m., devotees said they had been waiting in the serpentine queues for nearly five hours.
The Trust’s decision to sell tickets priced at NRS 1,000 each to allow those who could afford it to get faster access to the shrine was almost unanimously condemned by the people who were standing in queues. They included pilgrims who had come from outside Kathmandu valley and the differently abled: the blind, people with walking sticks and those in wheelchairs.
The sadhus were also disgruntled by the Trust’s decision to crack down on the consumption of cannabis, that in the past used to be smoked freely during Maha Shiva Ratri.
Trust officials said they had evicted 15 pot-smoking sadhus and escorted them to the exit point of Kathmandu valley.
The festive mood expanded as the Nepal Army also celebrated Army Day on the same day across the nation.
However, there was little cheer for the communist-headed government as Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal remained without a full-fledged cabinet almost a month after being elected.
The Maoists, who had helped him win the prime ministerial poll Feb 3, said they could finally join the cabinet after a protracted power-sharing row.
However, though the former rebel party’s standing committee called a meeting Wednesday to name Maoist ministers, it was yet to make a formal announcement.
(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at [email protected])