Pashupatinath Temple — temple
Image by bijayyadav from Pixabay

Pashupatinath Temple

  • 2 min read
  • 27.710° N 85.349° E
  • UNESCO World Heritage

Interesting facts

  • The name Pashupati means lord of animals, one of the epithets of Shiva, who is worshipped here as protector of all living beings.
  • By long tradition attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, the chief priests are Bhatta Brahmins from Karnataka in southern India, not Nepalis.
  • The Bhatta priests are assisted by 108 Rajbhandari caretakers, who work in rotating groups and change duties at every full moon.
  • In 2009 the government tried to appoint Nepali priests in their place, sparking protests, and the Supreme Court overruled the appointment.
  • According to legend, Shiva hid as a bull and sank into the earth; his head emerged here, while his hump appeared at Kedarnath in India.
  • From its base to the gilded pinnacle, the main pagoda rises about 23.7 metres.
  • Tibetan Buddhists regard the cremation grounds by the Bagmati as one of the eight great charnel grounds of Vajrayana tradition.
  • The Licchavi-era shrine was rebuilt by King Shivadeva between 1099 and 1126, and Ananta Malla later added its roof.
  • The temple is praised in the Tevaram, the medieval Tamil Shaiva hymns, as one of the sacred Paadal Petra Sthalam shrines.
  • On Maha Shivaratri, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and sadhus converge on the precinct in a single night.

Why it is worth it

Pashupatinath is the most important Hindu temple in Nepal and one of the holiest Shiva shrines anywhere, the destination of pilgrims from across South Asia. It stands on the banks of the Bagmati river on the eastern side of Kathmandu, where a temple is recorded as early as 400 AD. The present main shrine is a two-tiered pagoda in the Newar style, with gilded copper roofs, four silver-covered doors and a gold pinnacle. It was rebuilt in 1692 after termites and earthquakes had weakened the older structure. Inside is a stone linga with four faces, about a metre high; only four priests may touch it.

The main temple is only the heart of a precinct of about 246 hectares containing more than 500 smaller temples, shrines, ashrams and inscriptions, raised over the centuries along both banks of the river. UNESCO lists it as one of the seven monument groups of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1979. The riverbank also holds a Rama temple of the 14th century, and the Guhyeshwari Temple, sacred to the goddess, which is mentioned in an 11th-century manuscript. Buddhists revere the area too, linking it to great masters such as Padmasambhava.

For most foreign visitors the defining sight is the cremation ghats. On the stone platforms by the river, known as Arya Ghat, Hindu families cremate their dead in the open, and several pyres are often burning at once. Wandering ascetics come and go among the temples, and the evening ceremony by the river draws crowds. The scenes are intensely private for the families involved, and visitors should keep their distance and ask before photographing people.

Non-Hindus may not enter the main temple courtyard, but they can walk around the rest of the complex, and the terrace of small shrines on the east bank, across the river, looks straight across at the pagoda and the ghats. The biggest festivals are Maha Shivaratri and Teej, when the precinct fills with pilgrims. Some outer shrines were damaged in the 2015 earthquake.

Getting there

The temple is in Kathmandu, about 3 km east of the city centre. Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM) is less than 2 km away.

Plan your visit

We have no confirmed visit data yet. Once it is confirmed, this block also carries the date it was checked.

Nearby places

On these lists

The Most Beautiful Places in Bagmati Zone 7The Most Beautiful Places in Nepal 16The Most Beautiful Sacred Places in Nepal 5The Most Beautiful Sacred Places Seen on Screen 34The Most Beautiful UNESCO-Listed Temples 35The Most Beautiful Temples 95The Most Beautiful UNESCO-Listed Sacred Places 179The Most Beautiful Film Locations 221The Most Beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites 557The Most Beautiful Sacred Places 623

From the encyclopaedia

Pashupatinath Temple is a revered Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupati, a manifestation of Shiva. Located on the banks of the sacred Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, the temple is one of the oldest and most significant religious complexes in South Asia. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, it is one of seven monument groups in UNESCO's designation of Kathmandu Valley and is described as an "extensive Hindu temple precinct" comprising a vast network of temples, ashrams, inscriptions, and images raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati River. The temple, considered one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Hindus, is built on an area of 246 hectares and includes 518 mini-temples and the principal pagoda-style temple.

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27.71050, 85.34865per Wikidata