250,000 plus pilgrims pay homage to Pashupatinath so far

KATHMANDU, March 11: Even as the threat of coronavirus infection looms large, the devotees across the country are thronging the Shiva temples today on the occasion of the Mahashivaratri. 

The devotees have queued up by adopting health precautions to worship in the Shiva temples including in Pashupatinath Temple.

Around 250,000 devotees paid homage to Pashupatinath Temple till 11:30 this morning.

Executive Director of Pashupati Area Development Trust Dr Ghanshyam Khatiwada said that necessary arrangements have been made to ensure that a devotee can complete the worship in the Pashupatinath Temple and return home within an hour.

Executive Director Dr Khatiwada said that around 800,000 devotees are expected to pay homage to Pashupatinath Temple by this evening.

He further said that the temple shall remain open till Friday night if the arrival of devotees continued.   

Similarly, the visitors have thronged other Shiva Temples in Kathmandu valley and other parts of the country from early morning today. 

Some 5,000 devotees visited Nageshwor Mahadev Temple and worshipped at Pepsicola area in Kathmandu-32 from 3:00 this morning.

Similarly, a large number of visitors thronged the Gokarneshwor Mahadev Temple at Gokarneshwor in Kathmandu, Doleshwor Temple in Bhaktapur and other temples on the occasion of Mahashivaratri.

(With inputs from RSS)