KATHMANDU, March 28: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will be visiting Varanasi in the course of his three-day official visit to India beginning Friday. Prime Minister Deuba is scheduled to fly back home directly from Varanasi after visiting some of the famous pilgrimage sites including Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which is also known as Varanasi’s Pashupatinath Mahadev Temple. Although Varanasi city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been a famous pilgrimage site for Hindus across Nepal for centuries, this city has been a center of attraction for millions of Hindu pilgrims both from Nepal and India lately after the development of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Here is a report by ANI on how this temple serves as a symbol of Nepal-India unity.
VARANASI (UTTAR PRADESH), March 27: Shri Samrajeswar Pashupatinath Temple in the holy city of Varanasi that stood as a symbol of India-Nepal Unity is attracting scores of tourists and pilgrims after the development of Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Varanasi is one of the oldest living cities in the world and is amongst the most important pilgrimages for Hindus. The massive corridor around the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which opened last December, has given a boost to tourism in the holy city.
Since the inauguration of the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath project, devotees have begun to come in large numbers and one no longer has to crane one’s neck to see the famous temples.
The project has benefitted several religious spots including the famous Shri Samrajeswar Pashupatinath Mahadev Mandir.
Shrine in Bhaktapur is Machheshwar Mahadev
It is also known as the Nepali Mandir and Mini Khajuraho. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple has great religious importance. Constructed in the 19th century AD by the King of Nepal, the temple is a replica of the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu.
Worship is being done on a daily basis and devotees visiting the temple feel joyous. The people from Himalayan nation Nepal visit the temple regularly and they have great devotion for Kashi and its people.
“Those who come to Varanasi to pray in the Kashi Vishwanath Temple definitely pay a visit to the Nepali temple. A long queue could be seen after 3PM every day,” says Arvind Mishra, one of the devotees.
Shiva Gautam, a devotee from Nepal, says, “The temple resembles the Pashupatinath Temple of Kathmandu. All those who come from Nepal surely visit the temple.”
Nepali temples are a bond between the two countries with similar cultures and religions. A major attraction among the art enthusiasts, the temple stands with pride today.
The KashiVishwanath Temple corridor has made Varanasi a delightful place of interest for pilgrims across India and Nepal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier had noted that the temple area was only 3000 square feet which has now been enlarged to about 5 lakh square feet. Now 50000 - 75000 devotees can visit the temple and temple premises.
The corridor which combines history with the future is helping in bringing both the neighboring countries closer which share a unique relationship characterized by deep-rooted people–to–people contact and culture.
Notably, Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will visit Varanasi during his official visit to India from April 1 to 3.
As per the itinerary, Deuba will meet Prime Minister Modi on April 2.
This will be his first visit to India after becoming Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation in July 2021. He has visited India in each of his four earlier stints as PM. His last visit to India was in 2017.
This visit is a part of the tradition of periodic high-level exchanges between the two countries.
It would give an opportunity for both sides to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations including development and economic partnership, trade, cooperation in the health sector, power, connectivity, people to people links and other issues of mutual interest.
