Day Trips from Kathmandu: Pashupatinath

Until the monarchy was abolished in 2009 and it became a republic, Nepal stood as the world's sole remaining Hindu kingdom. Arguably at the heart of that former kingdom's religion is its own Varanasi, Pashupatinath. Sitting with its ghats on the banks of Bagmati River, this temple complex sits in the place where all good Nepali Hindus go for their ritual cremation. Located in the suburbs of Kathmandu, it is an easy matter to travel from the city to visit it by taxi, public bus or even on foot.

The importance of the Bagmati is found in its winding course. It comes down from the high Himals and into the Kathmandu Valley, crosses the Terai and enters India. Once there it joins the Kosi River, which in turn flows into the Ganges. "Mother Ganga" is the holiest river in the Hindu religion, and on its banks sits the most prominent crematorium of the religion at Varanasi. Nepal, being far away from the Ganges Plain, needed its own version, and although tenuous, Nepali Hindus can claim that the Bagmati is ultimately part of the Ganges.

The temple itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it is also off limits to non-Hindus. As the story goes, Lord Shiva grew tired of Mount Kailash in Tibet, ran away and settled instead in the vicinity of modern Pashupatinath as the Lord Pashupati, an animal god. According to tradition, the priests of the temple have always been Brahmins from southern India.

The temple grounds are on the banks of the Bagmati, which are bordered by ghats, or stone steps leading down to the river itself. Included on these steps are several platforms, and it is on these that the cremations are conducted. There is a platform assigned to each caste. Coupled with the numerous small stone shrines, the pagoda, Nepali-style Hindu temples and the wafting smoke of crematory fires, the area has an eerie atmosphere that is occasionally broken by the contradiction of children playing and splashing in the fast-moving river on the submerged steps.

The one caveat about visiting Pashupatinath are the sadhus. These wandering ascetic Hindu holy men can be found in a number of holy places in Nepal and India, but strangely it seems that only the fraudulent variety are found in the immediate vicinity of Pashupatinath. There are some legitimate sadhus in the area, but they generally keep to themselves and must be sought. If you see a half-naked man in ashes hanging around the ghats, he is almost certainly just a beggar working an angle.

Sources: Personal Experience; www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=175076