महाशिवरात्रि

With Maha Shivaratri is edging closer, hordes of Hindu devotees from cross the country and from neighboring nations, particularly India, are converging at the Pashupatinath Temple. Maha Shivratri is a Hindu festival celebrated every year in reverence of Lord Shiva in mid-Magha, a month in the Hindu calendar. The celebrations take place in the dark fortnight of the waning moon offering bael fruits or leaves to Lord Shiva, fasting all day and by observing an all-night vigil called jagaran. With only nine days remaining for the festival, which falls on February 27 this year, the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust (PADT), the body responsible for managing and maintaining the temple, has begun preparation for a grand celebration. A main committee of 35 members, which is led by the minister of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, has been formed. Similarly, 11 other committees have been entrusted with different roles during the festival such as for volunteering, managing of footwear, cleanliness, among others. Govind Tandon, member-secretary at the PADT, said they have started painting temples, cleaning the premises and maintaining other facilities required for the throng of visitors. “Last year, many devotees complained about insufficient woods. So this year we held talks with the Timber Corporation for the supply of woods and they have assured us to provide it in sufficient quantities,” said Tandon. The PADT is focusing equally on the security of visitors during the festival. The Nepal Police, Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Central Investigation Bureau will deploy their personnel for the purpose. “The police have already started to round up pick-pockets. So far we have been told that 25 pick-pockets have been detained,” said Tandon. Similarly, giving continuity to the practice initiated since last year, devotees who are not in a position to wait in a long queue, either because of physical difficulties or lack of time, can pay Rs 1000 for quick access to the main shrine at the temple. “Many people wrongly believe that it is our strategy to earn money,” said Tandon. “But we have only provided such facility for those people who are in a hurry or not unwell.” “We use the money for the better management of the festival as we do not get any financial support from the government for organizing Maha Shivaratri. We have to manage it with our own resources,” said Tandon. Until 1999, the government used to provide financial support for organizing the festival. But funds from government stopped coming after that year and the PADT manages all the expenses from their own earnings, mainly donation from devotees. “The elderly and disabled people won´t have to wait in line as volunteers will assist them to reach the main shrine and worship,” said Tandon. According to Tandon, this year they decided to gather some culture experts in a bid to help media persons. The expert team will be stationed at Sano Sadabhakta located at the western part of the Pashupatinath Temple and they will help media persons if they have any queries related to the festival. “This year, media persons won´t have to looking for people as they can just contact the experts and get answers for all their queries about Maha Shivaratri,” said Tandon. All the four doors will be opened for devotees from 4am to 9.30pm. The daily puja will be conducted after the devotees worship Lord Shiva. Up to Rs 5000 fine for throwing plastic bags The High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization has put a strict ban on bringing plastic bags to the temple during the Maha Shivaratri festival. With the coordination of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and other governmental and nongovernmental organization, the committee will enforce the ban around the temple during the Maha Shivaratri festival. “Plastic bags contribute to the pollution of the Bagmati River. Though we have organized campaigns during such important festivals to discourage people from using plastic bags, people do not pay heed. They carry plastic bags and throw it into the holy river after the finishing worshipping,” said Sahadev Gautam, one of the board members of the high committee. “But this time, we won´t allow anyone to throw plastic bags near the river and dump any wastes on the banks of the river.” According to him, if they see anyone throwing plastic bags around, the person will be fined Rs 1000 to 5000 or sent to prison for a day if they fail to pay. The committee has also started special cleaning campaign at the Bagmati River for the Maha Shivaratri. They are building dams at three different places like Gaurighat, Suryaghat and Barmanal to clean and store water. Similarly, the KMC office has decided to operate four to five mobile toilets at the premises for the devotees during Maha Shivaratri so that people won´t have to face any trouble during their visit. Road diversion during festival The traffic on all sections of the road network around the Pashupatinath Temple will be diverted during Maha Shivaratri to ease the flow of thousands of devotees that swarm the area during the festival. Govind Tandon, member-secretary at Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), said during the festival vehicular traffic will not be allowed between Purano Baneshwar and Gaushala and between Chabahil and Pashupatinath. Similarly, no traffic movement would be permitted from the main gate of the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) towards the temple area.