Kathmandu, February 25: All preparations for the Mahashivaratri fair to be held at Pashupatinath on March 14 have been completed. The Pashupati Area Development Trust organized a press conference here on Monday and informed that arrangements have been made for the devotees to have darshan easily on Mahashivaratri.
Rajkumar Khatri, coordinator of the Publicity and Decoration Management Subcommittee, informed that ten subcommittees have been formed for the convenience of devotees visiting Pashupatinath. He said, “This time we have made arrangements to allow ten people to have darshan in two seconds. Our efforts are to make it as easy and convenient as possible for the devotees who come here to have darshan. We expect that the number of devotees coming to have darshan this time will increase compared to last year.”
He informed that there will be four lines outside the entrance to Pashupati and once inside, there will be three lines at the west gate and north gate and two lines at the east and south gates. Coordinator Khatri urged devotees coming to visit to understand accordingly as the Pashupati premises are a plastic-free zone.
“We will open the doors for darshan from 2:30 am on Falgun 14 to 6 pm on Thursday, 15. We estimate that more than 500,000 people will have darshan in person during this period. In addition, the number of people visiting the temple premises alone will increase,” said Coordinator Khatri.
He informed that a main event committee has been formed under the coordination of Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey to prepare for Shivaratri. According to him, arrangements have been made for easy access to cleanliness, toilets, drinking water and a place to store shoes and slippers in the Pashupati area.
Coordinator Khatri said that arrangements will be made for security arrangements, publicity, darshan, night arrangements, accommodation, food, Dhuni, etc. The Pashupati Area Development Trust has stated that the sub-committee has already started work to make arrangements for security arrangements, monitoring, publicity arrangements, darshan, sandalwood temple and night arrangements, accommodation, food, arrangement of firewood for Dhuni, arrangement of religious programs and management of footwear.
Similarly, coordinator Khatri informed that the work of decorating the main gate and other places with flowers will be completed by a day before Shivaratri. According to him, arrangements have been made for a Dhuni (burning incense burner) in the main temple premises of Pashupatinath for Naga Baba.
Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from neighboring India and other third countries are expected to arrive on Mahashivaratri. Various areas of Pashupatinath are currently being decorated with colorful flowers and lights.
