Mahashivaratri festival : King, Queen to visit Pashupati temple as civilians today

Kathmandu, March 5:

King Gyanendra and Queen Komal will be visiting Pashupati temple as civilians tomorrow to pay homage to lord Shiva on the Mahashivaratri festival, one of the greatest Hindu festivals.

A security source close to the royal palace said that the king and queen are scheduled

to visit the temple as civilian between 5:45 pm and 6:00 pm in the evening. The source said that the monarchs would first visit Guheshwori temple and then come to main temple of Pashupatinath.

According to the source, the monarchs would travel through Kamalpokhari, Ratopul, Gaushala, Mitrapark and Guheshwori temple route before entering the main shrine. “There may be little changes in the schedule according to the situation and crowd in the temple,” the source said. On February 16 last year, few persons pelted stone at the royal cavalcade in front of the main gate of Pashupati temple when the monarchs were coming out after offering homage to the Lord Shiva. Seventeen-year-old Roshan Kharel of Morang was caught and later prosecuted under the public offence act for stoning the king.

It was said that some people pelted stones at the king to protest against the barring of devotees from offering homage to the Lord Shiva when the king entered the temple.

Meanwhile, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) said that devotees would not be barred tomorrow from offering homage to the Lord.

Shayam Shekhar Jha, director of the PADT, said that the Mahashivaratri management panel would not bar devotees from entering the main temple if the king and queen visit the temple.