Indian Temples in Foreign Lands
Starting this week Religion World will take you on global religious and spiritual trip that introduces to different Hindu temples that are outside India. From Pashupathinath in Nepal to Sri Venkateswara in Pittsburg, USA; this feature will have them all week after week.
Indian spirituality is not just restricted to our borders, it has spread its wings across the globe and the evidence for these is the mere construction of temples at different places. From Australia to America, we find different Indian temples. Mind you, Indian temples don’t mean just Hindu temples we also have Sikh Gurudwaras that will also find place in this weekly Feature of Religion World. So let’s get on to spiritual globetrotting.
Pashupathinath Temple in Nepal
Pashupathinath Temple is one the most important temples of Lord Shiva in the world. It is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu and was constructed in 753AD by King Jayadeva. But, it was reconstructed in 12th century and 17th century after that.
It has a Nepalese Pagoda style of architecture, different from the traditional Hindu temples of India. Only followers of Hinduism can enter the main temple and the other buildings are available for foreigners to visit. You will often find sadhus in Pahsupathinath temple, if you ever visit. This temple is also on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Centre. One of the astonishing Hindu temples outside India.
Where Pashupatinath Temple is located ?
One of the most sacred Hindu temples of Nepal – Pashupatinath Temple is located on both banks of Bagmati River on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu.
Pashupatinath is the most important temple dedicated to god Shiva. Every year this temple attracts hundreds of elderly followers of Hinduism.
They arrive here to find shelter for the last several weeks of their lives, to meet death, be cremated on the banks of the river and travel their last journey with the waters of the sacred river Baagmati, which later meets the holy river Ganges. Hindus from every corner of Nepal and India are arrive here to die.
It is believed that those who die in Pashupatinath Temple are reborn as a human, regardless of any misconduct that could worsen their karma. The exact day of their death is predicted by astrologers of the temple. If you are attracted to the places where the spirit of death can be felt, then consider Pashupatinath as your first destination. It is a temple with special atmosphere of death; death is present in almost every ritual and every corner of it.
Pashupatinath Temple complex
The main temple of Pashupatinath is a building with a bunk roof and a golden spire. It is located on the Western bank of Bagmati and is considered a masterpiece of Hindu architecture. It is a cubic construction with four main doors, all covered with silver sheets.
The two-storied roof is made from copper and is covered with gold. This richly decorated temple with wooden sculptures is believed to make wishes come true. One of the most astonishing decorations of the temple is the huge golden statue of Nandi – Shiva’s bull.
Only followers of Hinduism can enter the main Pashupatinath temple, but all the other buildings are available for foreigners to visit. From the Eastern bank of the river the main temple can be seen in its whole beauty. The western bank of Bagmati also hosts the so called Panch Deval (Five temples) complex, which once was a holy shrine but now serves a shelter for destitute old people.
Numerous religious buildings are also located on the eastern bank of Bagmati, most of them are devoted to Shiva. The majority of these buildings are small single storey constructions made from stone. From the outside these buildings are reminding crypts, but in reality these are sacral buildings, created for holding the symbol of the deity Shiva – lingam (erect phallus). Lingams can be found all over the complex.
Pashupatinath Temple is final destination for Hindus
Along the right bank of Bagmati numerous platforms for funeral pyres are built. The cremations on these platforms are a common activity. Usually tourists have the chance to see at least one open-air cremation.
The majority of religious rituals are culturally unusual and even mind-blowing for Westerners, but probably the most culturally unusual thing in Pashupatinath Temple is the specific smell of cremated bodies. Unlike any expectation the smell has nothing in common with the smell of decaying flesh, but rather reminds the smell of clabber mixed with different spices.
Another culturally shocking thing in PashupatinathTemple complex is the image of local women washing clothes downstream the river. The waters of Bagmati contain animal fat because of the ashes of cremated Shiva followers and easily wash the dirt from linen. It is believed that this is how the soap was invented.
As far as Shiva is considered the patron of animals and all living organisms, monkeys and deers are wandering all around the temple complex on both banks of Bagmati. Monkeys are very often unfriendly, they beg for food, snatch things from careless tourists and may even be dangerous.
It is also very common to meet sadhus in Pahsupathinath Temple. Sadhus are wandering ascetic yogis, who are trying to acquire liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth by meditating. They have very unique appearance with specific yellow paintings on their bodies.
Majority of sadhus are very tourist friendly and eager to pose for the photos with foreigners, but it is not free of charge. They live in caves or tiny cells on the territory of Pashupatinath. Sadhus have extremely ascetic and even miserable life but for a Westerner their independent and unconstrained behavior looks mysterious.
The Legend of Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal
The exact date of Pashupatinath Temple construction is unknown. Despite this fact, the Pashupatinath is considered the oldest Hindu temple of Kathmandu.
The earliest evidence of the temple’s existence dates back to 400 A.D. The current main temple of Pashupatinath complex was built in the end of the 17th century to replace the previous one, destroyed by termites.
Countless smaller temples were constructed around the main temple on both banks of Bagmati River during the last few centuries.
There are numerous legends, connected with the construction of the temple. The most famous one claims, that the temple was built on the site where Shiva lost one of his antlers, while he was in the guise of a deer. He and his wife arrived to the bank of Bagmati and amazed by the beauty of the site decided to change themselves into deers and walk in the surrounding forests.
After a while gods and humans decided to return them to their duties, but Shiva rejected to return and they had to use force. In the fight Shiva lost one of his antlers, which later became the first lingam worshipped by Hindus in Pashupatinath. Later this relic was lost, and according to another legend, found again by a herdsman, whose cow showed the location of lingam by irrigating the place it was buried with her milk.
Pashupatinath Temple is a place where century-old Hindu rituals are practiced in their astonishing initial form, giving a chance to the visitors to feel the unique spirit of Hindu traditions of life, death and reincarnation.
Legends are numerous as to how the temple of Lord Pashupatinath came to existence here. As stated in chronicles, the image of Lord Shiva in the form of Jyotirlinga was covered with earth over the years, and soft green grass sprouted over it. Further, as the legend goes, a cow used to come here mysteriously every day and offer her milk to this holy but hidden Linga of Lord Shiva. When the Gwala (owner) saw that the cow had stopped giving milk since the last few days he started keeping eye on her; and finally came across the place where the cow used to offer her milk. With a natural curiosity to know the importance of the place, where his cow used to make offering of her milk, the gwala dug the place and found the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva. After this number of gwalas gathered to worship this Linga according to religious conformity, starting the tradition of worshipping this Linga. As the time passed Lord Pashupatinath started gaining more and more popularity and reverence of the devotees as a guardian spirit and gradually the temple of Lord Pashupatinath became a great place of pilgrimage.
The rulers of Nepal, over centuries made contributions in enriching and beautifying this holy Pashupatinath temple. According to Gopalraj Vamsavali, the oldest ever chronicle in Nepal, this temple was built by Supus Padeva, a Linchchhavi King who according to the stone inscription erected by Jayadeva 11 in the courtyard of Pashupatinath in 753 AD happened to be the ruler 39 generation before Manadeva (464-505 AD). Yet, there is another chronicle which states that this temple was in the form of Linga shaped Devalaya before Supus Padeva constructed a five storey temple of Pashupatinath in this place. As the time passed, the need for reparing and renovating this temple arose. It is learnt that this temple was reconsturcted by a mediaeval King named Shivadeva (1099-1126 AD). It was renovated by Ananta Malla adding a roof to it.
As described in the history, Pashupatinath temple was attacked and destroyed by Sultan Samsuddin of Bengal in the mid 14th Century. This plunder caused so much damage to the temple that it needed reconstruction. It was only after ten years, in 1360 AD, that it could be reconstructed and renovated by Javasimha Ramvardhana. Another renovation work here after was taken up by Jyoti Malla in 1416 AD.
Architectur of Pashupatinath temple
The present architectural nature of Pashupatinath temple came into existence as a result of renovation by queen Gangadevi during the reign of Shivasimha Malla (1578-1620 AD).
The temple of Lord Pashupatinath stands in the middle of an open courtyard. It is a square shaped pagoda temple built on single platform measuring 23.6 meters from the ground. There are gold gilt doors on all the four sides of the temple. Inside the temple there is a narrow walk engulfing the sanctum from where one can have closer view of Shivalinga.
On the both sides of each door of the Pashupatinath temple there are artistic niche of different sizes containing attractiv images of Apsara, Ashtha Bhairava and other gods and goddesses. These images and niches, painted with gold enhance the grandeur of the temple. The latticed windows below the roof are another elements of attraction. The struts supporting the roofs and depicting the image of different postures are equally alluring. The gold gilt images of birds in flying posture in all the four corners of the roof and the winged images of lion, griffin, Ajarapurusa and Mahanaga on the struts in all the corners of the temple gies soaring beauty to the temple. On the upper part of the struts supporting the lower roof, the images of moon, sun and a Purna-Kalasha are carved out. This Purna Kalasha is worshiped as a symbol of Guheshwori.
In the sanctum of the Pashupatinath temple, there is a very attractive, about three feet high Shivalinga with four faces. All these faces have different names and significance. The face facing east is known as Tatpurusha and the one facing south as Aghora. Similarly, the faces looking west and north are known by the name Sadhyojata and Vamadeva respectively. The upper portion of this linga is known as Ishan. These faces are also defined as the symbol of four dharmas (the most famous places of pilgrimage for Hindus) and four Vedas (sacred books of Hindus). The images of Vishnu, Surya, Devi and Ganesh are also placed in the sanctum of the temple.
Pashupati area Pashupatinath Temple is regarded as one of the most important places of pilgrimages for the followeres of Hinduism. Thousands of devotees from within and outside the country come to pay homage to Pashupatinath every day. And on special occasions like Ekadasi, Sankranti, Mahashivratri, Teej Akshaya, Rakshabandhan, Grahana (eclipse), Poornima (Full moon day) people congregate here in far greater number. Pashupati area is also included in the list of world cultural heritage.
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