22 February 2020, Kathmandu
President Bidya Devi Bhandari offered Puja at Pashupatinath Temple and received the offerings on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. The Head of the State performed worship in the shrine of Lord Shiva on Maha Shivaratri, when Lord Shiva is believed to be born.
President Bhandari reached the Temple on Friday evening. She was received by Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation, also the Chairperson of the Pashupati Area Development Trust Yogesh Bhattarai and member-secretary of the Trust Dr Pradeep Dhakal including other officials of the Trust.
As shared by the Member-secretary Dhakal, the President performed the worship in the Temple as per the ritual. The head priest of the Temple Rawal Ganesh Bhatta presented the President with Prasad of the Pashupatinath upon the worship.
Similarly, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun also reached the Temple and worshiped the Lord Shiva ritually.
Maha Shivaratri, which falls on the Falgun Krishna Chaturdashi as per the lunar calendar, was observed with great fervor in honor of Lord Shiva. On the occasion, more than 700,000 devotees had paid homage to Pashupathinath shrine till late evening on Friday, according to the Trust.
It is believed that by worshiping Lord Shiva and by observing a fast and doing various religious activities, one would be blessed with good fortune and absolved with the sins.
