Pashupatinath Temple

The story

Hindu tradition counts Pashupatinath among the oldest homes of Shiv ji. A local legend from the Nepal Mahatmya says that Shiv ji once left Kashi and came to the forest of Mrigasthali on the Bagmati, where he lived happily in the form of a deer. When the devtas found him and tried to take him back, he leapt across the river and his horn broke into pieces. After this, Shiv ji came to be worshipped here as Pashupati in the form of a four-faced linga. Another story links the temple with the Pandavs and Kedarnath. After the Mahabharata war the Pandavs were searching for Shiv ji, who took the form of a bull and began to sink into the earth. Devotees believe his hump appeared at Kedarnath and his head here at Pashupatinath. History shows that a temple stood here by about 400 CE. Kings of the Licchavi and later the Malla periods built and repaired it many times, and the present form dates from the late 17th century. By an old custom, the main priests, called Bhatta, come from South India.