Visiting Places
Kathmandu Valley
Pashupatinath Temple
Nepal's holiest Shiva temple, on the cremation ghats of the Bagmati River.
Kathmandu ValleyBagmati Province
Pashupatinath is the most sacred Hindu temple in Nepal and a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the banks of the Bagmati River. Non-Hindus cannot enter the main shrine but can watch the riverside cremation rituals and the evening aarati from the opposite bank. It is the focal point of the country during Maha Shivaratri.
Known for
- Holiest Shiva temple in Nepal
- Bagmati cremation ghats
At a glance
- Region
- Kathmandu Valley
- Province
- Bagmati
- Getting there
- About 5 km east of central Kathmandu near the airport; taxis run from Thamel in 20–30 min.
- Best time
- Late afternoon for the aarati; Maha Shivaratri (Feb/Mar) for the biggest spectacle.
Things to see & do
- Evening Bagmati aarati of lamps and chanting, watched from the far bank
- Riverside cremation ghats and the sadhus (holy men) who gather here
- The vast Maha Shivaratri gathering, when the temple becomes the centre of Hindu Nepal