Kathmandu. Devotees have been queuing up at the Pashupatinath temple since 3 am. Since today is the last Monday of the month of Saun, devotees have been thronging Shiva temples across the country, including Pashupatinath.

Pashupati Area Development Trust member secretary Subash Chandra Joshi said that all the four gates of pashupatinath have been opened since 3 am. Like other special festivals, arrangements have been made to queue up from four places for the entry of devotees in Pashupatinath. The first queue will pass through Gaurighat-Umakunda-Rudragadeshwor via west gate, the second from Mitrapark-Dakshinamurti west main gate, third from Jayabageshwari-Bhuvaneshwari-Shankaracharya Math through west main gate and fourth queue from Pingalasthan-Char Shivalaya-Panchadeval through Dakshindhoka.

Since the month of Saun and Monday are the month and time of Lord Shiva, it is believed that taking a bath in the morning and worshiping and visiting the Shiva temple will fulfill the wishes and get unwavering good fortune. The Fund has made arrangements for additional footwear rooms targeting monday of Saun. Four buses have been operating to bring devotees to the ring road since the first Monday of July this year.

It is also said that married women should fast on Monday wishing for the long life of their husbands and unmarried women wishing for a suitable bride. Religious scholar and former chairman of Nepal Panchang Jury Development Committee Prof Dr Ram Chandra Gautam said that there is a scriptural saying that everyone should worship Shiva in the month of Saun and Monday for happiness, peace and prosperity. It is also believed that those who fast for the first time should start from the year of five Mondays. Those who fast on Monday of Saun with special wishes end the fast on the last Monday so that the wishes are fulfilled with Godan, Purnapatra.

Devotees flock to Gokarneshwor as well

Similarly, devotees have been thronging the Gokarneshwor Mahadev Temple in the north-eastern part of the capital since early morning. It is believed that devotees who worship and visit one temple should also go to another temple as there is a tradition of ancient Kalekhi worshiping Shree Yantra at Pashupatinath and Balyantra at Gokarneshwor. On the basis of this belief, there has been an influx of devotees in the temple since morning. Chairman of Gokarneshwor Municipality-4, Jairam Mahat, who is also the chairman of the temple area management committee, said that the gates of gokarneshwor have been opened for devotees from 3 am.

Devotees who bring pure water from Sundarijal, the source of Bagmati, and offer it to the Pashupatinath temple have also been thronging the Pashupatinath temple since early morning. Devotees who had gone to Sundarijal on Sunday night are taking a bath in the morning and offering pure water to Pashupatinath. On Sunday, devotees associated with Bolbam Kanwaria Association had gone to Sundarijal. These devotees have been offering pure water to Lord Pashupatinath since this morning.

The tradition of offering water in this way is called Bol Bam by the devotees. Devotees wearing yellow clothes reach the Pashupatinath temple from Sundarijal with water in the pitcher with a crow in their hands. In this way, the devotees offer pure water to the Gokarneshwor Mahadev Temple and the Shivalaya located on the way.

There is a tradition of offering pure water, cow’s milk and so on from the river in the month of Saun as Lord Shiva loves the water stream. The tradition of performing Vedic Rudrabhishek at home once a year in the month of Saun has also been going on in Nepali society. There is also a mythological belief that if rudrabhishek is done in this way, happiness, peace and opulence will be attained without the entry of bad energy in the house. Similarly, devotees have also thronged the Makhan Mahadev Temple, also known as Sano Pashupatinath in Basantapur, another Shiva temple in the capital.