Pashupatinath temple[edit]

Main article: Pashupatinath Temple

Panorama of the Pashupatinath Temple from the other bank of Bagmati river

Pashupatinath as seen from the banks of the Bagmati river

The Pashupatinath Temple (Nepali: पशुपतिनाथ मन्दिर) is a famous 5th century Hindu temple dedicated

to Lord Shiva. Located on the banks of the Bagmati river, the Pashupatinath Temple is the oldest
Hindu temple in Kathmandu.[59] It served as the seat of national deity, Lord Pashupatinath, until
Nepal was secularized. However, a significant part of the temple was destroyed
by Mughal invaders in the 14th century and little or nothing remains of the original 5th-century
temple exterior. The temple as it stands today was built in the 19th century, although the image
of the bull and the black four-headed image of Pashupati are at least 300 years old. [60] The temple
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[60][61] Shivaratri, or the night of Lord Shiva, is the most important
festival that takes place here, attracting thousands of devotees and sadhus.[citation needed]
Believers in Pashupatinath (mainly Hindus) are allowed to enter the temple premises, but non-
Hindu visitors are allowed to view the temple only from the across the Bagmati River. [60] The
priests who perform the services at this temple have been Brahmins from Karnataka in southern
India since the time of Malla king Yaksha Malla.[62] This tradition is believed to have been started
at the request of Adi Shankaracharya who sought to unify the states of Bharatam, a region in
south Asia believed to be ruled by a mythological king Bharat, by encouraging cultural exchange.
This procedure