Cleanup Underway at Pashupatinath Temple Ahead of Maha Shivaratri Festival

Kathmandu. As part of preparations for Maha Shivaratri, a cleanup operation was conducted in the sacred Pashupatinath area, home to the revered Lord Pashupatinath, a deity of the Vedic Sanatana Hindu followers whose sites are listed as World Heritage Sites across the globe.

The cleanup took place in the Suryaghat, Aryaghat, and Ram Mandir areas of the Pashupatinath zone during the 665th week of the Bagmati Cleanup Mega Campaign, in preparation for Maha Shivaratri, informed cleanup activist Kishor Singh Shahi. He stated that four metric tons of waste were managed from the cleanup.

He further mentioned that the non-biodegradable waste collected was managed by the vehicle of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City. An agreement has been reached for the empowered Bagmati Committee to use a bulldozer for cleaning the stretch from Bhimeshworghat up to the dam along the Bagmati riverbank, where a significant amount of garbage was observed.

The cleanup today saw the active participation of Pashupati Area Development Trust's Member Secretary Prakash Mani Sharma, Project Chief of the Empowered Bagmati Civilization Integrated Development Committee Machakaji Maharjan, and other activists. Next Saturday, the cleanup will again be conducted in the Pashupatinath area with the participation of the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force.

The Bagmati Cleanup Mega Campaign, which began on Jestha 5, 2070 BS, has been running continuously every Saturday. The Bagmati Cleanup Mega Campaign did not stop even during adverse conditions such as earthquakes, blockades, and the coronavirus pandemic. Activists gather by the Bagmati River every Saturday morning to clean, even during festivals, cold weather, and monsoons.

With the slogan "Two hours of volunteer service for the nation per week," activists gather by the Bagmati Riverbank every week to conduct the cleanup.