On Friday (Feb. 12) Katie and I made our way to Pashupatinath - Nepal's most important Hindu temple which is situated on the banks of the Bagmati River. The Bagmati is an important site for Hindus, and many of them wish to be cremated on the banks and their ashes swept into the river.
Shivaratri is a celebration recognizing the birthday of Shiva (the creator and destroyer Hindu God). Thousands of Hindus from the world over gather at Hindu temples to mark this special occasion.
Festival participants stand in line for hours to make an offering at the temple, some sit on the banks of the Bagmati and smoke weed they bought from the Sadhus (Hindu holy men who paint their bodies and/or rub themselves with the ash from burning bodies at the cremation sites). It's basically a free-for-all...and anything goes.
At night, candles are lit along the steps of the temples and everyone gathers around to sing, dance, worship, smoke more weed or gawk.
Katie and I gawked, and it was a great time. Even though we had little to no idea of what was taking place, it was great to be in the midst of this holy celebration.
While we were watching the activities, a small group of young Nepali guys worked up the courage to chat with us. They wanted to know if we were enjoying Nepal, what we thought of their country, why we were there, etc. They loved that Katie knew the language.
