Puri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati visited Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu in Nepal on Monday at the invitation of the chief priest and the trustees of the temple.
The Pashupatinath temple comes under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Shankaracharya of Puri.
Adi Shankaracharya had established the system of worship in the Pashupatinath temple. This is the first visit by a Puri Shankaracharya.
The Shankaracharya was accorded the traditional welcome with Poorna Kumbha and recitation of Vedic mantras by the students of the the Pashupatinath Ved Pathshala. The Shankaracharya performed a special Abhishek with Panchamrit and an arati. Only the Shankaracharya has the privilege for performing this special ritual.
The Shankaracharya then proceeded to the Shankar mutt monastery which was established by Adi Shankaracharya. The Shankaracharya in traditional ritual was seated on the Shankaracharya’s seat in the mutt. He then proceeded to the Hans Mandap in the Pashupatinath Temple where he was honoured by the Minister of Culture of Government of Nepal RabindraAdhikari. Member Secretary Pradeep Dhakal and Pashupatinath Temple Board CEO Ramesh Uprety presented the Shankaracharya with special commemorative silver coins.
The Shankaracharya is scheduled to be honoured by the citizens of Kathmandu in a civic reception in TudiKhel on May 15.