Pashupatinath Temple

Nepal is the land of lord Pashupatinath, which is supposed to be the holiest Hindu temple in the world. The magnificent temple of Lord Pashupatinath about 5 Kms north-east of Kathmandu, is situated amidst many other temples on the right bank of the river Bagmati.  Pashupatinath is the guardian spirit and the holiest of all Shiva shrines in Nepal.
Lord Shiva is known by many different names; and Pashupati is one.  Pashu means living beings, and Pati means master.  In other words Pashupati is the master of all living beings of the universe.  This is how lord Pashupati is eulogized in the Vedas, Upanishad and other religious books.
Legends are numerous as to how the temple of Lord Pashupatinath came to existence here.  As stated in chronicles, the image of Lord Shiva in the form of Jyotirlinga was covered with earth over the years, and soft green grass sprouted over it.  Further, as the legend goes, a cow used to come here mysteriously every day and offer her milk to this holy but hidden Linga of Lord Shiva.  When the Gwalas (owner) saw that the cow had stopped giving milk since the last few days he started keeping eye on her; and finally came across the place where the cow used to offer her milk.  With a natural curiosity to know the importance of the place, where his cow used to make offering of her milk, the gwalas dug the place and found the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva.  After this number of gwalas gathered to worship this Linga according to religious conformity, starting the tradition of worshipping this Linga.  As the time passed Lord Pashupatinath started gaining more and more popularity and reverence of the devotees as a guardian spirit and gradually the temple of Lord Pashupatinath became a great place of pilgrimage.