Pashupatinath, one of the holiest shrines for Hindus worldwide and also a UNESCO World Heritage site, has lately been a sight of neglect with the Trust running it mired in mismanagement.

“When you enter the Pashupati area, you find everything in disrepair,” said Narottam Baidya, former treasurer of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) and also a former assembly member of Bagmati Province.

Besides its cultural value, Pashupatinath has a fetching architecture spread over a large area but it lacks proper toilets and drinking water facilities. Over two dozen temples in the Pashupati area are in a sorry state, but there is no reconstruction plan, even for the monuments damaged in the 2015 earthquakes.

“Whoever comes to the Trust, they all intend to earn money for themselves, not to work for the area’s betterment,” said Baidya.

In the past fiscal year, the Trust earned Rs750 million, according to Rewati Raman Adhikari, its spokesperson.

In 2019, the Trust had made public its property records of the past 56 years—from 1962-2019, and the temple had Rs1.2 billion in cash deposited in several banks along with 9.7 kg gold, 316.58kg silver and the ownership of 3,667 ropanis (a ropani equals 5,476 square feet) of land, according to a report made public by a committee formed to study the assets of the country’s richest Hindu shrine.

“It doesn't have proper toilets, one has to suffer for the lack of drinking water, and solid waste is seen littered everywhere. With regard to sanitation, it’s really in a poor state,” said Puran Pokharel, 34, who lives in Bauddha but goes to Pashupati every morning on a walk.

He asks where the Trust spends so much of the money it earns.

In 2019, just before the Covid pandemic, the Trust had installed 23 portable toilets in the Pashupati area for visitors, but now, most of them are nowhere to be seen. Even the few permanent toilets have no running water.

“If you look at the pinnacles of temples, most are askew and in need of repair, and there are numerous cracks. Also grass and moss are growing on the roofs and they have not been cleaned,” said Pokharel, a freelance writer with a keen interest in history and culture.

On Saturday, when this Post reporter reached the Pashupati area, it was littered in many places, and all four entrances to the main temple complex were teeming with beggars who would harass visitors for alms. In 2018 the Pashupati Area Development Trust had announced that the area was beggar-free, but that policy isn’t being implemented for no apparent reason.

Meanwhile, the Shivalayas (a row of white shiva temples) at Mrigasthali (across the Bagmati river to the east of the Pashupatinath temple), the Gorakhnath temple, and other historical monuments too are in a sorry state and many have developed cracks and are about to collapse, but the Trust is yet to repair them eight years after the 2015 earthquakes.

“The Gorakhnath temple was built in the 13th century. Meanwhile, all those Shivalayas are over 100 years old, but it seems the Trust is indifferent to preserving these historical monuments,” said Govinda Tandon, a heritage expert with a PhD on Pashupati and former member-secretary of the Trust.

Further, several people have expressed their concerns over the disappearance of the donation box (Daan Patra) on January 28 from the western part of the main temple. The main temple had placed four donation boxes in front of each of the four main doors to the temple.

Many were taken aback to learn that the donation box had gone missing despite being under CCTV surveillance and police security round the clock.

The Trust also faces charges of embezzling money offered by pilgrims on the day of Mahashivaratri on February 18. According to the Trust, it raised just Rs1.2 million on the day of Mahashivartri, but it had officially said more than two million people had visited the temple on that day.

“The temple on the day of Mahashivartri should have earned a minimum of Rs10 million assuming that each visitor donated just Rs5. So, where is all the money?” said Baidya. He sought further details of the money the Trust earned from Vishesh Puja (special worship), for which it charges a worshipper at least Rs5,000. Some offer more, voluntarily. An estimated 300 people performed special pujas on the day of Mahashivaratri.

Meanwhile, former member-secretary Tandan said that in his tenure five years ago, on the day of Mahashivaratri, the Trust earned anywhere between Rs2.5 million and 7.5 million. (He had served as member secretary of the Trust for two terms until 2018.)

“There seems to be a lot of negligence. Though the Trust had formed a committee to investigate the disappearance of the donation box, they are yet to make the committee’s report public,” said Tandon.

Asked about the report, Milan Kumar Thapa, member secretary of the Trust, said the committee is still investigating the issue.

Regarding the money the Trust raised on the day of Mahashivaratri, Thapa said, “Although the crowd of visitors was huge, fewer people dropped money in donation boxes this time,” said Thapa.

However, regular visitors to the temple believe that Shiva bhaktas (devotees) donate more generously on Mahashivaratri, which is regarded as the most auspicious day for performing puja and giving donations. Baidya claimed Thapa was trying to cover up the corruption involved in handling donations.

“What could be a greater sin than that?” Baidya said.

Thapa said the Trust is working to improve the temple’s sanitation and to repair the earthquake-damaged temples and structures.

“Regarding sanitation and public toilets, I will make an inspection tomorrow, and with regard to renovation and reconstruction of the earthquake-damaged heritage site, we are working on it,” Thapa added.

Even though Thapa said the quake-damaged temples like Vishwaroop temple at Mrigasthali and other temples near the Pashupatinath temple complex are being repaired, that is clearly not the case with dozens of other dilapidated temples that also fall under the UNESCO World Heritage Site.