Pashupatinath Temple

Pashupatinath Temple in Mandsaur, India is a famous Hindu temple of Lord Pashupatinath with less importance than that of mythologically sacred Pashupatinath of Kathmandu Nepal. It is situated on the banks of the Shivna River. Pashupatinath Temple is one of the prominent shrines in the city of Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. Lord Shiva in the form of Pashupatinath is the principal deity here. The highlight is a unique Shiv Ling with eight faces of Lord Shiva. The eight-faced idol is still the same as it was left by the sculptors in that era, the lower faces have been partially worked upon and they are not as clear as the upper four faces. The shrine has four doors in four directions.

The Shiv Ling in the temple is 8′ x 10.5′ and weighs 4.6 tons. The temple built on the river is 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 101 feet tall. On top of the temple is a 100 kg gold plated pitcher. Every monsoon the water level in the Shivna river rises to touch the holy Shiv Ling of lord Shiva. This phenomenon is termed as “Jalaabhishek” which means worshiping god through the water.

Gradually the idols of other Hindu gods such as goddess Maata Paarvati,  Ganesha,  Kartikeya, goddess Maata Ganga,  Vishnu, goddess Maata Lakshmi and Saint  Adyashankaracharya were established within the temple with a huge idol of Nandi Maharaaj facing the west face of the idol Lord Pashupatinath with eight-faced.

According to the Hindu mythology, the temple of Pashupatinath was constructed many centuries ago. It is said that the Shiv Ling emerged from the waters of the Shivna on Monday, which is considered as an auspicious day by the devotees of Lord Shiva. On Sunday, it reached the Tapeshwar Ghat of the river and was placed there. On Monday, after exactly, 21 years, 5 months and 4 days it was incarnated. The day of incarnation of the idol is celebrated as a Mela in the area surrounding the temple.

The Temple is open from 06:00 AM to 8:00 PM (All days of the week). The climate condition in Mandsaur is changeable. It means, during winters temperature dropping down to 32 to 14 degree Celsius while in summers it rises to 34 to 44 degree Celsius. However, monsoon occurs especially in the month of July that offers good rainfall. So the best time to get there is from October to March.