KATHMANDU, NEPAL, February 23, 2014 (ekantipur.com): Around 700,000 Hindu devotees are expected to visit the Pashupatinath Temple for the Shivaratri festival on Thursday. To manage the sea of people to route their way to the temple while ensuring their safety and convenience, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) this year has made arrangement for four lines, among them one will be priority-based, where one could pay Rs 1,000 (US$10.23) for fast track access into the temple. The three other lineups will be the general queue requiring no entry fee. “From the normal lines, it would take 45 minutes to one hour to reach the main temple,” said Gobinda Tandon, the member secretary of the PADT.
With only less than a week remaining for the festival, preparation works at the temple is well under way. While decoration and construction works on the Pashupatinath premises have completed, various sub-committees have been entrusted to carry out specific responsibilities concerning the pre and post events of the festival.
Security is a major concern for the organiser for the festival dedicated to Shiva. A total of 3,000 security personnel from the Nepal police and the Armed Police Force will be deployed to keep law and order during the festival. The PADT also has decided to deploy around 10,000 volunteers to assist the devotees.