Hartalika Teej is a religious and cultural festival that is integral to Nepali culture. On the occasion of the Haritalika Teej festival, devotees throng Shiv and Shakti temples across the country including the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu Valley.
All four doors of the Pashupatinath temple were opened at 3:00 am early this morning for the devotees coming to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva marking the Teej festival. After 6:00 a.m. only women devotees are allowed to enter the Pashupatinath main temple. Security arrangements were strengthened in the Pashupatinath temple premises. Services such as health camps, free water distribution, and search & rescue centres have also been arranged in the Pashupati temple premises. In Kathmandu valley, devotees are also thronging temples in Gokarneshwar, Doleshwar, Nageshwar, Basantpur and the Makhan Mahadev Temple. Even in Baais Tara Temple at Balaju only women were permitted to offer prayer in Temple premises on occasion of teej. All roads connecting temples appeared red from afar as women dressed in red sarees and wore red roses in their hair.
Sweta Singh/Kathmandu/18.09.2023