Pashupati is Shiva as lord of animals, and the temple that carries the name stands on the bank of the Bagmati at the eastern edge of Kathmandu. Its central object is a stone linga with four carved faces looking to the quarters and a formless fifth above, and it is served by priests drawn from Brahmin families of southern India, an arrangement Nepali tradition traces back to the reformer Shankara and which has continued through changes of dynasty and of constitution. Only Hindus may enter the inner courtyard, a restriction the temple maintains and states openly.
The river below is Nepal's principal cremation ground. Ghats run along both banks, the upper platforms formerly reserved for royalty, and bodies are burned within hours of death with the feet placed in the water first. Families return on set days to make offerings for the dead. Ascetics live in the cells and caves on the far bank, and at Maha Shivaratri the site fills with sadhus who travel from across India for the night, along with several hundred thousand ordinary worshippers.
The temple is also a case study in what a living sanctuary is. It employs its own trust, runs an old age home, argued publicly through the 2000s over the appointment of Nepali rather than Indian priests, and has had to negotiate the pollution of the river it depends on. It is inscribed within the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage site, and much of the surrounding valley's monument fabric required repair after the earthquake of 2015.