While the entire month is considered auspicious, devotees usually believe Monday as a special day for Lord’s worship during the holy month.

According to Bhola Sitaula, Director of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, devotees were seen queuing up from 2 am, although the three doors of the temple were opened at around 3:15 am.

More than 35,000 devotees have visited the temple for worship until 8 AM, he added.

Beads of red, green and yellow color combinations and mehndi on palms form a special attraction during the auspicious month.

While the sales of beads are usually high during the month, the bead sellers are experiencing low sales this year. According to Abbas, a bead seller, the current-year sales have decreased significantly.

While the sales are usually high in the months of Baishakh, Jestha, Ashadh, and Shrawan, in the current year, they were seen satisfactory, zero and below that in the first three months. So, the sellers are expecting good sales in Shrawan.

Apart from a religious angle, Shrawan is also considered as the month that marks the end of paddy cultivation in Nepal.

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As the officials say, the promotion of religious tourism at Pashupati area witnessed a boom during the 2013-17 period.

A huge sum of Rs 540 million of public money was spent on the area’s development during the period.

The area witnessed a lot of infrastructure development as part of the regional tourism promotional activity during the said period, with major developments being garden construction at Bhandar Khal, Hansamandap at Nirmal Akhada, and the operation of electric crematorium, which is considered as one of the notable developmental activities carried out during the period.

Besides, agreements involving an investment of Rs 30 million each for the reconstruction of Jayabageshwori temple and four Shivalaya sattals were also signed. The Jayabageshwari Temple suffered a massive damage during the 2015 earthquake.

At an investment of Rs 15 million, Buddha Air’s Chairman Surendra Bahadur Basnet also agreed to build a Kiriyaputri building with 12 rooms.

The Nepal Investment Board Ltd. (NBIL) and the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) also signed an agreement to build a museum in the area at a cost of Rs 43.5 million.

Nepali SBI Bank has also signed a pact with the trust to invest Rs 32.5 million for the construction of main southern gate in Pashupati.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India agreed in principal to display a notice seeking support to Pashupati at around 27,000 ATMs across India, and an official agreement in this regard is yet to be signed.

At an investment of Rs 220 million, a three-star dharmshala is also under construction in an area of around 14 ropanis, which upon completion will be able to accommodate as many as 200 devotees.

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