On the occasion of Mahashivratri festival, Palpa's temples and pagodas have been crowded since Wednesday morning. Devotees have been thronging the famous Shiddhababa temple in Tinau Rural Municipality-3, Dobhan under Siddharth highway since morning.
According to Santosh Sherchan, President of Siddha Baba Temple Management Committee, the main temple has been opened since 3 am. Siddhababa, known as the abode of Siddha Purusha Bhartrihari and the resting place of Rampithecus, a primitive man, is also important from the point of view of archeology, religion and tourism.
The temple development committee has said that arrangements have been made for devotees to worship and darshan easily at Siddhababa temple. Apart from Palpa, pilgrims also come from Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Kapilvastu as well as the neighboring country of India.
Shivratri festival will be celebrated in such a way that the slogan 'Glory of Shiva is immeasurable, restoration of the original temple' will be meaningful, said Sherchan, chairman of the temple development committee. Chairman of the Temple Development Committee Sherchan said that tokens and free buses have also been arranged for the convenience of the devotees who come to visit the temple.
It has been managed so that the elderly, disabled and helpless can go directly to the main temple and worship. 30 security personnel, more than 150 volunteers and 18 CCTV cameras have been arranged for the security of the visitors at Siddha Baba Temple.
Bishnuprasad Pandey, a member of the committee, said that arrangements have been made for easy access to sanitation, toilets, parking, storage, drinking water and places to keep shoes and slippers in the Siddhababa area.
The committee said that 35,000 more devotees had darshan during last year's Shivratri and 50,000 more devotees will be present this year. According to Publicity Coordinator Arvind Pandey, in the past devotees had to stand in line for 2 to 3 hours, but this year 4 lines have been arranged, so they can have darshan within 1 hour .
Two free and 7 paid buses have been arranged from different places of Butwal for the devotees visiting the temple. Mahashivratri fair coordinator Toya Lamsal said that the main temple is going to be renovated in order to develop Siddha Baba as the Pashupati of West Nepal.
On the occasion of Mahashivratri festival, devotees from Palpa as well as the neighboring districts of Syangja, Rupandehi, Gulmi, Nawalparasi, Kapilvastu have flocked to worship and darshan at Bagnaskali-8, Barangdi, the tallest Mahamrityunjaya Shivamurti in Nepal.
Palpa's Tansen's Thutepipal Temple, Batasedanda, Prabhas, Amarnarayan Temple, Damkada, Rampur and other places have been crowded with worshipers since morning. Prabhas has an agricultural fair as well as a cultural program. Bearers, sugarcane eaters and shoppers will also be crowded.
