The theme of the Kathmandu of Nepal
Answers
Explanation:
At Pashupatinath (outside which a sign proclaims ‘Entrance for the Hindus only’) there is an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’. Priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons and dogs roam through the grounds. We offer a few flowers. There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. A princess of the Nepalese royal house appears; everyone bows and makes way. By the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggle for permission to enter. The policeman is not convinced that they are ‘the Hindus’ (only Hindus are allowed to enter the temple). A fight breaks out between two monkeys. One chases the other, who jumps onto a shivalinga, then runs screaming around the temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati, that flows below. A corpse is being cremated on its banks; washerwomen are at their work and children bathe. From a balcony a basket of flowers and leaves, old offerings now wilted, is dropped into the river. A small shrine half protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank. When it emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of the Kaliyuga will end on earth.
Proclaims: make known publicly or officially
Febrile confusion: hurried activity; complete chaos
Saffron - clad westerners: foreigners dressed as sadhus
Corpse: dead body
Wilted: dry and withered
Shrine: a place of worship
Protrudes: comes out
Kalyug: it is the fourth and last stages or time period of a Mahayuga. It started with the end of Mahabharata when Lord Krishna left the Earth.
Outside the Pashupatinath temple, a board was hung which read that entry into the temple was restricted to Hindus only. There was chaos outside the temple as priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists and various animals moved around. They writer and his friends offered a few flowers in the temple. There was a huge rush of pilgrims and they were elbowing each other in order to move ahead and reach the priest. As a royal princess appeared, everyone got aside to give way and bowed to her. At the main entrance, a group of foreigners who were dressed up in saffron colour clothes like sadhus were trying to gain entry into the temple. The guard denied entry as he knew that they were not hindus. Then he saw two monkeys fighting and one chased the other who jumped onto a shivling, then ran around the temple and finally, reached the banks of the holy Bagmati river which flows next to the temple. There he saw a dead body being cremated, washerwomen washing clothes and children bathing in the river. The writer noticed how the river was being polluted when a basket of dry withered flowers was thrown into it from the balcony of a building. A small temple protruded from the platform on the river bank. It is said that when the temple would emerge out completely, then the goddess in it would come out and the time period of the Kalyug would thus be ended by her.