Maha Shivaratri

Agencies Published February 26, 2014
Nepalese Sadhus talk after arriving ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
Nepalese Sadhus talk after arriving ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Nepalese Sadhu poses for a photograph ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Nepalese Sadhu poses for a photograph ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, sits beside a fire after smearing his body with ashes at his ashram on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by Reuters
A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, sits beside a fire after smearing his body with ashes at his ashram on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by Reuters
A Nepalese Sadhu gestures after arriving ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Nepalese Sadhu gestures after arriving ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Nepalese Sadhu smokes marijuana using a "chillum", a traditional clay pipe, as a holy offering for Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Nepalese Sadhu smokes marijuana using a "chillum", a traditional clay pipe, as a holy offering for Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A hand of a Hindu holy man, or sadhu, covered with ashes is pictured as he sits beside a fire at his ashram on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by Reuters
A hand of a Hindu holy man, or sadhu, covered with ashes is pictured as he sits beside a fire at his ashram on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by Reuters
A Nepalese Sadhu carries firewood as he arrives to attend the Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A Nepalese Sadhu carries firewood as he arrives to attend the Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by AFP
A sadhu, lights marijuana in a chillum at the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by Reuters
A sadhu, lights marijuana in a chillum at the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. – Photo by Reuters

Hindu holy men known as sadhus from Nepal and India gather at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu to take part in the Shivaratri festival, which this year falls on February 27. Celebrated by Hindu devotees all over the world, Shivaratri is dedicated to Lord Shiva, and holy men mark the occasion by praying, smoking marijuana or smearing their bodies with ashes.

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