Nearly one million devotees from India and Nepal on Friday thronged the famous 5th century Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu to celebrate Maha Shivaratri.
Security was beefed up with the deployment of 6,000 security personnel in the vicinity of the temple situated on the banks of Bagmati River for the annual Maha Shivaratri festival observed on Friday.
Police are keeping a close watch on illegal trade of marijuana, hashish and alcohol as possession, sale, distribution and smuggling of narcotics are punishable.
Over 6,000 policemen from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department were mobilised to maintain law and order, said Superintendent of Police Pradyumna Kumar Karki, chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police.
A senior police officer said that only seers and saints who travelled to the temple – one of the holiest Hindu sites – from Nepal and India were allowed to consume marijuana and hallucinating substances on religious grounds.
However, sadhus were strictly barred from selling marijuana and any other narcotics to devotees.
The Nepali Army organised a special function at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel Open Ground on the occasion of the Nepal Army Day coinciding with the festival.
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