Nepal, Feb. 22 -- Every evening at the Pashupatinath temple one can see hundreds of people sitting on the stone steps facing the banks of the river Bagmati waiting for the aarati to start. The light from the oil lamps makes the entire riverside shine with a coppery red glow. A ritual that started 12 years ago, the Pashupatinath Bagmati aarati draws in people of all ages who come to take in the grandeur well ahead of the scheduled time.

Leading the aarati team, singing the bhajans and the Shiva Tandav is Dr Ramesh Pokharel, who holds a PhD in classical music. It was Pokharel and his colleagues who proposed the idea making the aarati ritual accessible to the general public. "Previously, the aarati used to be done inside the temple and peop...