Pashupati Area Development Trust’s new building for shops remains unused

The Trust constructed a complex in Bankali in 2016 spending over 250 million to house over five dozen shops.

As pilgrims visiting the Pashupatinath temple early morning pass through the Bankali area, shopkeepers selling flowers, souvenirs and offerings for the temple descend on them. They forcefully try to sell their wares to pilgrims, especially if they have come to the holy site empty-handed. While some pilgrims buy from the shopkeepers, others who see them as nuisance, shoo them away.