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The Goddess Gushmeswari is deemed the eleventh of the
eighteen Sakti-Peethas spread across Akhanda Bharat. She is the guardian deity of
Nepal and is worshipped with utmost fervour. The devotional installation of this
statue in the temple complex has a strange background. During the reign of King
Pratap Malla of Solar dynasty, there came to the court a religious minded
Brahmin from Tirhut in Bihar. He won the appreciation of the King by his
austerity and was liked by all the courteriers. One day, he confided to the king
that there was an image of an august Goddess hidden in the forest and she was
very powerful. The king forthwith bade his assistance to make an intensive search
for it. The quest bore instant fruit. The king built a fitting shrine in the
Pasupathinath complex itself. After due ritualistic pujas, she was enshrined in
an independent temple with a special tantric yantra too. And since then she is
adored by one and all with great zeal with different names such as Kali or
Mahamayi, though Gushmeswari was the name given at the time of installation due
to the fact of its concealment from the public gaze in the forest. As popularity
is waxing on account of her compassionate raining boons on the adorers, she has
become a household name in and around the capital.
It lies in the famous Pasupathinath temple accessible by auto
or rickshaw.
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