Guhyeshwari

Guhyeshwari

Guhyeśvarī ("the Secret Goddess") is one of the 51 Śakti Pīṭhas — the place where Satī's yoni (or in some traditions her knee) fell. Located near Pashupatinath, she is the consort-counterpart to the Paśupati-Shiva form.

The Guhyeśvarī Temple is walled-off — non-Hindus, and even many Hindus, cannot enter the inner sanctum. The inner image is simply an opening in the ground covered with a silver-plated śrīyantra — the goddess is literally the earth's own yoni. Tantric practitioners regard this as one of the most esoterically-significant pilgrimage sites.

The relationship Pashupatinath–Guhyeshwari is the Kathmandu-valley expression of the cosmic Shiva-Shakti pair. Together they are the founding sacred geography of Hindu Nepal.