Just two days after the powerful Pashupatinath clean up, the dedicated team was back in action. This time, their mission led them to another significant religious site: Mahalaxmisthan, located in the historic area of Lalitpur. On September 21, 2025, the clean up was passionately organized by Eco Sathi Nepal in co-operation with Bhoomithan, Clean Up Nepal, and the Nepalese Student Association. The focus was laser sharp: the shocking amount of litter collected inside the temple peripheral area itself.
We often imagine sacred sites as pristine, but this clean up revealed a stark and disheartening reality. Volunteers were truly stunned by the volume of waste accumulated in such a concentrated, sacred space. The feeling was unanimous: we were shocked how much in such a little place can collect.
The morning’s efforts yielded a total of 115.047 kg of waste, all pulled from the immediate vicinity of the temple, an alarming figure for such a small, respected periphery.
The breakdown tells a story of rampant single use plastic:
The massive load of Mixed Waste (66.25 kg) mixed with almost 49 kg of plastics and PET bottles shows that even the most revered and culturally significant areas are not immune to the pollution crisis driven by visitor and devotee habits. This garbage, collected from within the walls of a place dedicated to divinity and prosperity, serves as a powerful call to action for all visitors to exercise greater responsibility and respect.
To every youth volunteer from the organizing bodies who helped pull this alarming weight of trash out of the Mahalaxmisthan premises, you have done more than just clean you have raised a critical alarm about the need to protect our spiritual sanctuaries from carelessness. Your willingness to step up, especially right after the Pashupatinath drive, proves that this movement is built on genuine dedication and a relentless spirit.
The Lesson of Mahalaxmisthan is clear: respect for the divine must extend to respect for the physical space that houses it. We must commit to leaving only footprints, and taking nothing but peace and blessings.
