PASUPATHINATH TEMPLE
The Bharatiya Janata Party has joined ousted King Gyanendra of Nepal in protesting against the appointment of two Nepali priests at the Pasupathinath temple in Kathmandu.
Priests from India have been performing rituals at the temple for about three centuries.
The Maoist-led government's decision to appoint two Nepali priests was challenmged in the Supreme Court, which immediately granted a temporary stay.
On Thursday members of the youth wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) provided protection to the newly appointed Nepali priests as they entered the temple to assume charge.
BJP president Rajnath Singh is reported to have conveyed his displeasure to Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamnal Dahal in a telephone talk.
2 comments:
I am a nepali and I am very saddened by this interference by Maoist on Hindu religion, and playing with nationality card. Religion has no nationality - A hindu is a hindu wherever he is.
This tradition of having southern brahmin in northern major temple of Pashupatinath, and northern brahmin in southern major temple of Ramesworam was started by Adi Shankaracharya when there was no single country called India and Nepal, there were many countries but one Bharatbarsha. So issue of nationality is ridiculous.
Manoj
Anonymous (Manoj), if you are a Nepali you should know that Nepalese documents state that the practice of employing Indian priests at Pasupathinath temple is only three centuries old. Adi Sankaracharya was long dead at that time. If a Hindu is a Hindu, what does it matter if the priuest is a Nepali or an Indian?
Maoists of Nepal are not the first rulers to interfere in the affairs of religious institutions. In 1947 temples of Kashmir, including Amarnath cave shrine, were under the control of Dharmarth Trust of which the sole trustee was the Maharaja of Kashmir. The Dogra dynasty came into existence only in the 19th century. It got control of the centuries-old cave shrine only on the strength of political power.
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