KATHMANDU, NEPAL, January 9, 2008: Unhappy with the Maoist bid to interfere into the Pashupatinath temple management, the aides of priests today demanded that instead of the Prime Minister, the President should be made patron of the body overseeing the affairs of Nepal’s most revered Hindu shrine.
In the past, the King as the head of the state used to be the patron of the Pashupati Area Development Trust. After the abolition of the country’s 240-year-old monarchy, the mantle was passed on to the Prime Minister. But the current PM, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, became persona non grata among the devotees when he intervened in the temple.
The President should be made the patron of the temple instead of the premier, Shiva Sharanraj Bhandari, the convener of the struggle committee that was formed by the Pashupatinath temple aides to reinstate the old priests, said.
The Pashupatinath temple should not come under any “political interference”. The Trust should be restructured by appointing non-political members, he said. PTI