KATHMANDU, NEPAL, February 23, 2009: The number of sadhus (holy men) visiting Pashupatinath temple from India during the Shivaratri festival this year has gone down dramatically. Officials at Pashupatinath’s Goshwara Guthi Office, entrusted with hospitality for the visiting sadhus, said only about 1,650 sadhus turned up for Mahashivaratri, down from about 2,500 last year. Until two years ago, the normal number was 5,000.
According to Megh Raj Sapkota, the office’s chief, the sadhus explained that many are registering their displeasure with the government’s recent attempt to dismiss the Indian priest at the temple and with its 2006 decision to declare a secular state. Last year, the government tightened the inflow of Indian sadhus because of political concerns.