The bhandaris, the priest’s aides at the temple, have refused to recognize the two new priests, and are nowhere to be found on the Pashupati premises to do their work. This has left only the two new priests, Bishnu Prasad Dahal and Saligram Dhakal, to perform the complex rituals of the country´s most revered temple.
“The new priests can’t perform the rituals because they didn’t go through the three-month-long training under the old priest,” says Harirar Man Bhandari, one of Pashupatinath’s 180 bhandaris.
“They didn’t even know how to open the door; they had to break it open. How will they ever perform the complex rituals? This is sacrilege!” he exclaimed.
Previously, the mul bhatta (head priest) would choose his successor from his South Indian village and have him approved by both the king and the Badaguruju (the royal priest). But this time, the new appointees were chosen by the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) after the previous priest’s resignation four months ago.
The current main priest, Dr. Bishnu Pradad Dahal is assistant professor at the Nepal Sanskrit University, and Saligram Dhakal, priest of the Basuki temple, is an Acharya level student at the same university.
“We don’t care who they are. But they need to be appointed with proper procedure,” says Kedar Man Bhandari, another bhandari dissatisfied with the current move.
Proper procedures for many traditional religious and cultural norms have been in disarray since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008. The bhandaris also led a delegation to the president to pressure him to form a presidential committee to look upon the “political interference” on a religious matter.
The bhandaris who are the traditional caretakers of billions of rupees worth of Pashupatinath property feel excluded from the temple’s current happenings.
Since Thursday night, the keys to Pashupatinath have left the temple premises for the first time, and are with officials of the PADT. The PADT was quick to announce the amount collected through offerings as Rs 29,419 for the first 24 hours since the new priests were appointed. This was the first time the amount collected has been made public. The PADT claims it will count the collections on a daily basis.
Since the PADT received a written order from the Supreme Court stating the legality of the appointment of the new priests on Friday afternoon, PADT officials say they will be able to deal with it only on Sunday.
This said, the Annapurna Post, a Nepali daily, quotes Gopal Kiranti, minister for Culture and State Restructuring as saying, “Even if we did receive the written order, the decision will not be reversed, the order will not be implemented.”
kushal@myrepublica.com
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