Close on the heels of the temporary resolution of the dispute over the sacking of South Indian priests at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, there was a stir in Nepal over the seizure of copies of the Bhagwat Gita that devotees were bringing from Gorakhpur. The incident was quickly hushed up, but served to underline the persisting threat to Nepal’s millennia-old Hindu culture and civilisational ethos, which has been in the Maoist firing line ever since Prachanda became Prime Minister, abolished the Hindu Kingdom, and dethroned King Gyanendra.
The very manner in which the Pashupatinath temple dispute arouse out of thin air reveals the pre-meditated nature of the attack, simultaneously, upon Nepal’s holiest shrine and its civilisational link with neighbouring India. As the motivation for this assault is by no means diluted, further trouble is very much on the anvil; it is only a question of time.
Pashupatinath, situated on the banks of the Bagmati river, is a very powerful peeth. Its presiding deity takes the form of a ‘Jyotirlinga,’ which was reputedly discovered and identified by a cow which offered her milk to the ‘swayambu linga’ daily. Over the centuries, the rulers of the Nepal in turn protected the temple and contributed to its development and grandeur. It is said that the four faces of the linga – respectively Tatpurusha, Aghora, Sadhyojata and Vamadeva – represent the four Vedas. The temple is one of the most sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites in the world, and part of the joint heritage of India and Nepal.
Given these hoary links, it is not certain when and how South Indian priests began to officiate at this temple. Tradition, however, maintains that in the sixth century, Adi Shankaracharya established the worshipping norms as per the Agamas and introduced South Indian brahmin priests. Under this system, only two or three head priests (‘Rawals’) come from India; the rest are from Nepal (over a hundred ‘Bhandaris.’)
There was no tension between these two categories of priests, and it was the Nepali Bhandari priests who took up cudgels against the Maoist government order of 1 January 2009 to remove the Indian priests and replace them with Nepali citizens who did not have a religious lineage or training.
This gross interference in the temple’s most sacred duties led the Bhandaris to withdraw from their religious duties in protest. As Bhandaris are also the protectors of the temple’s assets and wealth and managers of its administrative affairs, their protest put the regime on the back foot. The Bhandaris were particularly enraged that the government chose to dishonour a directive of the Nepal Supreme Court allowing Indian priests to perform the ritual worship. They joined hands with citizens and set up a Sangharsh Committee after a hundred goons affiliated to the Young Communist League (YCL) stormed the temple, physically ousted the Indian priests on 2 January 2009.
As a result, the customary ‘Nitya Puja’ was discontinued for four days, which sent shock waves among the devout in India and Nepal; there was widespread anger and agitation in Nepal. The people’s anger astonished Prime Minister Prachanda, and after an appeal by deposed King Gyanendra to the people to not politicize the temple issue, he made a tactical retreat. But the danger is by no means over. It is pertinent that as soon as the Maoists took power, the Vatican appointed a Bishop and expanded evangelical activity in the country. As many top Maoist leaders are Christian, the evangelical motive cannot be discounted in the temple crisis. In India, the Italian-born UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi prevented the government from taking a stand on the issue, and this incident once again highlights the dangers that imperil nations when the leadership is seized by those who do not espouse the religion of the masses.
Fortunately for Nepal, some of its politicians did not hesitate to speak up for the nation’s Hindu ethos. Though Minister for Culture Gopal Kirati was determined to press for ‘temple reforms’ (oust Indian priests), Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav (a Madeshi) criticized the move and alleged that the Maoists were trying to seize the temple’s assets. Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav also condemned the decision to interfere in the temple’s traditions.
Mr. Upendra Yadav demanded that Prime Minister Prachanda punish the YCL cadres who stormed the shrine and installed their own priests. However, Tourism Minister Hisila Yami (a Christian) claimed that the Indian priests had ‘resigned’ on their own, and there was no anti-India motive in the appointment of new priests.
The fact, however, is that the three Indian priests resigned in December 2008 on account of persistent problems with the Maoist government and the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust (PADT). When the Nepali priests were appointed in violation of tradition, the Supreme Court was approached, and it stayed the new appointments. This prompted YCL cadres to violate the temple precincts and the rest is history.
BJP president Rajnath Singh urged the UPA government take up the issue with Nepal as the removal of Indian priests has hurt the faith and devotion of all Hindus. But faced with the obduracy of the Sonia-led dispensation, the BJP president directly appealed to the President and Prime Minister of Nepal to intervened and resolve the “crisis”. For the first time in 300 years, ritual prayers could not be held in the temple due to the created crisis, and this not only undermined the temple traditions, but the underlying Indo-Nepalese cultural ties, Mr. Singh emphasized.
The Pashupatinath temple issue also agitated Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who took up the matter with Prime Minister Prachanda during a visit to Nepal, during which he could not visit the temple on account of the dispute! The embarrassed Prachanda assured an early restoration of the Indian priests.
With no overt diplomatic support from any quarter, the Maoist regime had little choice but to backtrack and restore the status and dignity of the Indian Priests. For the present, therefore, the Sanatan Dharma has won the battle, but there can be little doubt that a larger war looms on the horizon.
The forces out to undermine the cultural and religious identity of Nepal have made only a tactical retreat. They will regroup and re-launch their assault at a more appropriate time, unless the Nepali people wake up to the dimension of the threat and overthrow the Maoists as soon as possible.
The author is Editor, www.vijayvaani.com
3 April 2009; written for inauguration of a Rama temple in Noida, Sector 22.