http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Pashupatinath-dragged-to-court-again/articleshow/9410245.cms
KATHMANDU: Two years after Nepal's then Maoist-headed government tried to sack the Indian priests at the Pashupatinath temple, the shrine revered by billions of Hindus worldwide, and triggered international outcry, it is now the turn of the new communist-led ruling coalition to try wrest control of the 17th century shrine, an attempt that has triggered a fresh court battle.

On Friday, seven officials of the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust, that runs the temple, filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court against Nepal's new Culture Minister Khagendra Prasain, alleging they were wrongfully sacked. Prasain belongs to a minor left party, the Communist Party of Nepal-Marxist Leninist, which is a junior partner in the coalition government of Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal.

On Wednesday, the new communist minister, who is also the chairman of the trust, sacked the seven officials and appointed his own men, including a cousin. Now the dismissed group is asking the apex court to stay the new appointments on the ground that they were appointed for four years, out of which only 25 months have elapsed. They have also contended in their petitions that they did not face any complaints during this tenure, which makes their dismissal unlawful.

The politicization of the sacred shrine started from 2006 after the fall of King Gyanendra's regime. The subsequent government removed the queen, who used to be the patron of the trust, and attending religious events at the temple became an occasion for political rivalry between the deposed king and the then prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala instead of an occasion of piety.

The most controversial move was made by the Maoist government in 2009 when the then Maoist culture minister Gopal Kiranti pressured the Indian priests at the temple into quitting and began appointing Nepali priests loyal to the party. It created a furore worldwide and the Indian government as well as parties like the BJP condemned the interference.

Though the outcry forced the Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda government to reinstate the Indian priests, its successor, the communist alliance of Madhav Kumar Nepal, once more ruffled Hindi feathers when his government tried to open the padlocked treasury of Pashupatinath and proposed that the riches found there should be placed in a museum for safekeeping.

Nepal's religious communities have proposed that all religious institutions be kept outside the jurisdiction of the government. They have proposed that the new constitution should have a religious commission with the power to oversee such institutions.

So why exactly are the priests of this eminent Nepali temple have to be Indians?  Can't Nepali priests do the work?  Is there a religious dictat behind this or could it just be one of the many consequences of Indian hegemony over Nepal?  

- Just asking.  Genuinely curious.  Please don't take it negatively.

Can you explain every part of our culture? 
One of the king brought BHATT bramin from India and since then they were recrutting thier relatives and became part of the culture .

Any changes on this should have done via ex-king. But he would not be doing that.

Now nobody knows how much is the income Pasupati temple has , it has foundation but the money people throw inside does not go to the foundation but to the priest. Priest make millions every day.

Maoest has eye on that income as well somehow there must be some reform on it.


There must be big donation box for annynus donner like in Inidan temple and must be counted as income to the temple fund.

 I would love to see that day when Pashupati Nath has Nepali priests and people from lower castes could worship Lord Pashupati Nath.

God does not discriminate his creatures......We humans do.

The Indian Priests in Pashupati are all savage and greedy religious zealots. How wonderful that would be if that money raised from the temple goes to the poor and needy.