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Pashupatinath controversy ends, Indian priest hands over charge

After 40 days of turmoil, the controversy in Kathmandu's world famous Pashupatinath temple has come to rest.

On Friday morning, a new chief priest took over: Ananta Krishna Shastri 'Somayaji' ascended to the post after elaborate rituals, during which he was passed on the pashupat mantra, the pashupat holy scriptures, the highly sacred and scarce single-faced rudraksha bead and the key to the Pashupatinath principal treasury by outgoing chief priest Rawal Subrahmanyam Shastri.

On Tuesday, King Birendra, the chief patron of the temple, had accepted Shastri's resignation from the post and promoted 'Somayaji', who has been a priest at the temple for 31 years.

Shastri, an Indian, resigned last month after the local media targeted him with a vilification campaign, alleging that he had amassed a personal fortune running into millions of rupees by ''misappropriating'' the riches offered in worship to Lord Pashupatinath by devotees.

The campaign has its root in the ongoing efforts to overturn the holy traditions (of the Lord Shiva shrine), believed to have originated in 798 AD, when Adi Shankaracharya validated their religious sanctity.

Spearheading the campaign is the Pashupati Sena, a newly-sprung organisation, which claims a 30,000-strong membership. It was demanding that Shastri be replaced by a Nepali priest.

UNI

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