Panel to Decide Who Manages Pashupatinath Temple

Source: www.thehimalayantimes.com

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, February 10, 2010: The Nepalese Supreme Court today directed the government to set up a panel to decide whether the Pashupatinath Temple should be run by the state since the country has turned secular. The bench has given three months for the committee to prepare the report.

“The panel will deal with the priest appointment and management of offerings made by the devotees in the temple,” the bench observed, responding to a Public Interest Litigation filed by advocates Binod Phuyal and Lokdhoj Thapa, seeking an apex court order to appoint priests at the Hindu shrine and to manage offerings made to it. The petitioners also sought to set up an independent and autonomous commission to decide all matters related to the Hindu temple.