06 September,2009 07:14 AM IST | | IANS
Smarting under the continuing attacks on Indian priests and the allegation that they were siphoning off the offerings made by devotees at the altar of Pashupatinath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines, the chief priest at the temple said he and his ilk were ready to go back to India.
Mahabaleshwar Bairy (41), the chief priest at the fifth century temple said, "We are not refugees. If you (the people of Nepal) don't want us, we are ready to leave. But don't insult us. We have no connection with the offerings made to the deity."
The priest broke his silence after two new Indian priests were attacked inside the temple in an unprecedented incident.
The tradition of appointing Indian priests at the Pashupatinath temple started from the time of the Malla kings of Nepal who reigned from the 12th to the 18th century.
The protests against the appointment of Indian priests started during the government of the former Maoist guerrillas last year, who said it was a ploy by India to impose its culture on Nepal. Till three years ago, when Nepal's royal family controlled the shrine, there was no record of the temple earnings.
