Opposition leaders have termed ‘ridiculous’ the statement given by the priests of the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu as saying that its annual income last year was just Rs 200,000. (less than 3,000 dollars.)

Nepali Congress leader and former minister, Bipin Koirala, termed the reports regarding the annual income by the Pashupatinath temple as ‘ridiculous’. The priests at the Pashupatinath temple announced on Saturday that the annual income of the most revered temple in the country stood just at Rs. 200,000.

There is the tradition of making accounts of the temple public on the occasion of ‘Bala Chaturdashi.’

“The report regarding the annual income of the temple is just ridiculous. I think over Rs 400,000 must have been collected on Saturday (Balachaturdasi festival) alone,” he said.

Recalling a civil society movement that demanded transparency in the income and expenditure of what would be one of the richest temples in the region, Koirala said, “The state should have direct access to manage the millions of rupees that thousands of devotees offer to the temple as donation every year.”

Referring to the famous Tirupati Balaji temple of India, former minister Koirala said, “It would have been nice if we could set up institutions like medical colleges, universities or houses for elderly people from the proceeds of the Pashupatinath temple.”

Tirupati Balaji, situated in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, is the richest temple in India, with an annual income of over five billion rupees, which is administered by a temple trust that ploughs the bulk of the money back into hundreds of charities.

According to sources at the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), estimated four million devotees from Nepal and abroad (mainly India) visit the temple of Lord Pashupatinath every year and the estimated income of the temple has been billed at Rs 150 million annually.

When contacted by Nepalnews, spokesperson of the PADT , Ram Prasad Dahal, refused to comment on the issue. He further said that he was not aware of the tradition of making public the accounts of the temple on the occasion of Bala Chaturdashi.

The offerings-money, gold, silver and other precious ornaments- go into the hands of the Bhatta and priests. There are four Bhattas, including the chief Bhatta from India, and 108 Bhandaris from Nepal.

The Pashupatinath temple is considered one of the most revered Hindu temples in the region. Hindus believe that to die and to be cremated here will release one from the cycle of repeated birth and death. nepalnews.com pd Dec 13 04