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Nepal's king to retain royal rights at Orissa temple
Nepal's monarch may soon by reduced to a commoner - but there is one place he will always be king.
- AP
- Published: 00:09 May 8, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- Nepal's King Gyanendra to retain royal rights at the Jagannath Temple in Orissa.
Bhubaneswar: Nepal's monarch may soon by reduced to a commoner - but there is one place he will always be king.
Officials at the Jagannath Temple in Orissa said yesterday that political events in Nepal, where the country's soon-to-be communist rulers plan to abolish the monarchy, would have no bearing on King Gyanendra's special privileges at the shrine.
Tradition holds that Nepal's monarchs are reincarnations of the Hindu deity Vishnu, and they have long been treated as divine at the Jagannath Temple, allowing them to perform rituals on the temple's sacred altar with the assistance of high-ranking priests.
That will not change even if Nepal's Maoists, who look set to lead Nepal's new government after elections last month, make good on their campaign promise to do away with the 239-year-old Shah dynasty and turn the world's last Hindu kingdom into a secular republic.
"The temple will continue to recognise Gyanendra as Nepal's king and he will be allowed to do all the rituals, even if the monarchy will be abolished in Nepal," temple spokesman Laxmi Dhar Pujapanda told AP.
"He and his kin will always be allowed to offer the special prayers."
The temple in the holy city of Puri is an important pilgrimage site, particularly for followers of the Hindu deities Krishna and Vishnu.
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