Aarati at Pashupatinath temple in Nepal affected due to government's order on national anthem

Officials from Nepal's famed Pashupatinath temple may take action against the Bagmati Aarati Pariwar for not playing the national anthem prior to performing aarati though a government directive has made it mandatory, according to a media report.

The Pashupati Area Development Trust, that manages the affairs of the temple, has warned to take action against an organisation for not playing the national anthem prior to performing aarati, the Himalayan Times reported. The Bagmati Aarati Pariwar has been performing Ganga Aarati every evening at Pashupatinath temple for the last 12 years.

The ritual is performed on the banks of the Bagmati River near the holy Pashupati temple. On August 26, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai issued a directive to play the national anthem before performing the aarati.

The Bagmati Aarati Pariwar started playing the national anthem from August 30 as per the instruction, but discontinued to play national anthem since September 3.

This has prompted PADT to take action against the Pariwar. We will be forced to ban the Pariwar from performing aarati at the temple if it does not follow our instruction, PADT Member Secretary Pradeep Dhakal was quoted as saying by the paper.

The PADT has summoned the Pariwar to its office.

We have not heard from them. If they continue to ignore our calls, we will ban them and start performing the aarati on our own, said Dhakal. The Pariwar said that it discontinued playing the national anthem after facing criticism. The place where aarati is performed is located right next to the cremation ground, said Basudev Shastri, vice chair of the Pariwar.

Playing of the national anthem causes inconvenience to bereaved families, as it is mandatory to stand up whenever the national anthem is played. This has drawn criticism from a cross section of people. Minister Bhattarai, who chairs the PADT, has however, not made it clear why the national anthem has to be played prior to aarati.