Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's
– Mark, Chapter XII, Verse 17
Currently in a transitional period, with what seems like at least one controversy every day, the Gregorian New Year in Nepal began with a bang, with the two top South Indian Brahmin abbots of the Pashupatinath temple being replaced by Nepali ones. This led to a furore, one most likely unanticipated by the Maoist-led government. Protests by citizens, along with the Nepali bhandari priests who assisted the two Indian abbots and political leaders, took place near the temple with the requisite burning of tyres and obstruction of traffic. Interest in the matter quickly took root down south: the leader of the opposition in India, Lal Krishna Advani rang up Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka 'Prachanda') to protest; and Samajwadi Party leaders Messrs Mulayam and Amar Singh, at the time in Nepal for a visit to the very same temple, expressed distress at the politicisation of a time-honoured tradition. They refused to visit Pashupatinath, and made do with the Krishna Mandhir in Patan instead. With a storm clearly brewing, Nepal's Supreme Court stayed the appointment of the Nepali priests, and directed that rituals at Pashupatinath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines, be conducted by the Indian priests for the interim.
In defiance of the Supreme Court order, under police escort and cordoned by the presumably atheist cadres of the Young Communist League (YCL), the locks placed by the protesting bhandaris and the Indian abbots were broken. On 1 January, the newly appointed Nepali priests performed the daily puja without conducting the traditional rituals. Former-king Gyanendra, deposed eight months back by popular uprising, issued an appeal to protect the "sanctity" of Pashupatinath, as well as the social and religious amity of Nepal. Some looked upon the replacement of the abbots as still more evidence of an anti-India agenda; others as an attempt to whip up Nepali nationalism; while others thought it was the lucre-dakshina offerings that Pashupatinath received from Indian pilgrims in particular that explained it all. Still others perceived it as an attack on religion itself, and possibly part of deeper communist designs. Amidst growing condemnation, particularly the voluminous noise coming from India, including the TV channels, Prime Minister Dahal revoked the Pashupatinath appointments.