Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deoba visited the newly renovated Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi on Sunday. He was accompanied by UP Chief Minsiter Yogi Adityanath during his visit to the city today.
Varanasi: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visits Kashi Vishwanath using the newly inaugurated corridor. He is first world leader to visit the corridor inaugurated by PM Modi in December of 2021. pic.twitter.com/yzpm3GqQex
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 3, 2022
Nepal Prime Minsiter Sher Bahadur Deoba is on a three-day visit to India from Friday. On Sunday, he was received at the Varanasi Airport by CM Yogi Adityanath. Deoba along with his wife Arzoo were seen visiting a host of temples in the city on Sunday morning. He started his visit by worshipping at the age-old Kal Bhairav Mandir. Later, the Nepali PM visited the newly-renovated Kashi Vishwanath Mandir through the new corridor which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2021.
Watch: In Varanasi, Nepal PM Deuba, wife Arzu Rana Deuba pray at Kashi Vishwanath. Accompanied by UP CM Yogi Adityanath. pic.twitter.com/XUzZUm4WZg
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 3, 2022
PM Deoba offered prayers at the main sanctum sanctorum of the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir over a brief pooja. Followed by an Abhishek ritual at Kashi Vishwanath, PM Deoba and his wife performed the afternoon Aarti at the Nepali temple in Varanasi. According to history, The temple was built as a replica of Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Mandir by Rana Bahadur Shah during his exile in the city from 1800 to 1804.
PM Deoba met PM Modi in Delhi yesterday, and they had announced several bilateral initiatives. The fist rail link between India and Nepal was jointed flagged off by both the prime ministers. The duo also jointly launched the RuPay card in Nepal and added a new chapter of financial connectivity between the two countries.
Sher Bhadur Deoba’s temple-run in Varanasi comes hours after a minister from his cabinet reiterated the demand for turning Nepal into a Hindu Rashtra again. Tourism Minsiter Prem Ale said at a function by World Hindu Federation, “If a majority of people are supporting this decision, then the decision can be brought out using referendum.” Ale said that he is ready to give constructive backing if Nepal wants to become a Hindu Rashtra. “If there can be numerous Islamic and Christian countries, then why shouldn’t we think of Hindu Rashtra?” he asked.
The Hindu majority nation was declared as a ‘secular’ state in 2008 after the monarchy was abolished in the country in 2006. The Rise of Deoba as a Prime Minister was catapulted by a split within the Communist parties in Nepal. With Deoba’s Nepali Congress coming to power, Dharmic diplomacy between the India and Nepal is expected to increase.
