Posted by: swaati thapa March 17, 2005
How oppressed are the oppressed races?
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Below is the story how news from same publications posting can differ from above given links. How it differs about the establishment of kulayan. Temple for the deity of Royal family likely to lack priest By Mahadev Aryal PALPA, Jan 19 : Aalam Devi temple, the temple of the family deity of the Shah dynasty in Aalam VDC of Palpa district, may not have a priest to perform daily rituals in the near future, according to sources. As per tradition, the priest attending the temple should be a chaste boy not above 14 years old. Priests in the temple for ages have been from the Rana Magar, ethnic community. However, modern Magars, being anxious of their children?s future are reluctant to initiate them as priests in the temple. They think that doing so will spoil the future of their wards because a priest cannot attend schools. Locals are not attracted to being a priest in the temple as there are no special facilities, benefits nor a salary or allowance, says Rishi Pandey, a local resident. The priest has to bathe in the early morning, and perform pujas with just a thin cotton cloth covering his body. He is not allowed to leave the temple premises before one o?clock in the afternoon, explains Mohan Singha Rana, a member of the Temple Management Committee (TMC). "In this age of science and technology every body wants his/her son to be educated, with even the members of the TMC not allowing theirs sons to be a priest," said Rana. The legend behind how this temple came to be associated with the royal family dates to ancient times when a Thakuri king of the Chin Rangan clan from western Nepal, was on a campaign invading other principalities. As part of his army, his soldiers carried along with them, Kumari Devi, a Goddess, who had to be carried at all times and never laid on the ground. However, the soldiers happened to lay the goddess on the ground, on the site where the temple now stands, and the Kumari was said to have vanished. One person of the Thakuri clan was left behind at the site in the hope that the Kumari would reappear. He later built a temple and employed a virgin boy as its priest. According to the legend, the present Shah dynasty is descendent from the same Thakuri clan. The royal family visits the temple every year to offer worship. Annually, two grand pujas are performed in the temple, once during Bada Dashain, by seven priests and once during Chaite Dashain by five priests.
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