Nepal King to seek divine help in India

Kathmandu: After the Gods in Nepal turned a deaf ear and blind eye to his prayers, dejected King Gyanendra is now seeking divine help in neighbouring India, a report said.

Even as devotees from far and wide are lining up at the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu this month to offer worship, the King, who was stripped of his position as patron of the temple by Parliament this week, is offering puja by proxy at a shrine near India's temple town of Varanasi, the Jana Aastha weekly said Wednesday.

On Thursday, an Indian yogi identified as Harihar Swami, would be offering a special worship at Vindhyavasini Dham on behalf of the king to seek the goddess' blessings for Nepal's royalty in decline.

According to the weekly, another Indian yogi, Barfani Baba, who reportedly has ashram in Hardwar, a prime pilgrimage destination in northern India, recommended the swami to the palace.

The baba in turn was introduced to the royal family by his disciple Mohan Bahadur Shahi, who is King Gyanendra's brother-in-law.

However, with Nepal's parliamentarians pressing for a drastic cut in the King's allowances, Thursday's worship would not be as lavish as the royal offerings have been in the past.

Barfani Baba had earlier asked for Rs 16,00,000 to come up with a really effective service but Harihar Swami swung the deal after he offered to do it for Rs 400,000, the weekly said.

Another Indian god man, identified only as Kali Baba, is reported to have access to the palace and was sent for during King Gyanendra's direct rule to mediate between the isolated monarch and Indian political leaders.

The Nepal royal family's belief in divine powers is legendary. During his 15-month rule as head of the government, the king made several disastrous decisions, said to have been prompted by his army of astrologers.

One of the advices - to take a trip across the ocean to propitiate the stars - reportedly made the king go on a three-week long African safari at a time his kingdom was in a critical stage.

Besides losing him his seat of power, the trip has also set him back by NRS 75.5 million, incurred just for chartering an aircraft, a daily said.