Nepal hosts "wedding ceremony" of Hindu deities

news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/news/article_1692826.php/Nepal-hosts-wedding-ceremony-of-Hindu-deities

Kathmandu (dpa) - Hundreds of devotees thronged the biggest open space of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday to witness the wedding ceremony of the Hindu god Utsava Beram and his spouses.

   Three jeweled and colorfully decked statues, from the South Indian Tirupati Balaji temple were brought to Nepal late Friday for the wedding ceremony, the first time the deities were removed from Indian soil.

   The wedding took place in an elaborate ritual, with a sacred fire burning, as garlands and gold necklaces were exchanged with the traditional Hindu wedding tune played on a traditional shehnai in the background.

   The statues of Utsava Beram, a form of the Hindu God Vishnu, wed his two spouses, Sridevi and Bhudevi at the ceremony.

   "According to mythology, the wedding takes place in memory of the time Vishnu was on the verge of separation with one of this wives, Laxmi, which ended in reconciliation with the efforts of other gods, Brahma and Maheshwar," said Basudev Sharma, a Nepali priest who was attending the wedding ceremony.

   "And it is a very special occasion, which only the fortunate get to witness."

   Tirupati Balaji is one of the richest Hindu temples in India, and receives millions of visitors every year, who offer millions in cash and jewelry.

   "We've received over 300,000 visitors," said Upendra Mahato, the chairman of the Shree Tirupati Balaji Wedding Festival Main Celebration Committee. He explained the festival was targeted at Nepalis who could not afford to travel to India.

   "We're organizing the festival for peace and economic prosperity of the country, at this time of political transition."

   People had thronged the wedding venue since early in the morning to witness the ceremony, which lasted for more than three hours late Saturday.

   Organizers said the statues would be returned to India on Sunday, accompanied by the 60 Indian priests who had arrived in Nepal to conduct the ceremony.
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Nepal hopes for a million tourists at the Buddha's birthplace

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal launched a campaign on Saturday to attract more tourists to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha.

   The Tourism Ministry unveiled the Visit Lumbini 2012 plan to increase the influx of tourists to the pilgrimage site, 240 kilometres south-west of the capital Kathmandu.

   The government hopes to welcome one million tourists to the site in 2012.

   Most tourists arrive from India to see the site where the Buddha is said to have been born more than 2,550 years ago.

   From there, he is said to have travelled across Nepal and India, meditating and preaching the word of peace, leading to the formation of Buddhism.

   Inaugurating the tourism project, President Ram Baran Yadav said that the year would focus on globally sharing the message of peace and the path shown by Buddha.
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Nepal Buddhists demonstrate against Maoist leader

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Hundreds of Buddhists staged a protest in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, Wednesday, to protest against Maoist Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s connection to a development project in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.

   Lhakpa Sherpa of the Buddhism Preservation Stakeholders Committee said politicians were breaching the sanctity of a religious place like Lumbini by transforming it into a tourism destination.

   The committee was formed by the government to develop Lumbini, 240 kilometres southwewest of Kathmandu, as a world Buddhist tourism destination.

   Demonstrators held placards demanding Dahal be removed from the position of director of the Lumbini Development Committee. They have demanded a follower of Buddhism should be appointed to the post.

   Dahal, who is coordinator of the development committee, lead the decade-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal, which ended in 2006 after the signing of a peace deal with the government. 16,000 people were killed in the conflict.
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