KATHMANDU, JUNE 25

In the wake of the row over possible irregularities in the use of 108-kilogram gold for the jalhari at the sacred Shiva Linga inside the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, a team of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has started weighing the gold inside the vicinity of Pashupatinath temple starting late this evening.

CIAA officials, along with officials from the Gold and Silver Dealers' Association and officials from mines and geology have started the process.

Security forces including the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have cleared the temple premises for the same. No one was allowed to enter the area from this afternoon to ensure that the process of weighing over 100 kilograms of gold that was said to have been used during the jalahari installation was done in a secure environment.

After the use of gold at Pashupatinath temple came into controversy, the National Concerns and Coordination Committee of the National Assembly had sought clarification from Pashupati Area Development Trust's Member Secretary Milan Kumar Thapa who had claimed that no embezzlement had occurred there. Inn mid-July 2021, the CIAA had started investigation into the use of 108-kilogram gold at the sacred linga following a complaint.

However, the investigation was dropped without reaching any conclusion.

The placement of golden jalhari at the Pashupatinath temple has been embroiled in controversy from the very inception. On 25 January 2021, then prime minister KP Sharma Oli had decided to provide Rs 300 million to place the golden jalhari. Interestingly enough, the then minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had released the amount in a few days and work had started immediately without the knowledge of many.

On February 24, then president Bidhya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the incomplete jalhari installation in a dramatic manner. The president's inauguration was fast tracked as the hearing at the Supreme Court on the case against the installation plan was scheduled the same day.

The court then ordered the authorities to halt the installation process. Since, the inauguration was carried out without completion of the work, around 10 kg of gold was yet to be installed at the base of the Shiva linga which was to be done only by the sacred priests of the temple.

The gold consists of mainly knot-bolts and nails. People have cast doubts the embezzlement happened during the jalahari installation. Now, the authorities have undone all the intrinsic gold work at the linga and gathered the gold in one place. Some chemicals and materials are used to connect and then weigh them to find the exact amount of gold used in the linga. The results of the process is likely to come by tomorrow morning.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 26, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.