Swamijis appeal to BJP chief to keep their faith centres open

Udupi: The Swamijis of Udupi Ashta Mutts (Madhwa sect) joined by Jain Mutt Swamiji and Vajradehi mutt of Gurupura who attended a meeting with BJP national chief JP Nadda on Monday have appealed to him to keep the two international routes for Hindu pilgrims open for normal traffic. The temples and shrines they cited were Kailas Parvat which is now in China and the various temples of Hindu origin in Nepal.

Outlining the nature of appeals made by the Swamijis, Head of the Moodbidri Jain Mutt HH Charukirthi Bhattaraka Panditacharyavarya told The Hans India that the Kailas Paravat area in the Kanchenjunga range of the Himalayas has been gifted to China in the 1960s still remains with the Chinese. Due to the political boundaries, the Kailas Parvat has become out of bounds for the Hindu pilgrims, "We have appealed to Mr Nadda to initiate talks with the Chinese authorities through the central government to make the visits simpler by removing the need for a visa to visit Kailas Parvat.

Similarly, Nepal used to be the only Hindu nation in the world but after the change of political leadership there, things are not the same as before. The Janakpuri town in Nepal is the birthplace of Sita Mata and the world-famous Pashupathinath temple needs to be given security.

In two different domestic pilgrimage routes the Sumedh Shikarji in Jharkhand and Girnar in Gujarat state also must be kept out of the tourism circuit and be reserved for just religious tourism. Girnar is one of the five major 'tirthas' attributed to the 'panch kalyanakas' of various 'Jain tirthankaras'.

JP Nadda in his reply to the appeal has assured them of taking course correcting steps through the government.