KATHMANDU: Stakeholders have raised concerns over the need to protect the unique religious and cultural identity of Pathibhara, stating its sanctity should not be compromised in the name of infrastructure development.
Speaking at an interaction organized by the Yuma Mang Mukkumlung Pathibhara Protection Coordination Committee on Thursday, participants expressed their opposition to what they described as efforts to alter the religious and cultural significance of the site.
They asserted that Pathibhara should not be perceived merely as a geographic location but as a sacred site for Sanatan religious groups worldwide.
Mukkumlung Protection Campaigner Chandrahang Kirat stated that both the temple’s priest and the Pathibhara Temple Area Management Committee were being pressured into silence. Similarly, religious site researcher Bhim Pandey stressed the need for a strong network to safeguard Nepal’s cultural and spiritual heritage.
Speakers also claimed that there were ongoing attempts to erase sites associated with eastern philosophy and civilization. Chairman of the World Hindu Youth Federation, Rishikesh Jung Shah, urged authorities to halt plans for a cable car in the Pathibhara area, arguing that it would compromise the site’s sanctity.
Former Bagmati Province Assembly member Jiban Dangol, Chairman of Hindu Jagaran Nepal Ramkrishna Upadhyay, and other speakers emphasized the need for collective action to protect Nepal’s religious and cultural sites from commercialization and destruction.
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