Kathmandu, November 30, Nepalese authorities decided on the 30th that the world cultural heritage Nepal’s Paspatina Temple (commonly known as the Burning Temple) will reopen from December 16.
The Paspatina Regional Development Management Office said on the same day that in order to reduce the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus, after reopening, believers still need to abide by sanitary rules when entering the temple area, such as maintaining a certain social distance between people; believers need to enter the temple area from a specific gate and leave from another specific door.
The Burning Dead Temple is the most sacred temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, where Shiva Day, the most important festival of Hinduism, is celebrated. The burning temple is located on the bank of the Bagmati River. Local people mostly choose to cremate the dead here and sprinkle the ashes on the Bagmati River. The burned corpse temple was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979.
There are many temples, practice places, inscriptions, etc. in the burning temple area, which is one of the important tourist attractions in Nepal. In the past, many international tourists visited every day. At the same time, the burning temple is also an important settlement of Hindu ascetic monks.
In order to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic, Nepal announced a nationwide blockade at the end of March this year. The temple of burning corpses has been closed ever since then. This is also the longest closure in the history of the burning temple.
In July this year, the Nepalese government decided to lift the national blockade. Since then, several organizations, including the World Federation of Hindus, have protested to the Nepali authorities: Since public transportation can resume operation, why can’t the burning temple reopen to the public?
In recent days, the number of new coronavirus cases in Nepal has maintained an average of about 1,500. According to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal on the afternoon of the 30th, in the past 24 hours, 1,474 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported nationwide, with a total of 233,452 cases, and 29 new deaths, with a total of 1,508 cases.
