Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is due to visit Varanasi next week. During his visit Deuba will pay a visit to the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple and Nepali Temple which is also known as Shri Samrajeswar Pashupatinath Mahadev Mandir.
The Nepali Temple, dedicated to Hindu God Shiva is located on Lalita Ghat in Varanasi. The temple was envisaged by Nepali King Rana Bahadur Shah who was exiled from the city from 1800 to 1804. It was during his exile that he decided to build replica of Kathmandu’s famous Pashupatinath temple in the city The construction of the temple was taken forward by his son King of Nepal, Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah.
The temple belongs to Nepal government and is one of the most famous temples of the holy city. Gopal PD Adhikari, general secretary of the committee that takes care of the Nepali temple told WION, “We will welcome (PM Deuba) with great enthusiasm and he will meet Nepali community. We are eager to welcome him”.
The temple is also known as Kanthwala Mandir since its made of wood. Kanthwala means wood. It is built in Nepali architectural style and is also known as Mini Khajuraho.
Nepal PM will be visiting the Kashi Vishwanath using the newly inaugurated corridor. The corridor was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in December 2021.
In fact, PM Deuba is the first world leader to visit the corridor. The corridor connects the iconic temple to the ghats along river Ganga. Phase-1 of the corridor has been completed at a cost of around Rs 339 crores.
Nepal PM is on India visit from 1st to 3rd April. He will hold meetings with PM Modi in Delhi on 2nd April. This is his first bilateral visit outside of the country since assuming office in July 2021. He has been to Glasgow Climate Summit, which was a multilateral event. He had met PM Modi on the sidelines of the summit.
Sources said Nepal PM’s visit will, “give an opportunity to both sides to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations including development and economic partnership, trade, cooperation in health sector, power, connectivity, people to people links and other issues of mutual interest.”
PM Deuba has previously been to India in his capacity as PM in 2017.
