Varanasi/ Banaras
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A piece of Nepal in Varanasi
Manjari Mishra | TNN
Varanasi: The two-storeyed terracotta, stone and wood pagoda on the banks of the Ganga looks incongruous among the spires and domes that dominate Varanasi’s skyline. Its resemblance to the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu is as striking as the magnificent view it offers of the holy river and its bustling ghats some 50 feet below.
The 167-year-old structure, the Lalita Devi temple, is supposedly a replica of the famous temple at Kathmandu. Pandit Gopal Prasad Adhikari, head of the Samrajeshwar Pashupatinath Temple Trust (SPTT), the managing body of the temple, claims to possess documents proving the transfer of land by the ruler of Kashi to Nepali king Rana Bahadur Shah way back in 1843.
The temple and its adjacent area, including a dharamshala, belongs to the Nepal government, he claims. A Nepali migrant and a teacher of ‘Vedant Darshan’ by profession, Adhikari is proud of the ‘‘little Nepali island in the heart of India’’.
Driven out of his homeland and rechristened Nirguna Nanad Swami in his adopted city of Varanasi, Rana Bahadur Shah had decided to build a Pashupatinath replica by the Ganga.Work was still underway when the king got back his throne and left Varanasi. His son Rajendra Vir Vikram Shah managed to finish the project 20 years after the deadline.Unlike its more famous neighbour, the Kashi Vishwanath temple, the deity here is left in peace by the devotees. Barring the Nepali community, most people aren’t even aware that such a temple exists in the city, says Sagar Sharma, a member of the managing trust and a third-generation Nepali settled in Varanasi.
‘‘Visitors here are mostly foreign nationals and curious tourists,’’ says Adhikari. The temple management charges Rs 10 from the foreigners for its upkeep.
The temple has gone through a makeover as the old structure caved in due to years of neglect. ‘‘It was due to the initiative of former Nepal prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala that renovation was completed in 1995.
Marriages with foreigners, especially Japanese
The Times of India, Dec 12 2015
Rajeev Dikshit
Banarasi babus & their Japani biwis When a handsome Joy Mukherjee serenaded a sizzling Asha Parekh, crooning `Le gayee dil gudiya Japan ki', in the 60s flick `Love in Tokyo', little did he know he would have real life `followers' in Banarasi dudes. Guys from the city seem to have special liking for the Japanese girls for matrimonial alliances. Ahead of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the oldest living city, when TOI went through wedding registration records, it found that more than 50% of the foreigners who married Banarasis are from Japan. Although majority of them are girls, there are a few Japanese damaads as well. Besides, some boatmen have settled in the land of the rising son with their `Japani gudiyas'.
These couples now play the role of cultural ambassa dors, especially promoting Japan's culinary culture. So, be it Sayaka Roy, or Meghumi Devashish, they are all living examples of the assimilation of two cultures. Most of the Japanese girls and also boys arrived in this mythological city as tourists, but found their soul mates here.
Records of the marriage registration office showed that between 2003 and 2015, as many as 45 marriages of Banarasi boys and girls with for eigners were solemnised. Of these, 23 brides or bridegrooms were from Japan.Several couples who married before 2003 are also leading successful married life.
While most of the Indio-Ja panese couples preferred to settle here and lead a traditional Banarasi life, five bridegrooms, mostly from the boatmen fraternity , preferred to settle in Japan with their brides.
Busy preparing for the birthday of his seven year-old son Suryansh, hotelier Debashish Roy , who married Sayaka, recalled, “ “I was born and brought up in Delhi before I visited Kashi and found it perfect to settle in 1990. Sayaka visited India in 2005 and stayed in my hotel. But it took a year to realise that we were in love and we should marry .“
For Ajay Kumar Jain of Sarnath, his profession of translator for Japanese tourists helped in meeting Miho Iwai of Japan in 2000 and they tied the nuptial knot in 2002.
Sayaka said, “Technological advancements in Japan have made everything readymade; life is realistic in Kashi (Varanasi).“
