Bishnu Prasad Shrestha/Kathmandu
A Kotihom has been going on for a few days in Kathmandu, Pashupat area, which is Holy place of Hindus and other religious followers. However, in that Kotihom, there is a business of collecting money in the name of religion. Our aim is not to instill disgrace for religion but to warn against distortions. In the Kotihom organized in Pashupatinath temple area since 1st of Shrawan, not only business is being done in the name of religion but also attempt to commercialize the donations given by religious followers.
The Kotihom, run by Vijay Krishnamurti Maharaj, also known as Vijay Bhandari, who has been in jail several times after being proven guilty of fraud, has been shown a lot of greed to the devotees who attends in the Kotihom. To constrcut Orphanage building in Lalitpur and Bhaktpur, donations are being collected in the name of Manav Seva Foundation. The scriptures say that giving is given with a pure heart.
Giving is considered the greatest religion of mankind. It is also called a virtuous act. Therefore, it is also said that while donating, one should not give with any desire. But in Kotihom, those who share knowledge on various subjects of the scriptures in this way are inserting self-interest into the donation and are assigning different honors to different donations. It is written on the board kept at the place where Kotihom is done that donations can be made from 1,100 rupees to more than 555,000 rupees. But here, donations are not allowed out of desire. Only the amount as per the rate set by Kotihom is considered a donation.
There is a system in which the name of the donor is written on the ashram’s inscription, named in the ashram room, garlanded with dubo, placed on the stage as a special guest, and brought from home to the program premises with musical instruments. Can donations be classified in this way? Those who have come to participate in Kotihom are also opposing this kind of stall and the organizers’ thinking.
The Pashupati Area Development Fund has been ignoring such things. It is enough for them to have money. Because for 63 days, the fund has raised 25 thousand rupees per day, 25 thousand rupees per day for Kailash Parbat and 7 thousand rupees per day for Sumargi Bhavan.
The Kotihom campaign in the name of ashram construction has promoted the same trend. If this board had not been put up, would donations not have come? Of course they would have come, but not as much as the organizers wanted. This also confirms that business is going on here in the name of Kotihom, in the name of religion. There is open looting.
