How turmoil upended Nepal tourist season

The Pashupatinath temple in the heart of Kathmandu sees thousands of devotees from India visiting the shrine every day around this time of the year; with its parking lot full of tourist vehicles and chartered buses — most of them with Indian registration numbers.

- Prawesh Lama

But these are the sights during normal times.

On Friday, however, the parking lot of the revered Hindu temple wore a deserted look, with neither a tourist nor any Indian number vehicle in sight.

Due to the ongoing turmoil in Nepal — which saw widespread protests and violence leading to the change of government in the Himalayan nation — the main temple has been temporarily closed to the public. Instead of devotees, the temple complex in the middle of the country’ capital city was occupied by Nepalese army personnel, and the only civilians inside were those who came to perform the last rites of their loved ones at the ghats of the Bagmati river beside the temple.

‘Among them was the family of a police sub-inspector who was Killed in the protests earlier this week. The violent protests in Kathmandu, mobs targeting hotels in the city and an anti-India sentiment in the valley have forced Indian tourists to flee the country by the first means of transportation they could avail. The turmoil has left local traders who are dependent on tourists ina lurch.

“Nepal's economy will be pushed back for many years because of this violence and the arson across the city. Tourists have fled Nepal. Normally there would be no space to park outside the gate due to the large number of tourists. They would then go to Pokhara and other places before returning to India. Maybe it is due tothe curfew that people have not come, but we know that even if the curfew is relaxed, Indian tourists are not going to visit anytime soon,” Umesh Neupane, a shopkeeper outside the temple, said.