By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : A 23-year-old man who had chopped off his left hand and offered it to the Hindu goddess of power in eastern Nepal has regained the mutilated limb after doctors battled for nine hours to graft it back, local media reports said.
Rajesh Tajpuriya of Morang district startled people last month when he hacked off his hand and placed it in the temple of goddess Kali as an offering to receive her blessings.
The bleeding but calm and composed devotee was rushed to the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Dharan where three specialist doctors, including a plastic surgeon, battled to re-attach the severed hand.
Finally, on Wednesday, the doctors said the patient’s condition was “encouraging”. The stitches were taken off and the injured hand put in plaster.
Pashupati Chaudhary, one of the surgeons operating on Tajpuriya, was reported by the local media as saying that he would be able to use the hand just like he did in the past.
Though Nepal’s new government abolished Hinduism as the state religion last year and declared the kingdom a secular country, a large part of the population still has a very strong faith in divine intervention.
Animal sacrifices are common during Hindu festivals and people have also been known to make human sacrifices.
Nepal’s kings were regarded as incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu. Even though king Gyanendra became unpopular after his attempt to seize absolute power, some people in remote villages still believe he is a divine incarnate and should be given unquestioning allegiance.