Krishna Bahadur Damai: Dalit youth breaks caste barriers to become an ‘Acharya’

August 8, 2024, thousands of devotees gathered at the historic Kotihom Mahayagya held on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. At the centre of the stage, a young priest sat on the Vyasasan, delivering religious discourses as devotees listened attentively. The young man seated on the Vyasasan was Krishna Bahadur Damai from Kanchanpur.

For a young man from the Dalit community to pursue higher education in Sanskrit and complete an Acharya (postgraduate) degree is remarkable. Once denied a tika at a temple because he was considered to be from a so-called lower caste, he was now sitting on the Vyasasan at the Pashupatinath premises, interpreting scriptures before the very society that had discriminated against him.