Poor ex-priests of the Lower Himalayas

I am told that the RSS has usurped the hill temples of all the traditional pujaris (priests) and put in young RSS activists instead.

Haven't seen any press coverage of this (if there has been, could someone draw this to my attention?)

Also, not sure whether this applies to "all" the hill areas or only some of them.

On my recent visit to Hardwar, I did think that the central area was rather overflowing with people who I would now (in the light of the above information) classify as "priest beggars".

If these are indeed the "replaced priests", it is rather sad to see them without the traditional respect that would have been accorded them as pujaris - and now reduced to begging rather than the usual fees for services rendered. Sphere: Related Content