Kathmandu, Sep 5 - India and Nepal sent their top officials for joint prayers at the Pashupatinath temple here Saturday to uphold bilateral amity, as demonstrators went on the warpath over the appointment of new Indian priests at the hallowed shrine and raised anti-India slogans.

Nepal's Culture Minister Minendra Rijal and Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood went to the fifth century shrine that has been under siege since Friday, in a bid to send out a message of unity to the assailants.

'It is most unfortunate that an attempt was made to harm the age-old harmonious relations between two neighbouring countries,' Rijal told journalists. 'The government of Nepal is stunned by the barbaric and humiliating attack on the two priests and will not tolerate it.'

The minister said the government was pledging to protect the Indian priests and provide them due honour.

Girish Bhatta and Raghavendra Bhatta, who were appointed from India's Karnataka state Wednesday, were Friday attacked, stripped naked and beaten up inside the temple by a mob that came in the guise of worshippers.

The two priests however said they were reassured by the government pledge and would not return to India.

On Saturday morning, the two men, their heads shaved and clad in red robes, were taken to the Pashupatinath shrine under tight police protection to start their duties.

The Indian ambassador said that it was a matter of great regret that religion, a factor that brings the people of India and Nepal together, came under fire on the ground of nationality.

'Religion and nationality should be kept separate,' he said. 'There are Hindus all over the world. God doesn't belong to any country.'

The Indian envoy said he has conveyed the concern of his government to Nepal.

'Perhaps the protesters are not fully aware of the traditions of Pashupatinath and Hindusim,' Sood said.