New Delhi  - India on Saturday condemned an attack on two Indian priests at the famous Pashupatinath temple in Nepal by a group of Maoists who have been agitating over their recent appointments there.

The assailants entered the fifth-century Hindu shrine in Kathmandu Friday and beat the two priests recently appointed from the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Speaking in Karnataka's capital, Bangalore, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna said Nepal had failed to provide adequate security for the Indian priests.

Nepal's Maoists criticized the appointments of Girish Bhatta and Raghavendra Bhatta, both 32, saying Nepalese priests should have been appointed to the jobs.

"There is a 260-year-old tradition of recruiting Indian priests in the temple, which signifies a unique cultural and religious relationship between Nepal and India," Pashupatinath temple official Raj Bhandari was quoted as saying by India's PTI news agency. "They are our guests. They should not be misbehaved with."

Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Wednesday approved the appointments by the Pashupati Area Development Trust, which runs the affairs of the temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

"The Nepal government has said it will take necessary steps to ensure safety and security of the priests," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said after the incident.

Hinduism is the dominant religion in Nepal with adherents belonging to more than 80 per cent of its 29.5 million population.

Nepal was formerly the world's only constitutionally declared Hindu state until early 2006 when parliament amended the constitution to make it a secular state. (dpa)