Washington: Expressing 'sympathy' for those devastated by the earthquake in Nepal, a self-styled preacher in US has suggested that people in the Himalayan kingdom should not their rebuild the temples destroyed in the quake and instead convert to Christianity.

Tony Miano, a former Los Angeles police officer, described the temples as “pagan shrines” while goading the Nepalese to convert to Christianity. Nepal is a predominately Hindu nation (over 85%) and was the world's only country with Hinduism as the state religion before the fall of the monarchy.

As per his website, Miano is as an open air preacher who established the Cross Encounters Ministries to provide a platform for his preaching and evangelism. He was previously accused of homophobia.

His shocking comments triggered a controversy on Twitter:

.@CNN Praying 4 the lost souls in Nepal. Praying not a single destroyed pagan temple will b rebuilt & the people will repent/receive Christ. — Tony Miano (@TonyMiano) April 25, 2015

@TonyMiano you represent everything wrong with Christianity, and with humanity. You put shame on your religion. — Shanti Francis (@hiboryoku) April 25, 2015

@TonyMiano Disgusting! Shame on you for having such thoughts when people are dying. — Sadhavi Khosla (@sadhavi) April 25, 2015