Manakamana temple reconstruction gains momentum

Gorkha / July 3: The reconstruction work of the famed Manakamana temple of the Hindu Goddess Bhagwati has been ramped up.

The temple suffered damages during the April 25 earthquake last year and had to undergo a complete demolition. In a year’s time, construction of pagoda-style temple’s first floor has been completed, Renovation Committee Coordinator, Narendra Babu Shrestha said.

“We have completed the construction of the temple’s first storey,” he said, adding “the temple is being reconstructed despite the shortage of wood.”

The Committee has searched for the Sal wood in Chitwan, Hetauda and Birgunj and there is need for additional five hundred cubic feet of wood, Shrestha added. Wood carving artists have been brought from Bhaktapur to whittle the wood into windows, doors and struts with minute decorative patterns.

The officials of the Department of Archaeology are overseeing the reconstruction of the temple which draws thousands of devotees each year.

The government has been supporting the reconstruction with cash and kind. It has provided gold worth of Rs 30 million, and additional Rs 10 million which includes Rs 5.7 million worth of gold and Rs 4.3 million worth of Sal wood. “We have already collected more than Rs 50 million in fund from devotees,” Shrestha shared. RSS