By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 9: Reconstruction of the Rato Machhindranath temple in Bungamati, Lalitpur is moving in full swing after the consumer committee was given the responsibility to continue the construction work.
The Rato Machhindranath temple’s future was pushed into limbo after the Sri Lankan government withdrew the reconstruction project in February. Controversies regarding the use of construction materials such as bricks, cement and limestone, among others, had also heated up before.
The locals were time and again complaining about the concerned authorities overlooking the reconstruction project.
The project was supposed to be completed by June 2018. However, no significant progress in its construction was made despite extending the deadline of the project twice.
The government had given the responsibility to reconstruct the temple to a construction company with financial assistance from the Sri Lankan government.
The agreement was signed with the Department of Archeology (DoA) on June 29 to hand over the project to Rato Machhindranath Temple Reconstruction Consumer’s Committee.
The committee had begun the reconstruction of the temple after holding a special worship on July 4.
The DoA, under the leadership of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), has been monitoring the technical aspects of the reconstruction.
“We have completed the construction of ground floor after rectifying the mistakes made by the contractor earlier,” said Amir Shakya, chairman of the consumer’s committee.
The contractor had negligently attached the old door without repairing the damaged and broken part. The four wooden doors of the temple have rich wooden carvings and they are perceived as one of the best examples of wooden carvings in the nation.
Of the four doors, only one door is used to enter and exit the temple, the other three are kept just for attraction.
“The contractor had installed the door without repairing the damaged part and without adding the missing parts of the door,” said Bhim Ratna Shakya, 32, paneju of local priests. “If the door is installed once, it cannot be repaired. We need to detach the door and repair it.”