By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Dec. 20: Rare, important and typical jewellery sets and agriculture farming tools have been lying in a vulnerable state at a dilapidated building of Khokana Museum at Khokana even four years after the 2015 earthquake.
The museum has a collection of the jewellery sets and agriculture farming tools and other materials related to birth to death ritual practices of Newar community.
Hari Ram Dangol, one of the founders of museum, said the museum was open in 2005 and it had been maintained by a local, Madan Krishna Maharjan. Many foreign tourists visit at Khokana to observe traditional oil mills and lifestyle of Khokana people daily. But we feel sad when they return without observe museum, he said.
Madan Krishna, the main operator of this museum, has been lying in the bed for some years after he was paralysed. It has made more difficult to operate the museum because he is the owner of the museum building and it is in a vulnerable state, Dangol said.
The ward and municipality have not shown any interest to rebuild and operate the museum. It is a private museum operated in the efforts of locals.
Khokana is the place where the first light bulb had been lit up. The museum based building is the first house with electric light provided in Nepal.
Of the collected tools, many tools are old traditional items lime, farming tools, measurement tools, money bag and oil putting bag made from skin. There is a collection of old traditional measurement tools made from bamboo.
Different things used in household and farming land in Newar community were kept at the museum.
Visitors can observe and study all tools use from birthing time of death, he said.
Dangol said, “I feel sad when no one has taken any action to preserve these instruments. We had collected these instruments from local community in the efforts of some people.’’
“We are ready to open it and recollect the damaged items from the locals if the government repair or rebuild the building,’’ he said.
Earlier, no entry cost used to be charged for visitors at the museum. A donation box was placed at the corner of the building. The collected money was used for maintaining the tools and things, he said.