Writ filed against installation of new idols in Kasthamandap

By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Jan. 14: A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court (SC) against the replacement of the old idol of Lord Gorakhnath with a newly sculpted idol in Kasthamandap.
Heritage activist and advocate Sanjay Adhikari filed a writ on Wednesday against the installation of the new idol.

Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee, formed under the leadership of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, has installed the idol of Gorakhnath and other four new idols of Ganesh at four corners of the Kasthamandap. The old statues of Lord Gorkhanath and four Ganesh were broken in the 2015 earthquake.
Advocate Adhikari said that act was against the archaeological principle and the Ancient Monument Preservation Act 1956.

Earlier, dozens of other heritage activists had submitted memorandum to the Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister seeking their attention in this regard. Gautam Dongol, secretary of the Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee, said that the new idols were installed after all the old ones got broken in the earthquake. “Our culture does not allow worshipping the broken idols, so they were changed,” he said.