Six years after getting reduced to rubbles in the devastating 2015 earthquake, reconstruction of the Vishworoop Temple at Mrigasthali in Pashupatinath Area is still in limbo.
Reconstruction work has been halted after a contractor filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) demanding release of the criteria of rebuilding the temple.
The Department of Archaeology (DoA) had approved the temple’s drawing design on October, 2020.
Member Secretary of the PADT Dr. Pradeep Dhakal hopes that the Supreme Court finalises the case by the end of August so that rebuilding work could get off the ground as soon as possible.
The reconstruction process could not begin after Tulsi Construction Private Limited filed a writ petition against the letter of bid issued by PADT. The criteria in the letter of bid mentioned that such contractor who has already worked in the construction of temples in the heritage site would be selected via competition. However, other contractors have expressed their dissatisfaction over that, saying that the bid should not be limited to certain contractors.
The PADT was not willing to fulfil the contractors’ demand of relaxing the eligibility criteria for reconstruction.
The main objective of the PADT is to rebuild the damaged temple in its original shape and form by complying with the rules framed by the World Heritage Organisation, added Dhakal. “Therefore, we have demanded for an experienced contractor who understands and respects the heritage construction work and have thus set such criteria in the bidding letter,” he said.
Budget of around Rs. 540 million has been estimated for the reconstruction of the temple.
The PADT has allocated Rs. 100 million in the last fiscal year through internal resources targeting to complete the reconstruction work within fiscal year 2021/22.
The temple is one of the most uniquely shaped structures of the Pashupati Area with its oblong structure topped by a distinctive Mughal dome shape.
The temple was built in1920 BS. by Jung Bahadur Rana. The statue of Vishworoop, which had been abandoned in the Layaku Bahal area of Hanuman Dhoka, was brought to Mrigasthali and installed there. The idol is one of the biggest bronze-made idols across the country.
As mentioned in the book about iconography, the Vishworoop statue is a combined form of the Hindu gods — Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwor, as well as all other gods.
Source : TRN,
