KATHMANDU, JULY 10 The users& committee has begun the much-awaited reconstruction of Rato Machhindranath temple in Bungamati of Lalitpur. Chairperson of the users& committee Amir Shakya said the reconstruction work began on July 6 after performing rituals of Kshama Puja. Shakya also said the committee members gathered construction material scattered around the temple area and held discussions with artisans and other construction workers.

The users& committee led by Shakya, as recommended by Lalitpur Metropolitan City, had signed an agreement with the Department of Archeology on June 29, according to Sampat Ghimire, senior divisional engineer at the DoA.

The temple was damaged in the 2015 earthquakes.

The DoA under the leadership of the NationalReconstruction Authority will monitor technical aspect of the reconstruction. A monitoring committee has been formed under the leadership of the NRA executive member with other members representing LMC office, concerned ward, DoA, Bungamati Area Reconstruction and Development Committee, consultants and experts.

As per the agreement, the users committee will complete the reconstruction work of the temple by 29 June , 2021 at a cost of Rs 30.08 million, read a press release issued by NRA.

The users& committee has been provided with four million rupees as an advance to begin the reconstruction work. Earlier, the government had given the responsibility of reconstructing the temple to a construction company with financial assistance from the government of Sri Lanka. As the reconstruction work did not begin on time, the local government representative and the community suggested that the users& committee reconstruct the temple.

The decision to handover the reconstruction of Rato Machhindranath temple was taken at a meeting held at the NRA office in Singha Durbar on 30 December 2019. A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 11, 2020, of The Himalayan Times. The post Users& committee begins reconstruction of ancient Rato Machhindranath temple appeared first on The Himalayan Times.