Kathmandu, May 06, 2016: Works are in full swing at Patan Durbar Square to rebuild monuments damaged by last year’s earthquake with foreign assistance.
The Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust is currently rebuilding Manimandap Pati in the Durbar Square area with 101,000 euro (Rs12 million) financial assistance of the German Embassy and 9,000 euro (Rs1 million) assistance of the Netherlands.
Last April’s devastating earthquake had ravaged several major monuments in the square that were listed as the World Heritage sites in 1979 for their archaeological, historical, cultural and religious importance. Harishankar Mandir, Char Narayan Mandir and the gold-plated statue of Malla King Yognarendra Malla were destroyed in the disaster, while Degu Taleju Mandir, Krishna Mandir, Chyasi Dega Mandir, Bhimsen Mandir, the palace of Bahadur Shah, Narayan Mandir and Bishwanath Mandir sustained varied degrees of damage.
According to the Department of Archaeology, the trust is rebuilding Degu Taleju Mandir and the palace at Sundari Chowk. The government of Japan has contributed $66,000 (Rs7 million) for the reconstruction of Manimandap Pati, Bishwanath Mandir, Krishna Mandir and Char Narayan Mandir.
Likewise, the Netherlands and the British Embassy have made contributions of 20,000 euros (Rs 2.5 million) and Rs2.7 million respectively for the reconstruction of Bishwanath Mandir. The South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University has provided 80,000 euros (Rs9.7 million) for the rebuilding of Char Narayan Mandir and 55,000 euros (Rs6.7 million) for Harishankar Mandir.
The Netherlands has also donated 45,000 euros (Rs5.5 million) for the restoration of Taleju Mandir and $120,000 (Rs12.8 million) for Sano Taleju Mandir and the palace of Bahadur Shah.
DoA Director General Bhesh Narayan Dahal said the reconstruction of all heritage sites will be complete in seven years.
A total of 754 historical, cultural and religious monuments located in 20 districts were destroyed in last year’s disaster, according to the DoA. Out of that, 133 were reduced to rubble, while the rest were partially damaged. According to the Post Disaster Needs Assessment report, an estimated Rs20.56 billion will be required to rebuild all the damaged monuments.
Apart from Patan, all the six monuments in the Valley included on the World Heritage List—Swayambhunath, Changu Narayan Mandir, Boudhanath Stupa, Pashupatinath Mandir and Basantapur and Bhaktapur Durbar Squares—were damaged by the earthquakes.
