INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Kathmandu, November 9 Rajesh Shakya, coordinator of Kasthamandap Reconstruction Steering Committee, said that 50 per cent of recovery and

rehabilitation work of the historical monument was completed. Briefing Masamichi Saigo, ambassador of Japan to Nepal, during an on-site

visit of the under-construction cultural heritage, Shakya said that reconstruction would be completed within the stipulated time

Its reconstruction was launched on February 10 with the erection of four principal columns

One of the four columns was erected on that day while the remaining three columns were erected later. Shakya, who is also a Provincial

Assembly member of Province 3, said three of the four columns were newly made

Timber was brought from Bardibas and Amlekhgunj

The government has targeted completion of the reconstruction work within the current fiscal at a cost of Rs 198.8 million. The temple will

be built in the same old style

Timber Corporation of Nepal has agreed to provide 17,000 cubic feet timber for the purpose of reconstruction of the three-storey monument

made of wood, which was damaged by the April 2015-earthquakes

Only 10 to 15 per cent timber used in the original structure is reusable. According to Kathmandu Metropolitan City, roof of the monument

will be covered with traditional clay-tiles

Reconstruction of Kasthamandap, which means ‘wood pavilion&, requires specially prepared timber

Generally, timber measuring 10 feet is available in the market, but the structure requires 38 feet long timber for renovation. The

government waited four years to decide on the reconstruction of Kasthamandap and Rani Pokhari after it blundered in trying to rebuild them

with concrete and steel materials, ignoring traditional design. Reconstruction of the oldest temple was put to halt in 2016 due to protest

of the locals and conservationists after the Department of Archaeology began rebuilding the temple using steel and concrete materials. KMC

then took charge of rebuilding the temple through Public-Private Partnership model

The decision was also rejected by the public after KMC published an advertisement calling for bid from private construction

companies. Furious about the decision, locals demanded that they needed their participation in the reconstruction and that the private

vendor should not be given authority to rebuild the temple. The monument is believed to be built by Malla king Laxmi Narsingh Malla in the

12th century from the timber of a single tree. The post 50pc of Kasthamandap reconstruction work over appeared first on The Himalayan Times.