Lalitpur, March 16:

A raging fire that broke out due to an electric short-circuit damaged much of the inner parts of the Bagalamukhi Temple just after midnight yesterday.

Lila Bohara, a security guard on duty at the temple, saw the fire ravaging the main temple at 12:18 am. “Following the fire, the locals gathered on the temple premises and we all tried to douse the fire. We had already controlled the fire when engines arrived,” he said. It took a little over an hour to douse the blaze.

“It was a big fire. It damaged most of the temple’s interior,” said a local, Rajendra Khadgi.

Most of the inner parts of the temple has been burnt to cinders while the effects of the fire are clearly visible from the outside. However, the main idol was saved.

“The wiring at the temple is old. But this is the first time that we encountered a problem of such a magnitude. We would consider it as a bad omen but let’s hope for the best,” said Ram Hari Kapali, priest of the 200-year-old temple.

He also said the renovation of the temple would begin after a meeting of the Guthi Sansthan. “The Guthi Sansthan along with the locals of Patan will help reconstruct the temple,” Kapali added.

The old wiring system and overload of power is one of the the main problems that the Patan area faces.

“The temple uses too many lights, which can sometime lead to short-circuits,” an officer at Nepal Electricity Authority’s Pulchowk office said.