Kathmandu, April 15

Around 30 houses damaged in the 2015 earthquakes on the premises of Swoyambhunath Stupa, a UNESCO World Heritage site, have yet to be reconstructed.

The houses belong to the priests of Swoyambhunath temple. Their ancestors are believed to have started living on the temple’s premises 1,600 years ago.

However, they do not have ownership certificates of the land where their houses were built.

Only priests from the Buddhacharya clan are allowed to perform religious rituals in the stupa. UNESCO in 1980 had also included 19 houses on premises of the stupa as parts of the World Heritage site.

Eighteen houses in the area were destroyed in the earthquake.

Amrit Man Bajracharya,  a member of one of the priest’s family, said, “Normally, land around any temple is owned by Guthi Sansthan, which also provides land ownership certificates.  However, though we have been living here for generations, we do not have any legal document to prove this.”

The priests said even if they acquired the land ownership certificate, they could not afford to follow the reconstruction criteria set by the Department of Archaeology. According to DoA officials, the houses should not be more than 24 feet high and modern construction materials cannot be used to rebuild structures in the heritage site.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya said they were working to address the issue.