Kathmandu, August 6

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has decided to rebuild Kashtamandap on its own.

According to KMC office, it is preparing to conduct feasibility study to determine the cost and time required for the project.

KMC Spokesperson Gyanendra Karki said, “We don’t need outside help as KMC is capable of rebuilding Kashtamandap. We can conserve our property.” He, however, added that suggestions would be sought from all stakeholders.

KMC said Campaign for Kashtamandap Reconstruction and Department of Archaeology are also keen to rebuild the heritage site. “We can understand that the archaeology department has its own concerns, but we will follow its guidelines,” added Karki.

Earlier in May, before KMC planned to rebuild Kashtamandap, National Reconstruction Authority, Department of Archaeology, Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Campaign for Kashtamandap Reconstruction had signed an agreement for the reconstruction of Kasthamandap, which was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.

A series of post-disaster surveys and rescue excavations recently conducted by a collaborative team of international and national experts from the DoA had focused on Kashtamandap at Hanumandhoka Durbar Square. The monument that gives Kathmandu its name had collapsed in the earthquake and was then cleared by bulldozers. The quake had destroyed at least 30 per cent of the monument.

After clearing rubble at the site, they identified the monument’s huge foundation walls. Rather than four independent corner plinths linked by double rows of timber pillars, as previously mentioned in architectural reports, they found that the main foundation was two-metre deep and one metre wide, measuring 12 by 12 metres and was set in a clay mortar.

Within this foundation, they excavated several phases of the Shah and Rana renovations and then exposed the brick cross-walls running east-west and north-south. In addition, the cleaning of three of the four central saddle stones demonstrated that their pillars had originally rested on a copper plate on top of each stone as damp-proofing.

Furthermore, each of these saddle stones had a deposit that included a gold foil mandala. Such objects are relatively rare and probably relate to elaborate construction rituals and the creation of cosmological significance, said the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu.