Kathmandu, November 2

Kumari Ghar, the house of the living goddess Kumari at Basantapur, which was damaged by the 2015 earthquakes, is still awaiting reconstruction.

The historic Kumari Ghar, which was built in 1757, is now supported by more than a dozen of wooden and metal poles. Three years after the devastating earthquake, Kathmandu Metropolitan City had conducted a resilience test of the building under Hanumandoka Durbar Preservation Programme. After the test, it was suggested that the building should be retrofitted

But, it is still not clear which of the government bodies will undertake the responsibility of reconstructing the heritage sites.

Guthi Sansthan, a body responsible for organising all the cultural and religious ceremonies related to Kumar Ghar, has been claiming for long that it will build the temple on its own, but it has not come up with any concrete plan to carry out the work yet.

Guthi Sansthan is asking the government to provide budget for the reconstruction work, but the government is not providing any monetary support due to which the project has been in limbo for long.

Sources at Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that Guthi Sansthan, an autonomous body with huge source of income, should either reconstruct the temple on its own or not get involved in it at all.

Former head of HDPP Uday Bahadur Pasakhala said that if Guthi Sansthan really wanted to reconstruct Kumari Ghar they would have done it bynow. “But they don’t want to invest even a single paisa from their income,” Pasakhala said, adding that Guthi Sansthan had become profit-oriented.

Spokesperson of Guthi Sansthan Saroj Thapaliya said, “We have already designed the blueprint of the reconstruction model for the Kumari Ghar. We have also sent multiple letters to the National Reconstruction Authority seeking necessary budget for the reconstruction work.”

Thapaliya claimed that Guthi Sansthan would start reconstruction of the building within this fiscal.

Thapaliya refuted the allegation that Guthi Sansthan had huge source of income and enough budget for reconstruction of the building. “We are just able to support religious activities with our limited income, we do not have any budget to undertake such a big project,” Thapaliya added.

Meanwhile, Hariram Parajuli, executive committee member of NRA, said they were ready to provide budget if KMC agreed to allow Guthi Sansthan to carry out reconstruction of the temple.