Construction of 13th century Shiva Temple in Gaidakot reaches completion

KATHMANDU, August 20: The 13th-century Shiva temple, whose ruins were found in Gaindakot Municipality-13 Sikhraulighat of Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Sustapurva) has been reconstructed at a cost of Rs 76.8 million. The excavation of the temple was started in 2012. 

Prem Lal Poudel, Vice President of Kailash Sannyas Ashram, Mahadev Than Management Committee, said that although the reconstruction of the temple has been completed, the temple has not been opened for worship because the life of the temple has not been respected. "The Department of Archeology has released the budget that the reconstruction of the temple has been completed", he said, "However, during the excavation, the Shivlinga of the temple was found in a broken state, we have kept the broken Shivlinga while the reconstruction of the temple was underway."

He said that the temple will not be opened for worship until the new Shivlinga is replaced in place of the old Shivlinga. "The department has already made measurements to place a new Shivlinga", he said, "Although the construction of the temple was completed last February, there is still no work to place the Shivlinga, which is why we have prepared to go to the department to resolve it. About 1,500 stones, which are the ruins of the temple, were removed after two years of excavation. Some 800-year-old bricks, a Buddha statue, and an elephant tusk among other items were recovered from the ruin" he said.

Stating that the statue of Buddha was taken away by the archeology department, Vice President Paudel said that the committee has kept the brick, elephant's trunk, and statue of Ganesha safe. "During the reconstruction of the temple, four more small temples were found in the four corners of the temple. The department said that the small temples around the temple will also be rebuilt," he added,