Dilapidated temple of Manakamana being rebuilt

Bishnu Prasad Aryal
Kathmandu, January 19

The widely famous temple of goddess Manakamana, which is on verge of collapse, is being utterly renovated. The centuries old temple will be dismantled and restructured preserving the originality based on historical and cultural values.

Located at Manakamana VDC in Gorkha district, the temple of Manakamana Bhagawati, a very popular Hindu pilgrimage of the country where some 7,000 devotees visit shrine daily, is believed to have the power to fulfill wishes. The temple has bent six inches down to south, shaken by quakes in 1934 and 1988.

Dr Minendra Rijal, Minister for Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture, said the ministry had initiated the process of renovation from today. "The renovation of the temple will start within the current fiscal year as soon as possible," he said exclusively.

KATHMANDU: A meeting held between the representatives and officials from the MoFACAPAC and Manakamana Temple reached to a conclusion to form different committees for renovation of Manakamana Temple. They proposed an Advisory Board headed by Minister, a Steering Committee coordinated by secretary and a Working Committee led by MADC. "There will be four committees under the working committee namely Financial Management Committee, Technical Committee, Worshipping and Security Management Committee, and Public Relation Committee," secretary Mod Raj Dotel floated concept. Another round of discussion will be held at Manakamana in Gorkha on January 27. --

A delegation including priest of temple, chairman of the Manakamana Area Development Committee, CDO and local development officer from Gorkha district met today with Minister Rijal, who assured to carry out renovation project sooner. A team from Department of Archaeology and Guthi Corporation also joined the meeting.

Bishnu Raj Karki, Director General of DoA, presented a study report on the renovation, estimating a cost of about Rs 25 million. "The inner parts of temple walls are rotten, hollow and crumbled by mice. The renovation will take two fiscal years to complete," he said.

According to the ministry, funds will be managed by the government, MADC, donations from devotees and other resources.

Deenesh Joshi, chairman of MADC, said the government should enforce its order to make the donations offered from devotees transparent. "Upto Rs 30,000 is offered daily. However, the MADC receives no penny," he said.

Priest Insan Thapa Magar said that he had deposited Rs 2 million in the bank collected from donations and was ready to help maintain transparency. "I don't object transparency but I should be paid for livelihood of my family," he added. "I am also ready to collect funds to renovate the temple."

The legend of Manakamana dates back to the period of Gorkha king Ram Shah (1614-1636 AD). Story says: His queen possessed divine powers revealed only to her devotee and religious preceptor, Lakhan Thapa Magar. Once, the king chanced upon revelation of his queen as goddess and Lakhan as a lion. As soon as he told the queen what he saw, king died.

When the queen approached funeral pyre to commit sati as was the custom back then, she consoled lamenting Lakhan by saying she would reappear soon near his home. After six months, a farmer ploughing field hit stone, cleaved it and saw blood and milk flow forth. When the news spread, Lakhan knew that his wish came true. The flow ceased as Lakhan worshipped it using his tantric knowledge. Then ruling king of Gorkha donated land along with grant to perpetuate worship of Manakamana.

Present Thapa-Magar priest is the 17th generation descendant of Lakhan Thapa. The four-storey temple on a square pedestal has pagoda style roofs, and the entrance is marked by one stone, the sacrificial pillar.