300-year-old Buddhist temple renovated

BHAKTAPUR, September 8: The 300-year-old Dathu Baha (Jetbarna Mahabihar), a monastery based in Madhyapur Thimi municipality- in Bhaktapur, has been renovated.  The three centuries old Buddhist temple which could not be renovated for long was largely damaged by the 2015 April earthquake. 

The renovation works started on the initiation of Mayor Madan Sundar Shrestha. It was restored to its original structure.

The local government has launched the efforts to conserve, renovate and rebuild the cultural, natural and historic heritages in the town as a campaign. 

The monastery dating back to Nepal Sambat 825 was built during the reign of the then Malla King Bhupatindra Malla, according to Monastery Reconstruction Consumers’ Committee chair Nanda Krishna Shrestha. 

The four faces of the Buddhist temple are reconstructed according to the Malla era architectural style. Yellow, white and black clay was used for the renovation. The front face of the monastery was renovated at a cost of Rs 5.4 million and with its inauguration by Mayor Shrestha, daily rituals here have begun. The local government has allocated Rs 7.5 million to carry out the remaining works of the heritage and for its finishing.  

So far the Madhyapur Thimi municipality has rebuilt and renovated five monasteries in the town.