India offers help to restore Swayambhunath, Kumarika temples in quake-hit Nepal

NEW DELHI: After Pashupatinath Temple, India has offered help to restore two more temples -- Swayambhunath and Kumarika temples in Kathmandu Valley -- in earthquake-hit Nepal, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma today said.

Sharma, who is the Minister for State for Tourism and Culture, said India has offered help in restoration work of the two temples damaged due to the high-intensity earthquake last month and a number of aftershocks.

"The ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) is already taking care of Pashupatinath. We have sent our request to intervene in Swayambhunath temple and Kumarika Mandir...," Sharma told PTI.

During his visit to Nepal in August last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced Rs 25 crore for development of Pashupatinath Temple and now the fund would be utilised for its restoration.

However, Bhesh Narayan Dahal, Director General of the Department of Archaeology of Nepal, said they were yet to receive any proposal from India to help in restoration of these two temples. "We have not any received any proposal as of now," he said.

After a 7.9-intensity earthquake devastated Nepal on April 25, another powerful aftershock hit the nation. Dahal said that as many as 721 archaeological sites have been damaged until now due to the tremor and its aftershocks.

Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath and Kumarika temples form a part of a UNSECO world heritage site. The earthquake inflicted several damage to the Swayambhunath temple, perched on a hilltop overlooking the Kathmandu Valley.

In case of Kumarika mandir in Hanuman Dhoka in Kathmandu city, the temple has not suffered any damage in the exterior, but its interior has been damaged, Dahal added.