Kathmandu. The gilding of the roof of the famous Gokarneshwar temple on the north eastern outskirts of Kathmandu has been in limbo for three years.

For years the temple suffered sheer neglect. The leakage of rain water through the old clay-tiled roof damaged the historically and archaeologically valuable wood work, walls and the idols in the temple considerably, which led to the campaign to replace the clay roof with gilded brass roof.

To collect fund for the roofing project, a religious function – ‘mahayagya’ – was conducted in 2017, continuously for two months at the temple’s premises.  The ‘mahayagya’ collected Rs 30 million from donations and the project commenced.  After the top two tiers of the pagoda style temple had been roofed with gold plated brass, the project was halted due to the lack of fund. The project has been in the present incomplete state for a year after the roof of the bottom tier could only be half covered with brass and gold.

Shree Kumar Shrestha, chair of ward no. 4 of Gokarneshwar Muniicipality and also the chair of the temple area management committee, accepts the work being halted due to the lack of fund. “Till now 8 kilo 800 grams gold has been used and it’s estimated that seven kilo more gold will be required,” he informed National News Agency (RSS).

The municipality had allocated budget for the repair of the temple in the last fiscal year and this year too. However, the budget could not be received by the temple management citing some technical problems caused by the corona pandemic. The temple management hopes to receive the budget and finish the roofing of the temple as early as possible.