Heritage watch: Trees eating up shrines
A Gorakhnath temple, built by King Prithvi Narayan Shah after invading Kantipur (now Kathmandu) in 1768, is on the verge of collapse due to a peepal tree that has grown over it. The only thing relatively safer on the temple premises is the brass footstep of Lord Gorakhnath.
Many idols of gods and goddesses have crushed under the monstrous tree and the footstep believed to be of Gorakhnath is also not without threat. Prior to King Prithvi Narayan’s unification campaign, Gorakhnath is said to have given him a blessing that he would conquer any place on earth that he could lay his foot on—the impetus behind the construction of the temple.
While, Bhagwati temple built by Jagajjaya Malla in 1730s is also in a dilapidated state. Growth of a tree over the temple has destroyed its basement and has pushed bricks out of the walls. Originally Mahipatindreshwar, the shrine was renamed Bhagwati temple after Prithvi Narayan installed there an idol of Bhagwati brought all the way from Nuwakot.
A chaitya (small Buddhist monastery) located west to the popular Shiva temple at Basantapur is in a worse state. Roots of another monstrous peepal tree have devoured idols of Buddha to the south of the chaitya. The idols, according to local people, existed a couple of years ago but are nowhere in sight now.
The biggest of all problems erupted recently at the temple of Taleju Bhawani, which was built in 1564 by King Mahendra Malla and which remains open for public once a year during Dashain. Roots of a couple of gigantic trees running underground threw the plaster and bricks up. With a six-month renovation project run by the Hanuman Dhoka Samrakashan Samiti (conservation committee), the temple is safe now.
However, similar problems facing Bhagawati temple, Mahadev Mandir and an inscription at Taleju Bhawani in Trisul Chowk remain unresolved. The network of roots underground has broken the stone pavement at some places in Kathmandu Durbar Square, a Unesco world heritage site. “The seemingly trivial problem now may turn catastrophic in future,” said Rajan Maharjan of Basantapur, a conservation committee member. “Trees growing near the temples should have been cut long ago. It’s impossible now to tackle the roots that are omnipresent.”
Prakash Darnal of the Department of Archaeology said similar problems exist in Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Sankhu too. “Treatment by injecting chemicals into the roots is ineffective when the trees are too big. The only remedy then would be to destroy the whole structure and rebuild it.”
“The problem is like slow poison, unnoticed but likely to erase history in the long run,” he added.
Posted on: 2011-09-01 07:14
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