Vice-President Yadav inaugurates Budhanilkantha Dharmashala

Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav inaugurated the Budhanilkantha Dharmashala (Atithi Griha) at Budhanilkantha Municipality-3, Kathmandu, on Wednesday.

On the occasion, Vice President Yadav appreciated the support of the Indian government for post-earthquake reconstruction.

The Dharmashala was constructed at a grant assistance of Rs 50 million from the Indian government. The project was taken up under the post-earthquake reconstruction grant in the cultural heritage sector in Nepal.

The Dharmashala building, which got damaged during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, has now been reconstructed as per Department of Archaeology’s Basic Guidelines and Manual for conservation and reconstruction of heritage affected by 2015 earthquake.

The project was implemented by the Central Level Project Implementation Unit (CLPIU - Building & Housing), Department of Urban Development and Building Construction Government of Nepal. The new three and half storey Dharmashala will serve thousands of pilgrims visiting Budhanilkantha Temple, which holds great significance as one of the most revered cultural and religious sites of Nepal.

This project is a reflection of India’s long-standing development partnership with Nepal and complements the effort of the Government of Nepal in post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal. The government of India has committed to take up conservation of 28 cultural heritage sites across seven districts of Nepal.

Beside these, under a post-earthquake reconstruction grant, the Indian government has supported reconstruction of 50,000 private houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts, reconstruction of 71 educational institutions in eight districts and reconstruction of 132 health facilities in 10 districts.

Other participants in the event were Swami Nigamananda, Mathadhis of the Budhanilkantha Temple, lawmakers-- Gagan Kumar Thapa and Pradeep Paudel, and Chargé d'affaires, Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Prasanna Shrivastava, Chief of Guthi Sansthan, Dr. Shivraj Pandit, representatives of Budhanilkantha Temple Committee and officials from the government of Nepal and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu were also present on the occasion.