People of India, Nepal must remain connected: Indian envoy

People of Nepal and India must remain connected irrespective of the state of political relations between the two countries, the Indian envoy here said today as he marked the completion of India-assisted renovation work on five quake-ravaged temples.
"Whatever the political relations between two countries are like, and whoever the leader of the nations be our people must remain connected with one other," Rae said while addressing the programme for unveiling of the inscriptions of the five temples in Lalitpur district.
"People get connected with each other when there is a cultural understanding," he said.
The renovation and reconstruction of temples were recently completed under the Indian assistance.

"The project launched under the Indian financial assistance concentrated its work on eight temples, but only five of them have been completed," said Buddhi Raj Bajracharya, president of SODEVLA, which took initiatives for renovation and reconstruction of the temples.
The government of India had provided an assistance of Rs 68.96 million, while locals donated Rs 23 million for the project.

Hindu temples and Buddhist stupas in Patan were most affected during the earthquakes.
The earthquake completely damaged Hari Shankar and Uma Maheshwori temple, Matshendranath temple at Bungmati, Mani Mandap Platform and Char Narayan temple.
Kumbeshwor temple, Mahabouddha temple, Keshav Narayan Chowk, Vishwanath temple, Bhimsen temple, Chyasin Dewal, Sundari Chowk and Yog Narendra Malla statue were partially damaged.

Of these, Dharmagar Digi, Bhinchhebahal, Naagbahal Tole Sudhar Chhen, Naagbahal, Kul Devata Aagan Chhen, Na-Bahal, Shree Bichha Mahabir Aaju Niwas, Shreebahal, Bhindholachhi Bhimsen Thapa, and Bhindolachhi have been reconstructed with the help of the Indian government.
Lalit Barna Mahabihar, Bishwokarma temple, and Baishbarna Mahabihar remains to be constructed.
Although Nepal government has allocated Rs 220 million for the reconstruction of national heritages in Lalitpur district for the current fiscal, the budget provided by the government was insufficient sufficient for the purpose of renovation of the important cultural heritages situated in the district.