By Indira Aryal

Bhaktapur, Jan. 21: Bhaktapur Municipality has set an example in the preservation of historic and cultural heritage sites.
According to the Municipality, the reconstruction work of the heritage sites, which had been destroyed by the deadly earthquake in 2015, will be completed soon.
The Municipality has completed almost 90 per cent of the reconstruction of temples and public rest houses through its internal resources.
Major temples such as the Shankar Narayan, Bhimsen and Kedarnath temples, Til Madhav Narayan, Narshingh temple, Hari Narayan, among others, have already been completed. The Municipality has adopted its own approaches to reconstruct its heritage sites using traditional methods in every step.
Deputy Mayor of Bhaktapur Municipality and architect Rajani Joshi said that overall 130 structures, including temples, were destroyed by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. “Of them, restructuration of 91 monuments has been completed and 18 are ongoing,” Joshi said.
The Municipality had conducted a study before starting the reconstruction process for the historic sites. It had collected suggestions from conservationists and heritage experts, Joshi said. They found that the heritage sites have a history of 800 years and the Municipality, in collaboration with the Department of Archeology, is working with the adoption of appropriate method to preserve its long history, Joshi informed.
“We have trained human resources and experts internally, and are using traditional techniques to reconstruct all the temples and historic sites in the area,” she said. 
The Municipality has been working to make the infrastructure strong enough in case a similar disaster repeats in the future the loss would be less, Joshi said.
The Municipality has been reconstructing the Durbar Square area and heritage sites with its own budget. Joshi said that the Municipality did not accept international donations as they might be asked to work in their interests. “Our ancestors created these beautiful heritage sites with their efforts and resources, and we have the responsibility to preserve them with our own efforts,” Joshi said.
Mohan Singh Lama, an archaeological officer at the Department of Archaeology, said that only traditional construction materials like wood, brick and lime mortar had been used for historic monuments. He informed that all the newly reconstructed temples had internal wooden structures that provided flexibility and support.
The timber comes from Tarai districts and is high-quality sal hardwood procured through the National Timber Corporation. Other than lime powder, all raw materials including bricks and stones come from within Nepal.
The Municipality has invested Rs.130 million so far for the reconstruction but they need more funds to complete the work. 
The main infrastructure inside the Durbar Square like Art Museum and Lal Baithak (conference hall) is yet to be reconstructed. The work is delayed due to lack of funds, Joshi said. “If we get sufficient funds, the reconstruction will complete within this year,” she said. The 2015 earthquake had damaged or destroyed a total of 753 heritage sites across the country, according to the data of the Department of Archaeology.