By Narendra Dhakal
Gorkha, Jan. 14: It has been more than six years since the 2015 earthquake but work on the reconstruction of the Gorkha Palace, which collapsed in the tremor, is still not complete.
While the main structure of the palace has been rebuilt, much remains to be done on the “finishing” front. According to Hari Prasad Bhusal, chief of the Gorkha Palace Curator Office, it will still take some time before the palace can be declared “complete.”

Reconstruction work on the palace began in 2017 and was expected to finish by 2019.
However, after several delays and deadline extensions, the façade of the palace was completed in September last year. Presently, as informed by the Curator Office, finishing touches are being added to the palace such as soling the ground, plastering the walls, installing the doors and windows, building the fireplace, partitioning the rooms and colouring.

“We plan to complete everything by mid-April,” Bhusal said, adding that the structures surrounding the palace were also being renovated and retrofitted.
“We have demolished the roofs of the Rang Mahal and will build new ones,” he said. “We are also removing the upper roof of the Kalika Temple.”

The Gorkha Palace holds a great significance in the Nepali history because of its association with King Prithvi Narayan Shah and the Shah dynasty. It used to attract thousands of visitors every year before it was destroyed by the 2015 earthquake. After the quake, the decision was made to completely demolish the palace and rebuild it from the ground up.
According to the Gorkha Palace Curator Office, the palace is being rebuilt in its original style using traditional materials.

Pachali Shiva JV had received Rs. 43.2 million contract to reconstruct the Gorkha Palace from the Department of Archaeology (DoA) in October 2017 but has still not been able to complete work.