Kotiyamai’s elephant statues await protection

By Pavita Paudel, Sainamaina, Dec.1:The elephant statues in front of the Kotiyamai Temple in Sainamaina Municipality–5 lie in neglect, awaiting protection.

The temple is not fenced, leaving the area open for hooligans to come and vandalise the sculptures, some of which date back centuries. Grazing cattle and playful kids also wander in and unintentionally break and damage the figures.

Two years ago, Kotiyamai received a budget of Rs. 150,000 from the government to carry out conservation works. However, that money was not sufficient even to construct a public shelter near the temple, said chairman of Kotiyamai Management Committee Bishnu Chaudhary.

“The topic of fencing the area is raised every time but no one has done anything yet,” complained local Bishnu Gyawali.

The statues are votive offerings people have made over the years. People come to Kotiyamai from all over the district and the country to pray for various things. And whenever someone gets their wish fulfilled, they offer statues of horses and elephants and place them inside the temple compound.

There are around 200 such sculptures around the temple at present. But they are at risk. “Children lift the smaller ones to take home as toys,” said Kabita Gyawali. “Many have also been stolen.”

Chaudhary said that the Committee wanted to keep a guard to protect the temple and other nearby monuments but lacked money. 

“It all comes down to money,” he said. “We get a couple hundred thousand which is not enough to do anything with today’s inflation.”

Nevertheless, Chaudhary said that they planned to erect some sort of a fence around the temple this year.

Meanwhile, Sainamaina’s Mayor Phadenra Sharma said that the local government had allocated the amount it could for local development and preservation and promised to focus on Kotiyamai. “The temple and the statues must be protected,” he said.