KATHMANDU, Jan 22: There was a time when Ghantaghar (clock tower) was an integral part of the common people´s life in Kathmandu Valley, as possessing personal watches was a luxury very few outside the ruling elite could afford.[break]
Those in the vicinity would watch one of the four clocks or hear the bells of the Ghantaghar toll to know the time. Those far away had to rely on artillery fired by the army at noon and midnight in Tundikhel in accordance with the clocks standing nearby to have a rough idea of the time.
Related story: Ganesh Sapkota: the heart and soul of Ghantaghar
That was then. But 114 years after its construction by the then Rana Prime Minister Bir Shumsher, Ghantaghar stands neglected by common people and authorities alike. [break]
Prominent cultural expert Satya Mohan Joshi vividly remembers the Ghantaghar’s glory days during his time studying at Durbar High School, situated on the other side of the Rani Pokhari. "I did not have a watch then. We would frequently walk around the Rani Pokhari to go to the Ghantaghar," 88-year-old Joshi reminisces.
Joshi says Ghantaghar´s time was accurate on account of its sun-dial, whose parts have sadly been stolen now. Joshi even remembers studying around the Ghantaghar premises after the great earthquake of 1990 BS (1934) completely demolished his school. Even the great Ghantaghar bore the brunt of the tremors, and only one of its original five stories remain standing.
Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher then rebuilt the Ghantaghar in its present form. The original Ghantaghar was built in Moghul style with four small towers for the clocks. Nirmala Acharya writing for Gorkhapatra daily dated April 13, 2005, has referred to a picture of Ghantaghar taken in 1920 published by the GTZ (German Agency for Technical Cooperation) in a book entitled "Image of the Century" to support the claims.
The book also mentions engineer duo Kumar and Kishore Singh Rana, trained in Japan, designed the building under instructions from Bir Shumsher, and that the clock was brought over from England, Gorkhapatra says.
Trichandra College and Ghantaghar to be reconstructed
Bikash Karki/MyRepublica.com
One senior electrician, one junior electrician, and four helpers were employed by the government to maintain the Ghantaghar until 2030 BS (1973/74). But after that, Trichandra College was handed the responsibility, and has employed just one electrician with no kind of formal training to continue to maintain the clock in Ganesh Sapkota.
“The government does not give even a penny for the maintenance of Ghantaghar. It just gives the salary of one electrician," campus chief of Trichandra College Professor Hari Prasad Parajuli says. "We have time and again asked Tribhuvan University for additional funds to maintain Ghantaghar, but to no avail," Parajuli adds.
Sapkota, who has taken charge of the Ghantaghar since 1988, says that there is problem even in buying grease and machine oil. "They (college administration) are reluctant to release money and say that there is no provision of budget for that," Sapkota laments.
The narrow metal staircase to the operating chamber of the Ghantaghar requires maintenance and the wooden stairs to its top are too dangerous to climb. This scribe took a big risk to climb to the top through the creaking wooden staircase and had to literally crawl to get down. "I have once slipped in the wooden staircase as one of the steps gave way. Luckily, I got hold of the staircase and escaped from serious damage with just my right hand fractured," Sapkota reminisces, adding he, himself, replaced the step.
Bikash Karki/MyRepublica.com
Department of Archaeology, which looks after historical monuments over 100 years old, washes its hands off the matter saying it can do nothing as long as the college assumes control. "We cannot do anything. Besides, we have other important monuments to look after and also have budgetary constraints," deputy director general of the Department of Archaeology Bishnu Raj Karki says.
"Kathmandu Metropolitan City should look after it, as it is a vital part of their identity. It should also have the wherewithal to manage it," Karki passes the buck to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
But the Kathmandu Metropolitan City also does not appear interested in the neglected Ghantaghar. “Either TU (Tribhuvan University) should accept that they no longer can take care of it and come to us, or continue to take care of it themselves as they have taken the responsibility,” executive chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Narayan Gopal Malego says.
The common people may no longer be able to depend on the Ghantaghar for some time. But the government would do well to take care of it in a manner akin to that which Big Ben in London is maintained, which was perhaps Bir Shumsher’s original inspiration.
