KATHMANDU, June 8: Chairman of the Madhesi Commission, Vijay Kumar Dutt has said that he will take the necessary steps to preserve the Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur.
Referring to the recent news of missing ornaments in Janaki Temple at a program on ‘Current Condition of Janaki Temple’ organized by Hindu Parishad Nepal and Mithila Sanskriti Samaj Nepal today, he said that the authorities concerned will be contacted for information about the missing ornaments.
He said, “To find whether the news of the missing ornaments that circulated in the media a few days ago is true and how the ornaments went missing is very important.” Suggesting that even though the temple had land and some form of source of income, the condition of the temple was deplorable, he said that the Department of Archeology, guthi and local bodies and authorities of the concerned areas would take interest in understanding the situation.
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Similarly, the secretary of the commission, Anjan Mishra said that an information board that can easily direct the tourists to Ram Temple, Ganga and Dhanush Sagar is required in the area to increase tourists in the Janaki Temple.
Manju Singh Bhandari, an official of the department, acknowledging that the architectural style of the Janaki temple was unique in the country, complained that at present the temple was being filled with aesthetics rather than originality which the official thinks would not provide an appropriate message to the future generation about the temple.
Similarly, Santosh Patel, Central Chairman of Hindu Parishad Nepal, saying Ram Janki temple in Mithila was a heritage of the country’s faith, holds the department and the guthi responsible for the fact that the temple remained excluded from the list of World Heritage Sites until now. He said that if the department and the commission did not focus on protecting the temple, its condition would deteriorate.
In a press release issued by the commission today in the program, in addition to making public the information that jewelry worth millions of rupees had been lost from the Janaki temple, it was disclosed that the ancient artistic golden pinnacle used in Janaki’s dome and turret had also disappeared. It was also mentioned that the diamond-studded eyes of the pair of stone lions in the north door of the temple have been removed and that while the Gaulochan, Gaj Mani and the horns of the foxes were still in the temple, they had not been recorded as of yet.
During the program, it was also mentioned that it was necessary to pay attention to disallowing cameras, mobiles, shoes, leather belts and the selling of fish and meat inside the temple.
