Shimla: A 400-year-old Hindu temple in Himachal Pradesh that was partially damaged over a century ago in a devastating earthquake has been reconstructed in its original style and will be open for the public later this month.
The foundation of the Bharari Devi temple, located in Sarah village near Dharamsala town in Kangra district, was damaged when the Kangra Valley witnessed its most devastating earthquake of the century in 1905, killing more than 20,000 people.
The quake had tilted the temple, some 250 km from state capital Shimla.
“The temple was reconstructed at its original site after demolishing the original one. The new one is exactly a replica of the original one,” Intach (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) Himachal chapter convener Malvika Pathania told IANS here.
She said the stone and bricks were removed from the original one and documented. New ones were placed at the same place and location to maintain its original Shikhar style of architecture.“New stones were brought from a mine near Baijnath, 65 km from the temple site. The stonework on outer walls has been done as per the old pattern. The revival of the temple was a Herculean task,” Pathania added.