A huge crowd gathered around the two-tiered temple of Laxmi-Narayan in Patko Tole on this historic day as the sounds of jhyalijhyamta filled the air. 70-year-old Chandraprava Shakya stood next to the temple with a huge smile on her face. “Laxmi-Narayan travelled to America, but he missed being home,” she said.
On Saturday, the 800-year-old stele of Laxmi-Narayan, stolen in 1984, was finally reinstated to its original plinth inside the temple. At 11, the Patan Museum courtyard was packed to the walls as devotees and attendees witnessed the handing-over of the statue from the Museum to the residents of Patko Tole.
As the 85cm x 48.9cm statue was brought out of the gallery where it had until now been temporarily exhibited at the Museum, people rushed to offer their devotion. Laxmi-Narayan was then placed inside a palanquin with gilded roof and carried around the Darbar Square accompanied by chants of “Laxmi-Narayan ki jay!” When the procession reached Patko Tole, it made three turns of the temple before the god was interred inside.
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Bimal Lal Shrestha sat outside with his family and the priest to perform the kshyama puja, the ritual yagya burning between them. His ancestors built the temple and his family has been carrying the tradition of worshipping the deity on Nirjala Ekadashi (which falls in June-July) every year. “Kshyama puja is done to ask forgiveness for any sin committed during rituals,” said the priest, Basudev Jwalananda Rajopaddhyaya. “And today was chosen because it is aunsi which is auspicious to Laxmi.”
A new wooden door has been fitted to the temple, and CCTV and motion sensors have been installed inside to prevent further theft. A special garment and ornaments of copper with traces of gold and silver, which have been in Bimal Lal Shrestha’s family for generations, were fitted to the statue at the end of the puja. He remarked: “We had been unable to use them all these years since they didn’t fit the replica.”
Now, back home after 38 years, Laxmi Narayan looks content and complete, smiling at last.
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