Bungamati builds back

At 11:56AM on 25 April 2015, the ancient Newa town of Bungamati on the southern fringes of Kathmandu Valley suffered more damage than most-- it was completely razed. 

Some 700 buildings collapsed and at least seven people were killed. The iconic Bungadyo temple dedicated to the rain god Machindranath collapsed in the 7.8 magnitude quake.     

Ten years later, Bungamati was rebuilt. But the original architecture of two-storey houses with tilted tile roofs have been replaced with modern concrete boxes, their façades still gleaming with fresh paint. 

The Bungadyo complex at the heart of the town, however, is being restored to its original grandeur as it prepares for this year’s Machindranath chariot festival.

For many residents here, the horror of that day is still fresh in their minds. They remember narrow escapes, losing loved ones and the numerous aftershocks. The survivors took refuge in tents and had just started drifting back to their damaged homes when the 7 May aftershock hit.

“We got exactly one tent,” says a local Kamala Tuladhar, 40, of the earthquake rescue and relief, recalling the financial strain of rebuilding. “We rebuilt everything by ourselves, that money could have gone to our children’s education.”

Some families in Bungamati received financial aid of up to Rs50,000 for reconstruction but most families here say that they never got any help and rebuilt on their own. Jogmaya Maharjan, 52, received only Rs20,000 from the Red Cross despite government promises of reconstruction grants, and had to sell a plot of land to build a new house. “Everything is new now, which is good for progress, but it doesn’t feel the same,” she says, adding that she misses the cosy warmth of her old mud-mortar house.

Kamala currently runs a small eatery in the town and says almost everyone now has concrete houses, as well as increased awareness about earthquake safety. “We have a concrete house now, it is stronger but we lost our ancestral building,” she adds.

Ratnaman Maharjan’s five-storey Bungamati Homestay offering a panoramic view of the Valley to the north is a popular lodging destination for tourists looking to stay over the weekend. 

“Without the earthquake, Bungamati would have remained a sleepy town that few people visited,” he says. “The earthquake was a tragedy, but it forced a much-needed change.”

Read also: Khokana and Bungamati strive to save heritage, Prabhas Pokharel

Bungamati has always embodied a quintessential Newa ambience of the kind that had steadily disappeared from Patan or Kathmandu. It is a compact and densely-packed town sitting on higher ground with vegetable and paddy terraces below. 

This unique urban-rural symbiosis was the hallmark of the Kathmandu Valley culturescape. Despite its proximity to Kathmandu, Bungamati was essentially a traditional farming village — but after the earthquake it has transitioned into a modern suburb. 

The rebuilding of the Machindranath temple has been a rather long and arduous journey, and is only now nearing completion. Unlike in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, there were no aid agencies to help rebuild the temples here. The local chair of the reconstruction committee also died by suicide, further delaying the process. 

“In the immediate aftermath, it was all about survival, so gods and religion were the last thing on our minds,” recalls Amir Shakya, chair of the rebuilding committee for Rato Machindranath.

But as the dust settled after the earthquake, it became clear that unless the community took charge, the temple would never be built. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) formed a rebuilding committee, officially putting efforts in motion.

Restoring the temple was no easy feat, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even transporting construction material was a logistical nightmare while prices skyrocketed. The community had to arrange for highly specific materials and intricate craftsmanship, both of which were not readily available in the market.

“Rebuilding had to be meticulous and precise to truly preserve the cultural essence of the old Machindranath temple,” adds Shakya. “We lost more than just structures, we lost the very heartbeat of our heritage. Even now, it feels like we are still struggling to recover, and despite the reconstruction, something is still missing.”

Ward chair Sagar Tuladhar says that the situation remained dire until the 2017 local elections, when the elected municipal council finally stepped in. The European Union provided help for mapping and technical support.

"Before the earthquake, most families lived in ancestral homes—structures built using raw bricks and mud. In hindsight, we realise this was a major reason why so many of them collapsed,” says Tuladhar.

But today, while houses are stronger and more reliable, the challenge of balancing structural resilience with the preservation of traditional settlements remains. There is also a danger of substandard concrete buildings which will not be able to withstand stronger earthquakes in the future, becoming death traps. In response, regulations have been introduced to prevent haphazard building as well as to safeguard cultural integrity.  The cultural resettlement map design was approved after the earthquake, and requires the maximum height of buildings to be no more than 35m. 

“Many resist restrictions on the number of floors and construction materials,” admits ward chair Tuladhar. “Despite modern housing trends, we have also made every effort to uphold the distinct Newa architectural identity. Residents are not allowed to install shutters, use iron reinforcements, or plaster over traditional façades.”

He adds that nearly all the homes and heritage structures have now been rebuilt, with only a few remaining to be completed in the next two years.

Concrete structures stand where mud-brick homes once did, yet the soul of Bungamati endures in its traditions and its people as it prepares for next month’s Machindranath festival.