The old-age home was originally built by King Surendra Bikram Shah in 1938 BS as Pakshala (kitchen) for devotees who came to visit the Pashupatinath Temple. [break]It was later used to shelter children and old people. While the children were later taken to Panchkhal, only the elderly remained after 2034 BS.
“As the building is listed in the World Heritage Site, we cannot change its structure,” Purushottam Pokhrel, a senior officer at the old-age home, said. The building is part of Pashupatinath Temple. Pokhrel pointed out that the building isn´t suitable for the elderly.
“For one thing, the gaps between steps are too big for the elderly to climb. Each gap between the steps measures a maximum of 12 inches. Likewise, the lattice windows are too small for ventilation. Worse still, the rooms are too congested for around 230 elderly living there,” he said.
“Despite knowing that the building is congested, we cannot expand or renovate it because it is a World Heritage Site,” Pokhrel added.
Moving the old age home could be a solution. However, it´s not as easy as meets the eye. “They (the elderly) are ready to move, but only around the temple´s periphery,” Pokhrel said.
Basking in the sun, Sarada Subedi, an elderly was chitchatting and making cotton wicks. She would use some, and sell the remaining at a certain price.
“A thousand wicks cost 65 rupees,” jovial Subedi told the scribe. However, at the slight suggestion of moving the old-age home to Jorpati, she cast a malicious look and said that if they were to be moved, they would move only within the Pashupati periphery.
Social Welfare Center Old-age Home Pashupati, the actual name of the home, seeks immediate solution to make the place a better home for the elderly. According to Pokhrel, the home might be shifted for good in the near future to address accommodation problems.
“We´ve forwarded our proposal for shifting and building a proper old-age home near the temple´s periphery to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. They positive about it,” Pokhrel said.
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