There are many grand ancient temples in Kathmandu Valley. But thousands of Kathmanduites have forgone these wondrous reminders of the past to live in a concrete jungle. Tripurasundari, the Shiva temple flanked by the eye hospital in Tripureswor (which derives its name from the temple) on one side and the Bagmati river on another, is one such relic-thankfully, being brought back to life.

The Malla-style three-storey pagoda temple was built 150 years ago as a tribute to Tripurasundari, the youngest wife of king Rana Bahadur Shah by Bhimsen Thapa, the queen's prime minister who also built Dharahara. The temple reeks of raw masculinity, with its numerous images of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu and Bhairab. On the north flank of the courtyard is a huge green metal trident next to a statue of a nude standing Shiva, unlike the usual lingam. The west side has two bulls standing upon a stone pillar balanced on the back of a huge stone tortoise.

On this pillar is carved the history of the temple. A similar pillar on the south side carries a gold-plated statue supposedly of Queen Tripurasundari. From the south gate, the path curves towards the Bagmati.

Starting this month, the Department of Archaeology has commissioned 12 woodworkers from Bungamati to work on restoring the middle portion of the temple. They will work under the supervision of Punya Ratna Tuladhar, an old artisan involved in renovating over a dozen temples in the Valley. The artisans are busy copying the intricate designs and shapes of the once-splendid, now sadly termite-infested woodwork.

According to the inscribed history, the temple was renovated in 1958. But mostly it was ignored, even as the pagodas suffered cracks and the carved wooden beams fell off their posts. Local residents voiced their concerns and sent in requests for the department to do something, but to no avail. Finally this year, a Rs 3 million budget was set aside for the project. The estimated 3000 sq ft span of the roofs would require more than Rs 10 million if they were to be gold-plated as before. "That is impossible right now," says Hiranya Vaidya, the chief archaeologist and conservation expert on the Tripurasundari Restoration Concern Committee. The restoration may not be complete, but it is heartening to see such efforts on the rise in the city.