Shimla: Summerhill temple to open for public on May 18
The construction had already started before the calamity in 2023 but was briefly halted amid floods across the state
Almost 21 months after it was destroyed in a landslide, the Shiv Bawdi Temple at Shimla’s Summerhill will be opened for devotees on May 18, say temple officials, adding that the construction has been completed.
On August 14, 2023, 20 people were killed and the temple was destroyed in a landslide, killing 20 devotees, amid floods across the state.
The Shiv Bawdi Mandir Committee has constructed a new temple atop a two-storey building next to the destroyed structure, using funds raised themselves.
Committee members say they have installed idols of Ram, Sita and Hanuman in the new temple. The committee, as part of consecration ceremony, has started offering prayers and a hawan was started on May 12, which will last till May 18, when it will be opened to public with a feast.
The construction had already started before the calamity in 2023 but was briefly halted amid floods across the state.
“We have raised the structure with the funds of the temple committee and did not seek any aid from the government,” said Jagdish Thakur, member of the temple committee.
The landslide at the temple had started from the slope section of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), a British-era building, and impacted the upper Summerhill road. Along with burying the temple, the debris had damaged the upper and lower Summerhill roads that connected Summerhill house and Himachal Pradesh University and Baluganj, along with the Kalka-Shimla railway track.
The debris can still be seen at the site. No plantation has been done in the areas since the disaster and debris from repair of the Kalka-Shimla rail track has also been dumped here.
MC notice against construction last year
The Shimla municipal corporation (MC) had served a notice to the temple committee last year, asking them to stop the construction. The MC cited that the temple was coming up in a “vulnerable” area.
“The temple committee could not furnish the planning permission for the two-storey structure which existed at the time of the tragedy in 2023. Now, a temple is coming up atop this structure without any permission,” said an MC official, requesting not to be named. The government rules, framed post the 2023 disaster, say no construction is allowed within 10 metres of rivers and nullahs.
The temple committee maintained they were constructing the new building on a platform that was part of the old temple, but not on the exact site.
“There was no complaint but when the issue to our notice, we sent a couple of notices to the temple committee, asking them to stop construction as the area is vulnerable to landslides. We will take action according to the law,” said Shimla MC commissioner Bhupender Attri.
