Closed for 3 decades, renovation of Raghunath temple underway in Kashmir

Srinagar: Renovation work was going on to restore the lost glory of about two centuries old Raghunath temple on the bank of river Jhelum in the old Srinagar, where no puja was held after majority members of Kashmiri pandit migrated from here to other parts of the country in early 90s following eruption of militancy.
The government has entrusted the renovation work of the temple and beautification of the ghats of Jhelum to the State Tourism Department as the temple remained closed for about three decades.
Officials of the management committee of the temple claimed that there are only two such temples -- one in Srinagar and another in Jammu.
They said that the temple is dedicated to Lord Ram and is one of the revered temples in the valley.
They said construction work of the temple was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1835. However, he could not complete the work and after his death, the work was completed by Maharaja Gulab Singh’s son, Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1860.
Even though the temple officials are insisting that gold colored heavy tin sheets be used to cover the inner walls of the temple from three sides, the tourism department officials said that it was not available in the market anymore. “Now we will use latest colored tin sheets,” they said.
“The renovation of the temple will cost about Rs 54 lakh and work is expected to be completed by November-end,” they added.