Pokhara,undoubtedly has always been, a favourite amongst everyone vying for that quick gateway.You must have seen the lakes,the mountains,the peace pagoda and everything else but there's one more reason for you to visit this place,after the restriction order is lifted.

Well,killing your curiosity, An ongoing project of The scenic 15-metre-high(51feet) statue of Lord Shiva on a seated position located at Pumdikot, Pokhara Municipality-22,once completed,will surely become everyone's favourite as being one of the most Instagrammable worthy hotspot besides holding religious significance. 

Picture courtesy: Pokhara info

The statue weighing around 6 tonnes has been erected with the help of cranes and lifts on 2.6 acres of government lease land.The Chairman of the Construction Committee, Chandra Kanta Baral states that,'Of the total 400 million estimated cost, 200 million has already been spent while constructing 108 shiva lingas plus similar number of stepped stairways alongside other amneties including ticket counters and so forth.' He again added that an Indian artist from the company Hill Tank Private Limited had designed the statue. Similarly,expert craftsmen from Mathura have painted the whole structure.

Picture  courtesy: Arush Baral 

Baral who is also the chairman of the Pumdikot Development committee further commented that they are likely to inaugurate the monument in September but the whole place will take around two years to be ready other than building the remaining highlights of this site like a fountain,multi-purpose building,wheelchair acessible pathways and so on.He believes that,after the place comes into operation,it will directly contribute to the development of this area as well as revive the economy which has been hit badly by the pandemic.

Apart from a large pool of donors,the federal government has supported the project with Rs 40 million, followed by the provincial government as well as Pokhara Metropolis with Rs 15 million each.