Birendranagar Kakrebihar Temple, Nepal

Address

Birendranagar Kakrebihar Temple, Nepal Birendranagar, karnali province, Nepal- 21700

Diety

Shiva, Buddha

Introduction

Kakrebihar is a Shikhara Hindu and Buddhist temple in Birendranagar, Surkhet, Karnali Province. It was built in the 12th century and it spreads over 180 hectares of land. Kakrebihar, situated in an isolated hill-top at the heart of Surkhet Valley of western Nepal. A 10-minutes ride from the Birendra Chwok, at the distance of 3 kms, one can reach to Kakrebihar. On the route from the entrance gate, a lush green forest mostly of Sal trees covered the entire hill. There’s another tale linked to this, i.e. the structure was entirely built with sandystone/limestone, which is called “Kankar in Sanskrit. Therefore, it was assumed that the name was eventually drifted from Kankar Bihar to KakreBihar.

Puranic Significance

A historical and religious temple of Surkhet, built in 18th century by Ashok Malla king of Sinja on dated 1325 B.S. Kakre Bihar is a small hillock in the middle of the Surkhet Valley. On top of this hillock is a ruin of a 12th-century stone temple, which shows that the people of the region practiced Hinduism along with Buddhism. The carved stones and bronze statues reflect the images of Buddha, and many gods and goddesses including shiva, Saraswati and Ganesh. This Hindu-Buddhist temple is protected by the government and there is a plan in place to re-erect the structure to its original shape. Architects are working hard to put all the pieces together so as to come up with a model of the temple. Boasting an amazing view of Birendranagar, this beautiful place continuously ranks as one of the most important historical destinations. 16 March 2016: The Department of Archaeology has started restoring a 12th-century temple at Kankre Bihar in Surkhet Valley. But the temple is still in dilapidated condition.