A 51-feet-tall statue of ‘Ardhanareswor’ is to be erected on the premises of historical Shiva temple at Birendranagar municipality-9, Latikoili soon.

The temple management committee is erecting an unique ‘Ardhanareswor’ statue depicting half body of Lord Shiva and another half of Goddess Parbati. So far this is a first-of-its-kind structure of the statue which is also made from a single stone, the temple management committee shared.

According to the sculpture, the temple was built in Shaka Samvat 1504. Management committee chair Bidyabhushan Manandhar shared that the erection of statue will cost Rs 2.6 million and it would contribute to promote tourism in Latikoili area.

The statue would be erected from the income amounting to Rs 10.72 million generated from Shivapuran Mahayagya this year.

The temple management has decided to keep in bank account Rs 8 billion out of the fund-raised and mobilize remaining amount for statue erection.