Kathmandu- Do we always need a SAARC Summit or a big international brouhaha to make things happen in this city? Two years ago, the government decided that the squalid triangular intersection at Tinkune needed an urgent face lift so it would not be a national embarrassment before SAARC submitter.
So, within a fortnight it underwent a dramatic transformation: shanties were demolished and tea shops moved out.
Overnight, a picturesque lake had sprung up in the 50-ropani plot with a rock garden, an island festooned with prayer flags and an impromptu pine grove.
Tinkune Peace Park The person who pulled off that miracle was Renchin Yonjon, a self-described “social architect and entrepreneur” working with the Kathmandu Municipality then.
Yonjan’s plan for the triangle incorporates the five elements of earth, air, fire, water and space, and is purposely designed to resemble the female reproductive system, complete with fallopian tubes. Designed by architects and landscape artists, Basundhara’s three entry points will symbolise Positive Energy, Peace and Wisdom. The garden for wisdom will face the airport road and will be dedicated to Manjushree and Saraswati.
It will also have a pond that will represent the primordial lake that was once Kathmandu Valley. With funding from Eco Himal and inputs from young Nepali architecture graduates, Yonjan has now finalised her proposal which comes with a sustainability and management plan. It would cost only Rs 12 million to build, and she wants to start in January. She has pitched the idea to Kathmandu’s mayor Keshab Sthapit, but hasn’t heard from him.
The mayor, as it happens, has his own grandiose vision for Tinkune: a mega shopping mall with a 50ft figure of Manjushree at the centre. Sthapit says he is preparing a public hearing soon in which various plans will be presented to the local people of the area and to prospective private sector sponsors.
See more in video:
