Tourists prefer houses with thatched roofing

MUGLIN (CHITWAN): Even in the hilly region of Chitwan, traditional houses with thatched roofs are rarely found in recent times. After the ‘Gorkha earthquake’ in 2015, most of the houses were constructed using zinc corrugated sheets.

The hay-roofed traditional house of Tika Gurung, a local of Ichhakamana Rural Municiplaity-2, Mayatar, however was not damaged in the destructive earthquake.

Gurung had planned to demolish the house and build a new one.

In the recent past, the house has become a tourists’ preference so he switched off his mind and started repairing the house. With the expansion of the Fisling-Shaktikhor road, the house in Mayata has become the choice of the tourists.

Homeowner Gurung said, “I was thinking of building a new house by demolishing it, but with the increase in the number of tourists in Mayatar for the past few years with the expansion of the road, it has become the choice of tourists to take photos and stay in the 100-year-old roof house. According to him, the tourists coming here return only after taking photos at the house.

According to locals, this house with peculiar roofing is century-old. There has been a crowd of photographers taking snapshots of this house located on the north side of the blacktopped Phisling-Shaktikhor road.

The house maintaining originality has old-fashioned beehives. It has not been long since tourists started coming here. According to local Bhim Bahadur Praja, this was once the route of trekking from Gorkha, Dhading and other districts to India via Hetauda and Birgunj. But with the development of the road, Mayatar became unconnected after pedestrians stopped walking along the area.

After the construction of the Fisling-Shaktikhor rural road, the mobility of the people has increased in Mayatar.

“I didn’t think there would be so much mobility in this place, it’s all because of the road, someday there are cars and bikes all over this courtyard,” he said. “It is not only easy for the visitors, but the agricultural products of the locals here have also got access to market.

Ward Chair Pancha Bahadur Chepang said with the up-gradation of the Fisling-Shaktikhor road, the movement of tourists has increased and it has become easier for the locals to take agricultural produce to the market.

Some passengers going to Hetauda from Kathmandu use the Shaktikhor-Fisling road. Due to this, many vehicles have started plying through this road.

This route can be reached from Fisling, Mauwakhola and Hugdikhola of Prithvi Highway through the old headquarters of Chitwan via Upardanggadhi, Shaktikhor and Tandi.