This combo picture shows Siddhi Laxmi Temple undergoing reconstruction and a group of German tourists posing for a photo at the steps of the newly-refurbished temple, at Bhaktapur Durbar Square.

The temple in Bhaktapur was one of the several dozens monuments damaged during the devastating earthquake in 2015. Earlier this week, the Monument Preservation and Palace Supervision Office removed the fences around the temple following the completion of the reconstruction project that lasted two years and cost nearly Rs7.3 million.

According to the Department of Archaeology, 70 people have been working for the renovation of monuments in Bhaktapur. Sixty percent of them are general workers and the rest are artisans. The reconstruction of other prominent monuments, including the gate of Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Shankar Narayan Temple, Hari Har Narayan Temple and Tri Bikram Narayan Temple were completed last year.

The temple, built to honour Siddhi Laxmi—the goddess of wealth and prosperity—is 19 feet long, 19 feet wide and 23 feet high, and has an artistic staircase guarded

by statues male and female attendants, with a dog and a child, horses, rhinoceros, half-men half-lions and camels. It was built by King Jagat Prakash Malla in 792 BS, and was later restored by Bhupatindra  Malla in 835 BS.