Surrounded by ochre rubble, Pannakaji beds down on a mattress wedged between Buddha statues at Kathmandu’s “Monkey Temple”, hoping to deter looters from the quake-ravaged site where his ancestors have served as priests for 1,600 years.
The hilltop Swayambunath Temple complex, one of Nepal’s oldest and most sacred religious monuments, was partly reduced to debris by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on April 25.
Some of the seventh-century stupas remain intact and a few statues miraculously survived the disaster, but those that did now risk being pillaged by looters or desperate devotees hoping for a bit of good luck after the devastation.
The temple guardians are not only worried about spending nights in make-do shelters and the threat of aftershocks that could bring down the remaining structures but also fear that looters may come at night to take what they can.
“I don’t sleep. I keep watch. I want to stop people stealing the statues,” Pannakaji said as he twisted wooden prayer beads in his hands.
UNESCO has sent a group of experts to evaluate the damage to the temple and to try to protect the unique religious site from thieves.