Bhaktapur 2.0

Every earthquake, even a minor one, shakes Bhaktapur more severely than other parts of Kathmandu Valley, and seismologists attribute this to its soil structure. It was no different in 2015 when a 7.8M earthquake rocked central Nepal. Brown dust from collapsed buildings blanketed the town like a sand storm.

Even 10 years later, the scars of that disaster are all around, even though most of the monuments have been rebuilt. 

At the entrance to Bhaktapur Darbar Square is the Rameswar temple, where workers are lifting bricks to repair the damage. The Vatsala Durga temple inside the palace complex collapsed, but the all-stone structure has been masterfully restored. 

The Yaksheswar Mahadev temple is encased in a bamboo scaffold. Piles of bricks and tiles  are stacked below it. Some workers are on top of the temple, while others work on the ground mixing mortar.

To the north of the Darbar Square is the Fasi Dega temple which has been rebuilt. The 55-window palace and the art museum which were damaged have also been repaired. 

The five-storey Nyatapola, which survived both the 1934 and 2015 earthquakes, just underwent a $6.3 million renovation. In Taumadhi Square below, the Biska Jatra chariot is under construction for upcoming festivities. Some tourists are on it, posing for pictures.

Read also: Monumental loss

At Pottery Square, three workers sit atop an under-construction structure whittling away with chisels. Nearby houses are still supported by wooden beams. Dattatreya Square was also damaged during the earthquake, but has been renovated. 

After the earthquake, the international community rushed in with offers of help. Kathmandu’s Hanuman Dhoka was restored by the Chinese, Gaddi Baithak by the Americans and various countries ‘adopted’ other monuments.

But Bhaktapur declined assistance. UNESCO wanted to be involved since Bhaktapur had been a World Heritage Site since 1979. Germany wanted to help with a €10 million grant, since it had spearheaded the Bhaktapur Development Project 40 years ago. 

“We believed that we should be able to reconstruct our monuments ourselves,” says Ram Govinda Shrestha, an architect with the municipality. Indeed, Kathmandu Valley has historically rebuilt after every major earthquake with its own resources.

Architect and conservationist Rabindra Puri says, “It is shameful to let someone else come in and do the reconstruction for us, especially since the manpower and material would be ours anyway. Why use money from elsewhere?”

The budget for reconstruction came from the government, town entry fees, taxes, and donations. That was the easy part. But this was followed by multiple discussions between the municipality, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), the Department of Archaeology, and multiple stages of proposals, designs, estimations, and building. New committees had to be formed at every step.

“Part of the reason why there were so many steps is because we have to let the government know that we were working as frugally as possible,” recalls Shrestha. It cost more than $200 million to rebuild the 116 heritage structures that were destroyed and damaged. 

Nevertheless, Bhaktapur stands as a model of locally sourced reconstruction in every way. Community people themselves got their hands dirty along with domestic workers and learned various aspects of reconstruction. “We showed what is possible when locals feel a strong sense of responsibility,” adds Shrestha.

Read also: Bhaktapur is waiting for you, Peregrine Frissell

But while the monuments were rebuilt, it was not the same with residential buildings. Many of them still have cracks running down their brick façades, and some neighbourhoods are still in ruins with small trees and bushes growing from the rubble. 

More than 300 people were killed and over 2,000 wounded in house collapses in Bhaktapur. There were some dramatic rescues, including of a baby Sonish Awal who was rescued by an APF team 24 hours after being buried under the rubble. 

Sonish is now 10 years old, and his house has been rebuilt. The government vowed to ‘Build Back Better’ as fast as possible, by removing bureaucratic hurdles and grant Rs300,000 in three instalments, as well as access to loans at low interest. But things did not go smoothly.

“Bhaktapur is very dense, so there was a lot of confusion about where property lines ended, and where walls were,” says Biswanath Sujakhu, a municipality engineer. There were also disputes in families with multiple sons who had stakes in the house, as the act treated them as a single household. 

Many of the disputes have not been resolved yet, which is why there are so many ruins.  Homeowners who chose to remake their houses to look traditional were promised further subsidies of up to Rs300,000, but even that was not enough to pay for the Rs5 million or so needed to build a multi-storey cement structure. 

Banks weren’t giving loans easily, and multiple changes to the NRA chief meant the grants were not easy to access. Many residents took high-interest loans from local cooperatives. Or they were forced to undersell their land plots.

“Bhaktapur also had restrictions about the styles and height of buildings, but many houses didn’t comply as people could only work with the money they had at the time,” adds Sujakhu.

Nepal Vocational Academy, established by Rabindra Puri two years before the earthquake in 2013, played a crucial role. The academy produced enough masons, woodcarvers, and stone carvers so that there wasn’t a shortage. The students were also involved in reconstruction efforts across the country.

Puri has just one gripe: “A lot of old houses that were perfectly fine were torn down for no reason. Those houses are 200-300 years old and could have been restored instead of being reconstructed.”  

Read also: In with the old in Nepal, Shriluna Shrestha