Carving out a heritage

Seven years after the 2015 earthquake, temples in Kathmandu Darbar Square are slowly coming out of the scaffoldings. While the iconic Kasthamandap pavilion and the historic Gaddi Baithak Palace are now open to the general public, restoration is ongoing for others including the Hanuman Dhoka palace complex which houses the museum.

Across the Gaddi Baithak, 39-year-old Gopal Krishna Shilpakar (right) is hard at work, carving wooden columns and struts in a make-shift workshop. A native of Bhaktapur, Shilpakar along with his family chisel out the wood to complete missing or damaged pieces of the Shiva Parvati temple. Previously, Shilpakar also worked to renovate Kasthamandap and Dasavatara temple in the Square.

Immediately after the earthquake, be it Rani Pokhari in Kathmandu or Harishankar temple in Patan, it was artisans like Shilpakar from Bhaktapur who utilised their skills to build back the heritage sites in the three cities of Kathmandu Valley.

The earthquake highlighted not only the importance of Kathmandu's heritage sites but also the artisans whose skills and knowledge made it possible for the numerous temples to stand once again. In fact, periodic earthquakes in Kathmandu have also helped preserve the ancient craftmanship of the Valley's artisans from one generation to the next, as temples are rebuilt.

With younger generation turning away from the profession, Shilpakar worries that he may be the last in his clan to continue woodcarving. But for now, he is satisfied with the work he has done throughout the Square. He says, "I am happy with what I have accomplished, and will continue to work as long as my hands can carve."

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Restoring a piece of Nepal's history, Sahina Shrestha

Learning from Nepal'a past to rebuild its future, Prakriti Kandel