What we know of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu Valley</a>’s history is mostly through epigraphs, the engraved inscriptions scattered around the Valley that document important events. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet">These are mostly found above ground.</a> But underground, there is much more to be discovered about the waves of civilisations that thrived and waned in Kathmandu Valley over the past millennia.&nbsp; The fertile soil of the former lake bed was the source of Kathmandu's agricultural surplus and, along with its <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/putting-dolkha-back-on-the-map,3312">entrepôt status between India and Tibet</a>, a source of its wealth. The same soil also hides clues to the Valley’s past, but many of these archaeological sites are now built over with concrete houses and asphalt roads. &nbsp; The first exploration of Kathmandu Valley’s prehistory was carried out by R V Joshi but it did not yield any palaeolithic or microlithic relics. In 1965, S B Deo carried out an excavation in Manamaneswor near Hadigaon and Lazimpat that showed the earliest habitations were in the ‘early centuries of the Christian era’. But further digs by the Department of Archaeology (DoA) did not show new evidence of habitation. Then the DoA, with an Italian team from Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO) jointly organised excavations and surveys in Hadigaon. The excavations at the Satya Narayan temple dated the earliest habitation of Kathmandu to the first century BCE, much earlier than previously thought. Now, the results of the expedition from 1984-1989 have been published in the new book Harigaon Revisited: Chronicle and Outcomes of an Excavation in Kathmandu by Giovanni Verardi with Dániel Balogh, Daniela De Simone and Elio Paparatti.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet">The historic Kathmandu beneath our feet</a>, Sahina Shrestha The idea to revisit the 80s excavation and turn it into a book came as IsMEO itself was closed down. Its documentation of excavations, particularly the graphic and photographic materials, were archived at Museo Nazionale di Arte Orientale in Via Merulana, Rome. In 2016, the museum merged with Museo Nazinale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, Rome, to form the new Museo delle CiviltàIn Rome where a large part of the documentation is kept, ‘waiting to be rearranged and usable’. While much of the book is technical results of the excavation, the first part provides a narrative of the fieldwork from a personal point of view of Giovanni Verardi, an archaeologist and Professor specialising in the civilisations of central Asia and India who was appointed the Director of the Nepali-Italian Archaeological Mission in 1988.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240301120340_3db207944131f4fef141161c056760bae59f887b0d2337048c88791638422335.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240301120340_3db207944131f4fef141161c056760bae59f887b0d2337048c88791638422335" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="794" loading="lazy" alt="Hadigaon"> <figcaption>The inscribed water conduit donated by Priyavarman in 749 AD.</figcaption> </figure>  Verardi remembers a different Kathmandu from today and says he found Nepali people to be "kind and cooperative" but the Ministry was "strict and severe" about the excavation. The team was obliged to write a daily report about their work and submit it to the DoA every afternoon. &nbsp;“Kathmandu back then was different,” said Verardi over the phone from Italy. “I returned to Nepal after many years in 2007/8 and then again two years ago, and was surprised by the transformation. I did not expect it to change so much.” Verardi spent a few months travelling across the Valley visiting old sites like Gokarna and Thankot with the Director General of DoA. With epigraphical inscriptions and Lain Singh Bangdel, then with the Royal Nepal Academy, identifying images found in Hadigaon to second century CE, the Satya Narayan temple seemed promising. Large areas were limited in number but Hadigaon was large enough for the team to conduct horizontal excavations to see if different kinds of buildings came out and they did get interesting results, like 898kg of ceramic materials. They were mostly broken pieces of pottery but 213 of them were intact vessels.&nbsp; More interesting were a Mathura-type sandstone fragments which were later determined to be a training weight. It depicts a scene of Lord Krishna slaying a horse demon Keshin. A water drain bearing the inscription dated 4 March 749 that says that one of the ancient names of the place was Andigrama, donated by Priyavarman to honour his deceased parents. The team also exposed a nine-pit structure which was named navakunda. Among the scholars who visited the site were Dhanavajra Vajracharya who had published Licchavikalaka Abhilekha and Prayag Raj Sharma, professor of history at Tribhuvan University who had assisted S B Deo during the excavation at Manamaeswor.&nbsp; It was not until Verardi came across a Mahayana silpa text, the Manjushrivastuvidyasastra, that it was established to be a part of a Buddhist stupa. The team found a few antiquities that were recognisable as Buddhist. One was a ‘conical sealing that on the bottom exhibited a stupa and an inscription in Licchavi characters’. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/restoring-a-piece-of-nepal-s-history">Restoring a piece of Nepal's history</a>, Sahina Shrestha &nbsp;Another was the handle of a terracotta lamp showing Aksobhya, one of the five Wisdom Buddhas. The book also dedicates a section to the restoration of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet">Jayavarma statue which was found by chance in Maligaon in 1992</a>, near the Hadigaon excavation site. Elio Papparatti of the Nepali-Italian team restored the statue from twenty-three fragments and also made it earthquake proof. The statue is now housed at the National Museum. These and other discoveries clearly put Hadigaon as a place of archaeological and historical significance.&nbsp; But like much of Kathmandu, Hadigaon is also built up. While archeological finds were still being unearthed when digging foundations of new houses until a few years ago, the government has shown little interest in preserving the area for future research. Verardi says not all is yet lost. “There are still small areas where it would be possible to excavate in Hadigaon,” he says. "We already have a sequence so it would be much simpler to excavate compared to the 1980s.” &nbsp; Harigaon Revisited is an important documentation of an excavation that provide historical evidence that pre-date the earliest dates mentioned in known inscriptions. While some may argue that archaeological digs may be unnecessary given other inscriptions found in the Valley, the Hadigaon excavations demonstrated that the history of the Valley was much earlier than those dated by epigraphical evidence.&nbsp; Perhaps the only way for us to actually understand the real sequence of the earliest history of Kathmandu is through excavations. This book, though technical, will be useful for anyone interested in learning the prehistory of Nepal.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240301120348_0e24ad7a92ef531466fb81ccd66ced772e6e8bedcdb6b2879d7342e1f71f422c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240301120348_0e24ad7a92ef531466fb81ccd66ced772e6e8bedcdb6b2879d7342e1f71f422c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1218" height="643" loading="lazy" alt="Hadigaon"> </figure>

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What lies below Hadigaon

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85df9c7e80680e06781bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1896" height="1000"/>For the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lumbini-during-the-covid-19-lockdown/">second year in a row</a>, Lumbini will see none of the thousands of pilgrims from around the world that used to congregate here to mark the birthday of the Sakyamuni Buddha, which this year falls on 26 May.The Sacred Garden, holy pond, Mayadevi Temple and the pathways along the central canal are all deserted, except for a few monks in maroon robes chanting mantra through blue surgical masks.Kapilvastu, the district named after the kingdom that Sidhhartha Gautam abandoned at age 29 more than two-and-a-half millennia ago, is finally revealing secrets that had been buried deep in time.It turns out that there is a lot more to Lumbini than <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-right-path/">Lumbini.</a> While the Ashoka Pillar and the Mayadevi Temple mark the nativity site, there are the ruins of ancient Kapilvastu nearby — home of Siddhartha Gautam’s father King Sudhodhan in Tilaurakot.Archaeologists here are not only researching the ruins of the ancient towns, but also relics left here by pilgrims over the centuries which reveal that Gautam Buddha, besides being the divine entity he is today, was also a historical figure.Siddhartha Gautam was born in Lumbini in 623 BC while his mother Queen Mayadevi was being carried in a palanquin to her own home in Devdaha. Mayadevi gave birth while standing and clutching the branch of a sal tree, but died seven days later. Siddhartha was then raised by his aunt, Prajapati.The birth is depicted in a 1,800-year-old stone sculpture found at the site, and further proof is a marker stone found in 1995 that locates the exact spot where the Buddha was born.Then there is the pillar erected by Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 249BC. Ashokan pillars are found at holy Buddhist sites across north India, and the one in Lumbini has Pali inscriptions stating that the emperor had himself visited the place of the Buddha’s birth in the 20th year of his reign.Chinese monk pilgrims <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faxian">Faxian</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang">Xuanzang</a> visited Lumbini and Tilaurakot in the 4th and 7th century CE, and described the ruins in detail. But it was only in 1889 that exiled Rana general Khadga Shumshere together with German archaeologist Alois Anton Führer found the pillar in the middle of a thick jungle that had started being cleared for railway sleepers in British India.They found Ashoka’s inscription on the column that was made of chunar stone, which must have been carried with great effort from as far as Banaras, 300km away. Like other Ashokan pillars, the one in Lumbini was probably also topped with an inverted lotus and horse finial carved out of stone. The damaged lotus has been found, and now rests next to the pillar, but the horse has not been located.“It must be underground here somewhere, and if we excavate, we will probably find it,” says Basanta Maharjan, a Buddhism scholar with Nepal’s Department of Archaeology. “But we have not really done much excavation here, except for these pre-Mauryan structures.”It troubles Maharjan that Nepalis have taken Buddha’s birthplace for granted and it has become <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-buddha-was-born-in-lumbini/">an issue of national pride</a>, and reduced to a populist ‘Buddha was born in Nepal’ slogan.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85e39c7e80680e06781cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“The whole world follows Buddha’s teachings, but for us Nepalis we just sit and say Buddha was born in Nepal, we must learn to value Buddhist philosophy and learn from his teachings. Research and study into Buddhist philosophy also needs to happen in Nepal,” archaeologist Maharjan says.While the Ashoka Pillar and marker stones are pieces of clear historical evidence that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini, there are two pillars that indicate the births of the other two Buddhas. There was one dedicated to Kanakamuni Buddha in Niglihawa even before Ashoka came, and he enlarged it in 249BC. The other of Kakusandha Buddha in Gotihawa is badly damaged, but early Chinese travellers noted that it too had an inscription.“Besides the Shakyamuni Buddha, this region was also the birthplace of two other Buddhas, and compared to the Buddhist sites in India like Bodhgaya and Kushinagar, I think Lumbini is more organised and better preserved,” Maharjan says.Much of that credit goes to former <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/">United Nations Secretary-General U Thant</a> of Burma who came here in 1967, and was so moved by its neglect that he wept. He convinced King Mahendra to promote the birthplace of the Buddha as a world heritage site.The famous post-war Japanese architect <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9848#.YKS3Jy8RoWp">Kenzō Tange</a>, designer of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, was hired to come up with a masterplan for Lumbini. Despite <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/lumbini-is-not-a-buddhist-disneyland/">all the setbacks</a> over the decades, Tange’s vast Lumbini rectangle is now visible on Google Earth, and has preserved the nature and tranquility of this sacred site.“If it wasn’t for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/">U Thant and Kenzō Tange’s masterplan</a> there would be no trees and the sacred garden would have shops,” says Maharjan. “Thankfully, unlike many other holy places, Lumbini’s spiritual essence is intact.”Even though he was not a Buddhist, Tange’s master plan for Lumbini has deeply philosophical character. The nearly 8 sq km area is dominated by a north-south canal with amphitheatres, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-lumbinis-rare-cranes/">forests and wetlands</a> on either side. At the southern end are concentric circles of the sanctum sanctorum: the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/drone-view-of-lumbinis-monsoon-greenery/">sacred garden around the Mayadevi Temple. </a>The plan includes an eastern monastic set aside for Theravada Buddhism, and the west side is for Mahayana Buddhism. The master plan is still being broadly followed, but there are many showy edifices coming up in the monastic zone that do not conform to the Buddha’s teachings of simplicity and reverence for nature.Among the monasteries representing Buddhism from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Japan and Myanmar, there is also the elegant Vajrayana Vihar, built with donations from thousands of people from Kathmandu Valley. The challenge is to keep to the masterplan and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lumbinis-unholy-mess/">prevent Lumbini from being over-built</a> as sects compete with each other to build grander monasteries.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/proposed-change-to-lumbini-masterplan-threat-to-Sarus,4090">Venerable Metteya</a>, the monk who is vice-chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust, was born to a Hindu family in Kapilvastu and his vision is to turn Lumbini into an international centre for peace where world leaders and spiritual thinkers can come to seek ways to end war, violence and to confront the planet’s environmental crisis.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85e69c7e80680e06781djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1438" height="844"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Gautam Buddha was a mediator who sought to bring peace between warring kingdoms in his day,” says Metteya. “We have to preserve this spiritual space not just as a pilgrimage site, but also as a centre for conflict resolution and nature protection.”Venerable Metteya says he gets proposals every day for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/lumbini-is-not-a-buddhist-disneyland/">new construction </a>within the Lumbini zone, including for new monasteries and even one to build an enormous 100m high Buddha statue. “We will not entertain these, and on this the Nepali state is also clear,” he says.The Trust is now finalising a Rs8 billion plan starting with sacred garden to enhance the open space. Before Covid there were 250,000 foreign pilgrims and tourists a year here, and 1.6 million Nepalis.The International Committee for Lumbini is the only one dealing with world heritage sites that comes directly under the UN Secretary General in New York. Buddhist countries are members, and Nepal is trying to revive it after 25 years by changing its focus away from fund-raising to develop an International Centre for Peace.There are also plans to link the Greater Lumbini region with the Buddhist Circuit in India and Nepal for a time when pilgrims and tourists can return on the Buddha’s 2,645th birthday next year._________________<h2>Greater Lumbini</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85ea9c7e80680e06781ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844">Even before it was the seat of King Sudhodhan, father of Siddhartha Gautam, Tilaurakot already had human habitation dating back nearly 3,000 years. Remnants of those early settlements are now overlaid by ruins of the palace and the town that surrounded it.In 1899 the Indian archaeologist P C Mukherjee came here and determined that Tilaurakot was indeed ancient Kapilvastu, the kingdom of the Shakya dynasty. In the past decades, the area was studied by noted Nepali archaeologists Tarananda Mishra and Babu Krishna Rijal, who confirmed that finding.A geophysical survey is now being carried out here by the Department of Archaeology and Durham University experts using special equipment to peer underground without digging and disturbing the site.“It is all forest and shrub on the surface, but beneath us is an elaborate network of paths, walls and buildings of that ancient kingdom where the Buddha lived till he was 29 years old,” explains Kosh Prasad Acharya, former head of the Department of Archaeology. “These are relics of an extremely important part of our history.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85ed9c7e80680e06781fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1460" height="844"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There is now a detailed map of what lies below ground, and it shows that Kapilvastu had a north-south and east-west road grid. The poorer buildings with thatch roofs and mud walls were in the periphery, while more important people who lived near the centre had brick walls and tile roofs.The writings of early Chinese travellers give a detailed description of what they said was Kapilvastu. Their written accounts of the ruins of the palace, the walls, paths and gates, from nearly 2,000 years ago tallies exactly with what has been found today by archaeologists.“What is most exciting is that this is proof that King Sudhodhan’s palace was here, and we are sitting here right now on the ground that Siddhartha Gautam walked on,” Acharya says. “We now know where the roads were and have built wooden walkways right above them.”Tilaurakot is now a fascinating archaeological museum where visitors can walk around along wooden paths, following the footsteps of Siddhartha Gautam as a boy. The parts that have been excavated and mapped have clearly illustrated explanations of what ancient Kapilvastu looked like.The other historical site is in nearby Ramgram, where there is an ancient stupa that goes right back to the years after the Buddha died. It is one of the eight stupas where the Buddha’s relics were kept.

Buddha’s birthday in his birthplace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_v2WvLvdGE&amp;feature=youtu.beThe discovery that the 12th-century deity stolen from his neighbourhood had turned up in Dallas, Texas, was a bittersweet one for Bhai Raja Shrestha.The statue of Laxmi-Narayan was stolen 30 years ago at a time when Kathmandu Valley was being plundered of gods and goddesses by western art collectors. It was recently tracked to the Dallas Museum of Art by American artist <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joy Lynn Davis</a>, who has documented Kathmandu’s missing deities through striking works of visual art.The 700-year-old stone figure was once an integral part of the intangible heritage of Patan’s Patkutole neighbourhood. After it was stolen in 1984 Shrestha says the community also started falling apart.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepal-needs-to-be-prepared-for-the-return-of-stolen-religious-figures,986">Back where they belong</a>, Bhrikuti Rai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75219c7e80680e0623d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="787"/><figcaption>The original 12th-century Laxmi-Narayan stolen in 1984. Photo : LAIN SINGH BANGDEL In Sotheby's catalogue in 1990. Photo : ERIN L. THOMPSON The deity in the Dallas Art Museum in 2014. Photo : ERIN L. THOMPSON</figcaption></figure>“We are glad our god has been located in Dallas. We will try our best to bring it back, but we must also ask ourselves whether we are up to taking good care of it,” says Shrestha, 77, a social activist in the Patkutole neighbourhood of Patan.Shrestha recalls that the theft was a heart-wrenching moment for the community and especially for those for whom Laxmi-Narayan is a patron deity. “People used to come in large numbers every day to this temple for puja, but after the god was stolen this changed. Now it is a whole generation later and the temple has suffered from the god’s absence.”Even though the figure was replaced by a poor replica in 1993, and the temple itself renovated in 2006, the neighbourhood does not attach the same importance to it. “God is god regardless of it being a replica or not. However, it does pinch you that the original piece is among foreigners who could not care less about its religious significance,” Shrestha adds.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75249c7e80680e0623d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>After it was stolen, the rare androgynous composite deity was sold by the Sotheby's auction house (it was sighted in the Sotheby's catalogue in 1990), and it was later loaned for 30 years to the Dallas Museum of Art by a collector named David T Owsley. After the figure on display at the museum was found to be the stolen Laxmi-Narayan, this was pointed out to the museum by art crime scholar <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/author/erin-l-thompson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Erin L. Thompson</a>. In response, the <a href="https://twitter.com/DallasMuseumArt/status/1197212359003197441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dallas Museum of Art tweeted on 20 November 2019</a>, “The Dallas Museum of Art takes these matters very seriously and we are currently looking into this.” The deity has since been removed from display.The figure, also called Vasudeva-Kamala, is one of those many Kathmandu Valley deities that find themselves in museums or at <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">auction houses</a> in Europe and the United States. Although the government abides by UNESCO’s international laws on import and export of cultural properties, and has its own Ancient Monument Preservation Act, the process of repatriating stolen antiquities is legally cumbersome.“The Dallas Museum has to return our cultural property. It is proven that it’s ours, and we are working to get it back,” acting director of the Department of Archaeology Damodar Gautam, told Nepali Times. He admitted the process is tedious: his department has to write to the Ministry of Culture, which will forward the request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Embassy and the Nepal Embassy in Washington, DC, the last of which will take it up with the US government and finally the Dallas Museum of Art.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75289c7e80680e0623d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1083"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Department of Archaeology has a scanty inventory of stolen deities, and does not keep a record of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5021#.Xkz2vhoza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artifacts that have been returned</a>. Its records of the latter say merely that 32 stolen <a href="archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/06/18/religious-figures-returned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">figures have been returned since 1996</a> (mainly from <a href="archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/06/18/religious-figures-returned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">museums in Europe</a>), from the thousands that have been trafficked by art thieves.The government’s responsibility to protect Nepal’s living heritage is being filled by people like Roshan Mishra, curator of the Taragaon Museum, who has documented many of the stolen artefacts on his website, <a href="https://globalnepalimuseum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Nepali Museums</a>. Mishra’s data shows that most of the smuggling has occurred since the 1970s, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepal-needs-to-be-prepared-for-the-return-of-stolen-religious-figures,986" target="_blank" rel="noopener">41 museums all over the world</a> exhibit stolen stone, bronze, terracotta and wooden religious artefacts from Kathmandu. These institutions include the <a href="http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O139371/relief-panel-relief-panel-unknown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victoria and Albert Museum</a> in London, the <a href="https://denverartmuseum.org/collections/asian-art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denver Art Museum</a> and the <a href="http://collection.sdmart.org/Obj11073?sid=349&amp;x=5515&amp;sort=9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Diego Museum</a> in the United States, the <a href="https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/galleries/world-cultures/sir-christopher-ondaatje-south-asian-gallery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royal Ontario Museum</a> in Canada and many others.“Our idols are auctioned for millions of dollars abroad and we cannot do much about it because of the long and slow bureaucratic process. The government needs to be more resolute in getting them back, otherwise they will remain abroad,” says Mishra.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2710#.Xk59PjIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here today, in Europe tomorrow</a>, Janki Gurung<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b752b9c7e80680e0623d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="754"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2010, a bronze Garuda water spout, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2010/08/17/good-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a centrepiece of the Sundari Chok</a> in Patan Darbar Square, was stolen. It was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/09/10/stolen-treasure-found-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retrieved by police a year later</a> in Kathmandu. Currently, the exquisitely carved 120-year-old figure is on display at the National Museum at Chhauni. A replica bronze created by artisans at the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17399#.Xk55RYjBXIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust</a> (KVPT) is now at Sundari Chok.“It was essential that we come up with a solution rather than wait for the statue to return to the original place,” explains <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/learning-from-nepals-past-to-rebuild-its-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohit Ranjitkar, director of KVPT</a>, who says that putting the original back would have risked another theft.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2010/08/17/good-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Good job</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11342#.Xk58uDIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Return of the gods</a>, Sujata TuladharLain Singh Bangdel’s <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5250#.Xk55d4jBXIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stolen Images of Nepal</a> (1989) and Jürgen Schick’s <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/The-Gods-are-Leaving-Country/dp/9748299201" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Gods are Leaving the Country</a> (2006), both written by art historians, document the stolen artefacts, and they catalogue what Nepal has lost in past decades. Many of the pieces have been traced to western museums and collectors.Whether or not to replace the originals with replicas, and where the originals should be housed if they are returned from museums and art collectors abroad, are hotly debated subjects. Some temples in Kathmandu now have replicas, and original deities are protected by iron grills, or are bolted to walls.Nepal is not the only country that is putting pressure on western museums to return antiquities. Greece and the British museum are haggling over the Parthenon Marbles stolen by Lord Eglin in 1806.The British Museum is also under pressure to return the stolen Benin bronzes from Nigeria, but is saying that the artifacts are too “fragile and delicate” to travel.<h2>A museum of copies</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b752e9c7e80680e0623d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1382"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bhaktapur architect <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/learning-from-nepals-past-to-rebuild-its-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rabindra Puri</a> has come up with another way of documenting Nepal’s stolen deities. As part of his Mission Panauti Project, he is working on the Museum of Stolen Arts, set to open in 2022 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ancient-panautis-french-connection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this town that has lost many of its religious objects</a>.The museum will initially have 50 stone replicas of sacred statuary that have been trafficked abroad. So far, artisans have hewn 36 of them.“All the replicas in our display are of stolen idols that are Nepal’s property and we have clear evidence of this. We need to raise awareness of the theft. It is public pressure and not the lengthy government process that will help us retrieve our heritage,”Puri says. Puri hopes that the museum will raise awareness among Nepalis and build pressure on western museums and auction houses to return statuary to Nepal.While appreciative of the effort, KVPT’s Rohit Ranjitkar is not entirely convinced that a museum of replicas will help in the struggle for repatriation. He says: “It is easy to copy them, but there is little chance that international museums will agree to repatriate our deities. Also, even if they are returned, how will we preserve them in their original location?”If the security of returned statuary cannot be guaranteed in their original locations, returned deities will find themselves in Nepali museums. Ranjitkar sees little value in this.

Replicating Nepal’s stolen gods

Nepal has shut down dozens of social media platforms in a move that is widely seen as an effort to tax the revenue they generate in the country, and to control content critical of government. The sites were blocked as of midnight on Thursday, 4 September and affects all Meta products including WhatsApp and Messenger, Threads, and others. Although YouTube, Google and X are also on the government’s list, they were still working as of Friday midday.&nbsp; The government says it took the action after repeated warnings to the platforms to open offices in Nepal, a Cabinet decision last month setting a deadline, as well as a 17 August Supreme Court ruling also requiring them to register and pay requisite taxes. However, the Bill cited in the ban, ‘The Operation, Use, and Regulation of Social Media in Nepal’ has not yet been passed by Parliament. Some social media platforms which were already paying taxes in Nepal even though they are not officially registered, have also been blocked. The move is the latest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/big-beautiful-bills" target="_blank">a slew of draft legislations</a> designed to undermine Nepal’s open society. A Bill amending the Print and Publications Act would allow district bureaucrats to shut down media. Another draft Bill would allow political appointees to head a new Media Council with the power to revoke the licenses of journalists.&nbsp; A counter-intelligence Bill would let just about anyone in government to arbitrarily tap phones, read emails and trail citizens. On Wednesday the government announced new immigration requirements that would allow it to track the movement of all foreigners in the country. Yet another draft Bill has been set to Parliament to dissolve the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10675" target="_blank">Social Welfare Council (SWC)</a> and move registration and monitoring of non-governmental organisations, nonprofits and charities to the Ministry of Social Welfare. Seen in this light, the blockage of social media platforms this week is seen as the latest government attempt to constrict freedom of press. Nepal is one of the few remaining open societies in Asia, and now appears to be drifting towards authoritarianism. The government’s sudden shutdown of social media has been greeted with howls of protest on platforms that still remain open, like Viber and TikTok, as well as in Nepal’s mainstream press. Even senior members of the ruling UML-NC coalition have sharply criticised the move, asking if the government is trying to “turn Nepal into North Korea”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656" data-rendition-name="original" width="4280" height="5187" loading="lazy" alt="social media ban in Nepal"> </figure>  The Regional Director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Beh Lih Yi said in a statement: ‘Nepal’s sweeping ban on social media sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Blocking online news platforms vital to journalists will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information. The government must immediately rescind this order and restore access to social media platforms, which are essential tools for exercising press freedom.’ Besides undermining press freedom, blocking social media platforms will also hurt commerce and the economy since so many small and medium business trade through Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. Nepal’s vibrant social media has also been a boost or citizens to assert identity, build solidarity against injustice and play an adversarial role when the mainstream media does not do it. Social media platforms have also become the tenuous link for Nepali families scattered across the world to keep in touch with each other — its importance growing with the increasing size of the diaspora. The government wants social media platforms to register, pay taxes and remove posts on their sites that ‘undermine the national interest and Nepal’s territorial integrity, disturb social and religious harmony’.&nbsp; In response, rights activists have said while there is need for the government to regulate extreme content and hate speech, officials appear to be more intent on clamping down on free speech and trying to force platforms to share the revenue. On Friday, the government had allowed WhatsApp back online, but there were reports that it had instructed the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) to instruct mobile and internet service providers to block by Friday night all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Snapchat, Pinterest, Signal, Clubhouse, Rumble.&nbsp; Platforms that have registered and are allowed include TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, Popo Live, WeTalk, Global Diary and the Nepali portal Hamro Patro. TikTok was banned last year for ‘disturbing social harmony’ and it was lifted after the platform registered its office in Nepal. But even while it was banned, many users simply switched to VPN. Telegram was also banned for ‘financial crimes’ and it has since also been allowed back. NTA officials confirmed that some Asia-Pacific regional offices of platforms, including Meta had been in touch overnight inquiring about the registration process.&nbsp; Nepal is not alone in regulating social media. China bans most Western platforms, Russia and Turkey regulate their and require platforms to locate their data servers in the country. Gulf countries allow social media but keep a tight control on dissent.&nbsp; Experts have said even the government will not dare close down YouTube since so many Nepali individuals and companies make money with posts on that platform, and closing it would also impact on Google and Gmail. Facebook had also just launched a monetisation scheme for videos and reels, and Nepalis uploading content would lose revenue.&nbsp; Blocking the platforms has already hit content creators, influencers and cut small businesses from reaching customers. A survey of social media use in Nepal by Sharecast Initiative showed that 94% of those with smart phones used YouTube, followed by Facebook (92%) while TikTok was in the 50-60% range. X and Instagram were in the single digits. A YouTube ban will also hurt the mainstream media since up to 20% of the revenue of Nepal’s main tv channels came through YouTube. Some 11.1 million Nepalis watch YouTube content every day, the survey showed. ‘For global giants like Meta or Google, Nepal is a small market, and they may not even flinch — but for millions of Nepalis, these platforms are central to daily life, livelihoods, and connections across the world,’ wrote AI consultant Naresh Newar in a LinkedIn post. Some experts said the government’s sweeping ban on social media networks was untenable and the government would be forced to rollback sooner or later. Said editor Shiva Gaunle: “The platforms had given citizens a voice and broken the monopoly of the government, legislators, the courts and journalists over public opinion. This is an effort to reassert that monopoly, but Nepal can never be turned into a North Korea.”

Protest grows against Nepal’s social media ban

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2fZXyjsE28" target="_blank">Yog Narendra Malla</a> became king at age 18, and ruled Patan from 1684-1705 — his reign marked by a cultural and architectural renaissance of the city state. He put up a statue of himself in the palace square with a little bronze bird sitting on the guardian serpent above his head. It is said he told his subjects that he would look after their welfare till the day the bird flew off. During<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu"> the 2015 earthquake</a>, the pedestal collapsed and the statue was damaged. The bird was lost, only to be located in a pile of debris and reinstated when the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/piece-by-piece-patan-darbar-square-reconstruction,3782" target="_blank">statue was consecrated</a> two years later. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x2fZXyjsE28?si=jYfIb4p6zCLXYQ1T" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> History remembers Yog Narendra Malla as a wise king, but like most<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home"> royalty of the day</a>, he had a weakness for women. He is supposed to have consorted with 30 queens and numerous concubines. At least 33 of them self-immolated themselves on the king's funeral pyre when he died, adhering to the prevailing <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/Jhola,947">practice of sati</a>. When Yog Narendra Malla’s favourite queen found out that he was carrying on with yet another woman, she got the local community of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood to stage a shadow sex play to quite literally expose his unfaithfulness. Actors enacted the explicit exploits of the king and his mistress, a bright butter lamp projecting the moving shadows of their lovemaking on a thin white drape to entertain those gathered in the square below. The queen made sure that the show was designed to face the home of the king’s paramour to shame them both. She also paid for a group to chant a bhajan with lyrics that ridiculed the king’s extramarital affair. The Jhyalcha Guthi community trust that the queen set up three-and-half century ago is still active to this day, and performs the annual shadow play in the same building in Kwelachhi the day before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-legend-behind-the-myth-of-indra-jatra">Indra Jatra </a>every year. This year’s show is on Friday evening, 5 September. The opening lines of the chants that accompany the play are the same words approved by the queen all those years ago: “Raja Yog Narendra ya aparadh…” (King Yog Narendra’s crime…) The community leader of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood, 62-year-old Baburaja Awale, explains the importance of the event: “This Jhyalcha is our<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303"> intangible heritage</a> and oral history. We do not have a written format, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Every word of the bhajan is the story of King Yog Narendra Malla.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1167" loading="lazy" alt="Sex and the city of Patan"> <figcaption>The statue of Yog Narendra Malla being reinstated after it toppled in the 2015 earthquake. Photo: GOPEN RAI/ NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Jhyalcha Pyankha, as the ceremony is called, starts with a puja for the Bhimsen — the god of wealth and prosperity, a popular <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-homecoming-of-nepal-s-gods">deity in Patan</a> who has a temple dedicated just to him in the palace square. This is immediately followed by a bhajan of Bhairab performed with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-house,670">traditional Newa musical instruments</a>. Community members serve snacks consisting of samay baji beaten rice, water buffalo chunks, soybean, green veggies, lentils, ginger, garlic and aila liquor. “In the first act of the shadow play, the man initiates the lovemaking, and in the third it is the woman,” says Laxmi Lal Awale, also a member of the trust that organises the show. The shadow action is all uncensored, but interspersed with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">scenes of everyday life</a>: the woman is spinning a thread, the king is going about his royal chores, and the two sit down to share sanacha fermented pickle that is popular this time of year. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ3twuG1wNQ?si=yRfkoC3A-X9cIl8r" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> “Back then, there was no tv, films or YouTube, and yet we managed to stage the shadow play using our own resourcefulness,” says Baburaja Awale. “It is important to continue the tradition.” The challenge now is to ensure that the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain"> younger generation takes over</a>, learning the lyrics of the ancient bhajan. The dafa khala group that performs all over Patan during festivals and religious events is now training teenagers to play the musical instruments and act in the shadow play. The Jhyalcha was staged even after the 2015 earthquake when the falcha where the bhajan is performed collapsed and they made-do in a tin shed. The structure was later rebuilt with a grant from the group, Photo Circle. Lalitpur Metropolitan City sets aside a budget of Rs50,000 to organise the Jhyalcha Pyankha every year, but this is not enough and is supplemented by individual donations. The performers including musicians and actors are all volunteers, and take part in it because it is their community duty. The erotic shadow play was way ahead of its time, not just in its graphic content but the use of contemporary local technology as well as improvisation and pure imagination. Says Laxmi Lal: “Whatever its origin in the legend of King Yog Narendra Malla and his queen, Jhyalcha also served as a medium of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-talk-about-it">sex education</a>. In the past, women were discouraged from watching the shadow play, but today everyone is welcome, we all watch it together.” Jhyalcha Pyankha Kwelachhi, Chyasal, Patan 7PM onwards Friday, 5 September

Sex and the city of Patan

Unlike many countries, there is not much incentive in Nepal for the private sector to fund charities and non-profits. Donations and grants are not tax-deductible.
Yet there are corporate entities that have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their portfolio of activities through foundations that they have set up. Some do it loudly to gain public relations mileage, while others are quiet about their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/norway-supports-himalayan-climate-research?mdrv=www.nepalitimes.com&amp;=1">generous support</a>.
The CSR outlay of factories and manufacturing companies is regulated by Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA), while the Nepal Rastra Bank oversees grants banks and financial institutions contribute and requires them to set aside 1% of their net profit for CSR activities.
The guideline requires banks and financial institutions to donate to activities covering education, health, environment and financial literacy, among others. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the government to formulate a Bill in the parliament to standardise and regulate the private sector’s CSR activities.
“We receive guidelines from Nepal Rastra Bank and follow them,” says Pranisha Shrestha who heads the CSR Department at NMB Bank. “We have got a notice about updates on those guidelines, and we will adapt accordingly.”
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Environmental sustainability </a>is one of the important components of CSR for Nepali companies, and there have been many initiatives aimed at urban renewal. One of the most visible is of the telecommunication company Ncell, which is among Nepal’s largest taxpayers.
Five years ago, Ncell adopted a 6km stretch of the Ring Road from Ekantakuna to Koteswor-Kalanki, planting 12,000 saplings. They have now grown into<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/seeing-the-forest-and-trees-in-nepal"> a thick forest</a> along the embankment of the road.
Not only is the lush greenery in an overbuilt part of Lalitpur soothing to the eye, it also helps in reducing temperature within <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-5xcycyot">the urban heat bubble</a>, and also contributes to reducing air pollution and traffic noise.
“We started a pilot project along 600m of the Ekantakuna section of the Ring Road during the pandemic,” recalls Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Ncell. “It went really well, and after that we extended the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-cities-with-trees"> tree planting</a> and upkeep to Kalanki.”
Sustainability also means making younger Nepalis aware of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>and environmental sustainability, which is why Ncell has also undertaken a Green School initiative in and around Kathmandu Valley. Besides its One-Tree-One-Youth and 1 Million Trees campaigns, the initiative also aims at behavior change about littering with its waste hackathon in schools.
“The young students can be catalysts with a multiplier effect beyond their schools to society at large, and it has inter-generational impact into the future,” explains Khadka.
Indeed, while <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">Nepal has doubled its forest cover </a>in the past 30 years to 46% of the country’s area, urban centres like Kathmandu do not have much open spaces and greenery left. And that is where companies like Ncell, Jawalakhel Group of Industries, and others have focused on CSRs.
NMB Bank also runs financial literacy programs for youth where they can learn more about social media safeguards, digital payment systems, with a focus on safety and security. Such training not only helps build skills for the future but also protects young Nepalis from online crime.
“<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/protecting-children-from-anti-social-media">Threats to young minds through social media</a> use are growing as platforms feed algorithm-driven content,” says Shrestha. “We felt media and digital literacy are important in all seven provinces not just to protect young people, but also give them the confidence to use digital financial systems.”
The bank has a special focus on women in leadership programs, and provides scholarships provided in schools across Nepal on environment and sustainability in higher education. Health is another sector where private companies have worked with donating medical equipment, sponsoring health camps and conducting blood donation drives.
CSR or PR?
Other companies heavily involved in CSR include NIMB Bank which contributes to heritage conservation and education, Buddha Air helps farmers in Morang to increase productivity, VOITH with its motto ‘Little things We Do’ provides scholarships to students and has gifted &nbsp;vehicles to hospitals and nature conservation groups, Dwarika’s Hotel promotes organic farming and zero waste initiatives, heritage conservation and helps revive traditional handicrafts.
Although some CSR activities have been criticised for masquerading as PR and for greenwashing, many Nepali companies are actually contributing to improve the situation for individuals in need and underserved communities.
It also brings a sense of accountability to the corporate sector so they look beyond shareholder profit with greater involvement in the public good. In Nepal, where government delivery mechanisms are not up to speed in the social sector and environmental sustainability, CSR is a vehicle for public-private partnerships.
Collaboration with the government is an important aspect of these initiatives since that allows localised campaigns to be scaled up by showing what is possible. For example, the three Metropolitan Cities of the Valley and other private companies are trying to emulate what Ncell has achieved on the Ring Road.
“The Ring Road plantation project has been massively successful,” says Khadka “We were recognised by the Lalitpur Metropolitan City and the Forestry Department for adding greenery to what would have been just an asphalt strip.”

Corporates responsible to society

This is the 72nd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. My father ran a store and that is where I spent all my time till Grade 6. Doing my homework. Serving customers. I then moved to my maternal grandparents’ house because I used to get along with my cousin who was a year older than me. We did everything together, and were best friends. We took turns studying: I was a night owl, and he was an early riser. Before I went to bed after studying all night, I woke him up. My mother was 44 when I was born, the same year my eldest brother got married. My sister-in-law becoming a part of our family was how my mother referenced my age. I liked making money, and was always a hustler. In Grade 7, I learnt to handle a tractor and helped my brother-in-law to plough, earning Rs10 a day. As I got better, he paid me more. By Grade 9, I was already making Rs500 per day, but had to slow down to prepare for my exams. From an early age I knew I did not want a 9-5 job. There just wasn’t enough money in it. I wanted to get into business, and compared my brother who worked in the post office and what businessmen made. It did not help that my brother was honest, and never took bribes. A friend and I made money selling cheap Chinese phones at a premium to our friends. We blasted music on the phones and pretended that we were giving them a discount. After SLC, I started teaching math and other subjects. I was soon a shareholder in the same school and in the evening I was involved in our family’s floriculture business, growing amaranth and marigold for garlands.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020844_1b54b999d67122a50c4c7e6204cc737bcc99bf2a68db6499a4566a7f61a880b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250831020844_1b54b999d67122a50c4c7e6204cc737bcc99bf2a68db6499a4566a7f61a880b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="955" height="1314" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  It was then that a friend suggested we learn the Korean language. We could be earning significantly higher in Korea for similar efforts. I had no plans to go abroad but he convinced me. I did not know anything about Korea, and was scolded at the language institute when I asked someone to point Korea on the map.&nbsp; It was only there that I learnt you had to pass an exam for the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS), and pay for language classes. After a week, I decided it was not for me and dropped out. But my friend convinced me to give it one more try. I did not prepare much for the exam, and it was no surprise that I failed. But it was just by one mark, and people would pity me for failing “just by one mark”. It was a brand of failure. It hurt my ego. I had to turn things around by taking the exams seriously, and locked myself up to study hard.&nbsp; Even when we had visitors, my wife told them I was not home. If I was not in my room learning Korean, I would be with a group of ten of us test-takers comparing notes and practicing late into the night. The exam was difficult, but this time I passed, the only one in my group who did.&nbsp; As someone who never liked the idea of doing a job, I still had my doubts about going to Korea. It did not help that one of my acquaintances had returned a month after he had left, and he discouraged me from migrating given that I was already making good money in Nepal.&nbsp; But my wife suggested that I give it a shot since I had worked so hard for it. And if it really turned out not to be my cup of tea, I could always return. What did I have to lose, I thought, at least I would get to visit Korea. My job there was in an electrical company that made circuit boards. I worked all day, earned good money. In the evenings, I kept myself busy with my real estate business back in Nepal. I had learnt the tricks of the trade from fellow real estate agents back home, but at the time did not have the capital to invest.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020848_941e961e2045058f255ad89884b51faa7d2365c68236e5cbe573d63d769ac6c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250831020848_941e961e2045058f255ad89884b51faa7d2365c68236e5cbe573d63d769ac6c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  In Korea, it helped that I had salary records that allowed me to get loans from financial institutions both in Korea and in Nepal. Ultimately, I started earning more from my real estate deals in Nepal than from my job in Korea. This was all thanks to my ability to take loans because of the EPS scheme. My wife has been managing the flower business while I was away. My finances grew stronger over the eight years I was in Korea. I paid off the loans that I had borrowed to buy land. But real estate did not satisfy me entirely. I wondered: what is my brand? What will I be known for? What is my contribution to society? Real estate is for wealth, but that is about it. I needed to sell one piece of land and use the revenue to start a venture. I took classes in business, and returned to Nepal six months ago and got back to my family’s ancestral roots in floriculture. In Nepal too, I am continuing the entrepreneurship training I had started in Korea with the Bridge International. Such exposure helps us reflect on our business such as our branding, vision, and proactive aspects like the importance of strong recordkeeping.&nbsp; I am now working to upgrade and expand my floriculture business. With a friend who is still in Korea I am building a cooling room to increase the shelf-life of flowers and other produce and set up a market in my village where others can sell their produce. Floriculture is our primary business, but it is seasonal and earns good money only during festivals like Tihar.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020848_a008ffeba13896e6918f68ff6e687c8fe11140d86a96f1ec11690547f2bcd415.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250831020848_a008ffeba13896e6918f68ff6e687c8fe11140d86a96f1ec11690547f2bcd415" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  So, I grow tomatoes to ensure year-round earnings. I also am engaged in other businesses like real estate and online shopping. I work round the clock in Nepal — a strong work ethic is something I picked up in Korea.&nbsp; My Korean bosses would work alongside us, that motivated us. I work just as hard in Nepal as I did in Korea. People here often ask me why I am pushing myself so hard. But making garlands comes easy to me, it is work my forebears were involved in. My childhood memories are about plucking flowers with my sister. I have a comparative advantage in this work. It comes naturally to me, it is easy and I enjoy it. And sometimes, if there are too many garlands to make, I can multitask while holding meetings. My fingers just fly. I am good at this job, but my wife is even better and faster.&nbsp; When there is too much load, we can also outsource the work. To be known as the flower guy would be great personal branding. The मखमली guy. Or the सयपत्री guy. I decided to come home for just this with a one-way ticket. “अब पासा: जाँदैन ल्हासा!” &nbsp;