As part of a broader series of international displays, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28762/lain-singh-bangdel-mountains-and-migration/">‘Lain Singh Bangdel: Mountains and Migration’</a> will be put up at the fine arts auction house and valuer, Bonhams, London till Tuesday. The exhibition turned auction has been held from 11-21 November, and features twenty-four selected paintings by Bangdel, an acclaimed author, art preservationist, and art historian who died in Kathmandu in 2002 at age 83. His daughter, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/complete-projects-of-Dina-Bangdel,977">Dina Bangdel</a>, who was also a scholar of Asian art, died in 2017. &nbsp; The artist’s son-in-law and Dina’s husband Bibhakar Shakya says he is seeking to immortalise the Bangdel family influence, keeping their passion for art alive in the art scene in Nepal and internationally. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/for-arts-sake/lain-singh-bangdel-s-sigh">Lain Singh Bandgel's 'sigh'</a>, Rajan Sakya “The opening night at Bonhams was a huge success and garnered significant attention with a considerable turnout, a testament to Owen Duffy, the curator and the extremely supportive team at Bonhams,” Shakya told Nepali Times over the phone from London.&nbsp; He added: “I was truly delighted at how well the exhibition was received and I know my late father-in-law and late wife would have been proud.” Initially intended for viewing only, the exhibition became an auction in an effort to test the market. One painting, Song of Himalaya, sold to a private buyer for a significant amount, vindicating Shakya’s value of his father-in-law’s works.&nbsp; “Now that we have a record”, he said, of what an original Bangdel is worth, “we can only go up from here”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023111912110_55d5258fdeec25808e4808b14262ed76a179c600e3065e341b6e10cfff5ff444.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023111912110_55d5258fdeec25808e4808b14262ed76a179c600e3065e341b6e10cfff5ff444" data-rendition-name="original" width="1674" height="1183" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bangdel"> <figcaption>Lain Singh Bangdel (1919-2002) paints a portrait of Balkrishna Sama in 1975. Photos: AGAINST THE CURRENT</figcaption> </figure>  Born in Darjeeling, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lain-singh-bangdel-s-legacy-lives-on">Lain Singh Bangdel</a> (1919-2002) lived a multifaceted life, embarking on a dynamic journey across continents and cultures. He was a friend of Indian film director Satyajit Ray whom he knew in Calcutta. In the 1960s he was invited to Nepal under King Mahendra’s initiative to bring creative Nepali intellectuals home, and this marked a watershed in Bangdel’s career. He was General Secretary of the Nepal Art Council and fronted a Nepali artistic renaissance, writing many books, one of which, Stolen Images from Nepal (1989), served to return stolen artefacts back to their rightful home.&nbsp; The various socio-cultural influences that surrounded Bangdel's upbringing shaped him into not only a prominent artist, but also an acclaimed author, art preservationist, and art historian.&nbsp; In his early years in art, Bangdel graduated top of his class from the Government College of Art &amp; Craft in Kolkata and continued to pursue his passion at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. The dynamic artistic atmosphere of Europe at the time meant Bangdel encountered and developed connections with celebrated contemporaries like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/lain-singh-bangdel-in-new-york">Lain Singh Bandgel in New York</a>, Ashish Dhakal “These artists had an influence on Bangdel's works in the 50s, one can discern the essence of Picasso's Blue Period, evident in the ‘Lady in Blue’ that employs the palette to evoke a sense of melancholy in the viewer,” explained Shakya. He added: “Bangdel conveyed traditional Nepali concepts through the medium of modern art. This unique harmonious fusion of traditional and modern themes, represent the structures and landscapes that shaped his formative years and highlight inspiration he drew from peoples and culture in Nepal.” Dina Bangdel was a respected expert of Asian art and had her father’s passion for Nepali art as well as a commitment to championing emerging Nepali artists. Her early demise in 2017 created a significant void in the South Asian art scene.&nbsp; Dina had a strong wish to continue the legacy woven by her father and wanted to hold exhibitions of her father’s art. “Tragically, that could not happen,” recalls Shakya.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023111912110_cf3e51425f718d4fc152d87256ceaae52229043119b93d94ccb2ee51672de528.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2023111912110_cf3e51425f718d4fc152d87256ceaae52229043119b93d94ccb2ee51672de528" data-rendition-name="original" width="2020" height="1538" loading="lazy" alt="Dina Bangdel"> <figcaption>Dina Bangdel (1963-2017) with husband Bibhakar Shakya who is supervising the auction in Bonhams.</figcaption> </figure>  Shakya is an economist turned art curator, and says he underwent a transformative shift and immersed himself in the art scene after his wife’s death, assuming the responsibility to complete her vision. &nbsp; Shakya acknowledges that Bangdel is not as well-known as his contemporaries in Paris, and through the Bonhams auction and future exhibitions he seeks to broaden his recognition while simultaneously challenging the prevailing belief that one can make a living as an artist in Nepal today.&nbsp; “This perception has hindered the relationship between Bangdel and the modern Nepali, particularly those in the diaspora,” he said. “I’m inspired by the responses of young Nepali professionals in London to the exhibition, and their excitement at having a Nepali artist being exhibited here. I believe that this is what Dina and Lain would have wanted as well.” Shakya says he now wants to fulfill Dina’s vision to trace the artistic journey from Lain Singh Bangdel till the present day art scene, and will be bringing some emerging Nepali artists to Baltimore for an exhibition in 2026.&nbsp; Shakya’s extensive collection holds between up to 770 original Bangdel artworks, with another 60 or so in public institutions. Some of them will be displayed in exhibitions over the next two years in the United States, Hong Kong, and Kathmandu.&nbsp; There is more: Shakya hopes to adapt one of Bangdel’s novels, Langadako Sathi into a movie to be released in early 2024.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023111912118_08433274961c7e02be63e646b94a20e992c5b6bc8ece230ad10068953f478434.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2023111912118_08433274961c7e02be63e646b94a20e992c5b6bc8ece230ad10068953f478434" data-rendition-name="original" width="1166" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel"> <figcaption>Lain SIngh Bandel's self-portrait. Not part of the auction. </figcaption> </figure>  ---  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121112_8572059366f4b03736be93ebb1ba2a5268bcdc03ee913568dda56742345403ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231119121112_8572059366f4b03736be93ebb1ba2a5268bcdc03ee913568dda56742345403ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="3707" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel painting"> <figcaption>Song of Himalaya, Oil on canvas. Bangdel utilises abstraction to capture a moment where the Himalaya emerge out of dense fog. The painting aims to provoke the viewers imagination sonically, to query the sounds from the atmosphere, lending the artwork its name. SOLD</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121112_50cc232f510fb2f33aaf986d8a0c9fdab74020c15f69ed13b76e1caf7fadcdc9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20231119121112_50cc232f510fb2f33aaf986d8a0c9fdab74020c15f69ed13b76e1caf7fadcdc9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1936" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Moon Over Kathmandu, Oil on canvas. Bangdel paints a copper full moon beaming over the fragrant urban tapestry of Kathmandu at dusk. The moon glows over twin peaks and reflects on the cityscape below, encouraging a sense of intrigue as to what the following day holds. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_3056005d630703dba313e0e3fa2eecf0d81dc73f119e20b4b492950ed4553732.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231119121116_3056005d630703dba313e0e3fa2eecf0d81dc73f119e20b4b492950ed4553732" data-rendition-name="original" width="3607" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bangdel paintings"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Valley, Oil on canvas. Bangdel highlights the Kathmandu Valley, and in doing so captures the juxtaposition between the bustling inner city and the calm surrounding landscape.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_460a14c031a72b1687359ab2e3636c9026539157b0d4dbde3cd5c6100d950c7f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20231119121116_460a14c031a72b1687359ab2e3636c9026539157b0d4dbde3cd5c6100d950c7f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1781" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Lady in Blue, Oil on canvas. The utilisation of a blue palette in this painting nods to Picasso's renowned Blue Period. With a brooding subject at its centre, the strategic use of colour seeks to evoke a specific emotional response from the observer — a sense of melancholy.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_2961dfaf984246978a1e9739fa82cf4242ca693da62596f43af666a8b3b8ecaf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20231119121116_2961dfaf984246978a1e9739fa82cf4242ca693da62596f43af666a8b3b8ecaf" data-rendition-name="original" width="2008" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Full Moon Night, Gouache on paper. Painted during Bangdel’s time in Paris, this artwork employs distorted scales and non-linear angles to represent the nocturnal modern city scape – empty yet awaiting exploration.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_8aad13a2d1805f1a0e98f51c0cb190d5f7e4707203a28778c3121d83b9baaecd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20231119121116_8aad13a2d1805f1a0e98f51c0cb190d5f7e4707203a28778c3121d83b9baaecd" data-rendition-name="original" width="2065" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Lady, Oil on canvas. The artwork seeks to represent a recurrent theme in Bangdel’s work: melancholy. The subject is purposefully hunched to address the suffering experienced by an impoverished society. Bangdel wanted to bring awareness to broader social issues.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;

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Lain Singh Bandgel lives on

<figure><img width="1222" height="1796" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13619c7e80680e0a991cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Lain Singh Bangdel, Moon over Kathmandu, 1962, oil on canvas, 32 x 22”. Collection of Mervin Stevens.</figcaption></figure>The first posthumous solo exhibition outside Nepal of paintings by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lain-singh-bangdels-legacy-lives-on/">Lain Singh Bangdel</a> is being held in New York in January, nearly 20 years after <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5250#.YZI2WFVByJA">the artist's passing at age 83</a> in Kathmandu.The exhibition is being held at the Yeh Art Gallery of St. John's University, and will bring together more than 25 of the artist’s works, focusing on his abstract style which was influenced by the start of his professional painting career in Paris in the 1960s.Lain Singh Bangdel: Moon over Kathmandu is being curated by Owen Duffy, the Director of the Yeh Gallery, with the support of Bibhakar Shakya, chair of the Bangdel &amp; Shakya Foundation and married to Lain Singh Bangdel’s daughter, Dina. <figure><img width="1676" height="1706" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13659c7e80680e0a991djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Duffy was a student of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/complete-projects-of-Dina-Bangdel,977">Dina Bangdel</a>, and said that this is a personal project for him. Dina Bangdel died suddenly at age 53 in 2017.“It occurred to me that there hasn’t been a museum exhibition outside Nepal focused on Lain’s work and this seemed like the right moment to look back at his contribution as a foremost modernist in Asia, and his impact on art history,” Duffy told Nepali Times“What we are looking at through the show is how Lain arrived at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/i-m-a-g-i-n-a-t-i-o-n-by-uttam-nepali/">abstraction</a>, why he decided he needed to paint abstractly, and tracing the development of his interest in the mountain ranges that he encountered growing up in Darjeeling and have now come to strongly signify his homeland Nepal,” he added.For Bibhakar Shakya the show is borne of a sense of even more personal responsibility. He was married to Dina Bangdel until her untimely demise four years ago, and reflected that he and Dina had always talked about organising an exhibition of her father’s works. “It became a matter of urgency once Dina passed away,”  said Bibhakar Shakya from Richmond in Virginia, where he is preparing for the exhibition. “It was almost as if I didn’t do it, it was never going to happen.” <figure><img width="1500" height="1088" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13699c7e80680e0a991ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The urgency is especially relevant now in light of the growing trend towards <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/us-museum-returns-stolen-nepal-god/">repatriation from Europe and North America of stolen holy objects from Nepal</a>. Lain Singh Bangdel produced groundbreaking research on the Nepali art history, documented in Early Sculptures of Nepal (1982), 2500 Years of Nepalese Art (German Edition, 1985), Stolen Images of Nepal (1989), and Inventory of Stone Sculptures of the Kathmandu Valley (1991). “At present, many Nepalis in Nepal and abroad do not know of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lain-singh-bangdels-legacy-lives-on/">Lain Singh Bangdel’s legacy</a>, work and his contribution,” Shakya added. “Now seems like the perfect time to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/lain-singh-bangdels-sigh/">reintroduce him</a> to the world and especially to the younger generation of art enthusiasts, historians and Nepalis.”Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10689#.YZI1ZVVByJA">Lain's legacy</a>, Sraddha BasnyatThis is echoed by Owen Duffy, who remarked that the study and development of modernism has been largely limited in Europe and the US, and the exhibition looks to reassess that. “As an art historian with international focus and global interest, I believe that we should reconsider the history of modernism and what we show in our museums and galleries,” he said. “When you look at Lain’s output as a painter, novelist, art historian, preservationist and academician, he becomes a very important figure who has travelled through intellectual circles all around the world.” <figure><img width="200" height="277" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d136c9c7e80680e0a991fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1000" height="1424" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d136d9c7e80680e0a9920jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2399" height="3273" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13719c7e80680e0a9921jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The paintings at the New York exhibition have come from all over the world: the Bangdel residence in Kathmandu, Bibhakar Shakya’s home in Virginia, several have been borrowed from collectors in New Hampshire, Arizona, and from people who knew Lain Singh Bangdel. This is an extensive body of work but not an exhaustive collection of Bangdel’s prolific artwork. A lot of the paintings have not been exhibited before, and certainly not together. The exhibition will take place from 27 January through 9 April 2022, and is primarily an academic and aesthetic exploration of Lain Singh’s œuvre, as opposed to a commercial gallery display.  There will also be a <a href="https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=MkgnRBbVZoA&amp;fbclid=IwAR25rPm1W4rQsXcOhzfxMxTwql8QwdrZ6EShIm4Tp99Q31p1cQ_ChaUTY4s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">3D walk-through live</a> on the <a href="https://sjuartgallery.org/Lain-Singh-Bangdel-Moon-over-Kathmandu">exhibition website</a> for enthusiasts unable to visit in person. A complete catalogue will also be available at bookshops in Kathmandu.

Ashish Dhakal

Lain Singh Bangdel in New York

<figure><img width="4916" height="1673" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf1f89c7e80680e09d8dajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The original torona over a door in Mulchok of Patan Darbar Square in early 70s. Photo: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA. And after the 12 gilded bronze figures were stolen from the frieze in 1984. Photo: ELFRIEDE MOELLER.</figcaption></figure>Even though smuggled Nepali religious objects are starting to be returned to the country from museums and collectors in the West, gilded figures stolen from a temple in Patan 40 years ago are going up for auction in Paris this week.The five gilded copper-bronze images of <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/8/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7mJbqkuTE9UN6m-7_0LYaiYQ8XQ">Nrityanath</a>, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/10/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/10/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEz4FY3QxYWX-ajjca-us3O2ZFiVg">Mahalaxmi</a>, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/11/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGPHer28HHdclqxzcTf223rrLInSA">Chamunda</a>, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/12/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH-qYDQhec_Y8GefnPJ4YemWm0ugA">Shiva Gana (Bhairab)</a>, and <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/9/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/9/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGzMdQX7qDVXKuuW0LieGbwkItrrQ">Panchmukhi Hanuman (Hanu Bhairab</a>) that were among 12 on a 16th century frieze at the south door of the Mulchok of the Taleju Bhavani Temple in Patan.The objects which were individually wrenched out of the torana in the 1970s and 1980s are now going under the gavel at the<a href="https://www.bonhams.com/search/?q=nepal&amp;main_index_key=lot&amp;fbclid=IwAR08FrLJGybL4CN9zmFKI1jHZhMFs1DHIegVeWPfDBRRsaJOy0u0NbO66H0#/ah0_0=lot&amp;q0=nepal&amp;c0_0=FR&amp;MR0_display=search&amp;m0=0?q=nepal"> Art Bouddhiste et Hindou de l'Himalaya in Bonhams, Paris from 1-10 June through Himalayan Art Online</a>. The asking price is from 3,000 to 5,000 euros.The original gilded bronzes from the torana were first recorded in the early 1970s by Indian art historian BN Banerjee in his book, Architecture of Nepal for the Archaeological Survey of India. Art historian Mary Slusser had also documented pictures of the original statues before they were stolen one by one.  The thefts were documented in German scholar Jurgen Schick’s book, Gods are Leaving the Country: Art Theft from Nepal, in which he writes, ‘One of the most odious cases of art theft in Nepal was the plundering of the torona of the Taleju Bhavani temple in the royal palace of Patan.’ The auction was first spotted  by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lostartsofnepal">Lost Arts of Nepal </a>who tracked the ongoing auction at Bonhams, Paris  on its Facebook page on Thursday.  <figure><img width="1080" height="810" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf1fb9c7e80680e09d8dbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Altogether 12 precious bronzes of the goddess Durga and her retinue dating to the 16th century were stolen from this site alone, and the torana was stripped bare. Later these bronzes were put up for sale by an auction house in Stuttgart in Germany.  “Of 12 statues that were torn out of the torana, thankfully five have now surfaced at the auction in Paris, so we now know where they are. I hope in the near future we will find the other seven as well, and they will be returned to Nepal,” says Rohit Ranjitkar of Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT) who is involved in the restoration of temples and monuments in Patan.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/replicating-nepals-stolen-gods/#:~:text=A%20museum%20of%20copies&amp;text=Bhaktapur%20architect%20Rabindra%20Puri,many%20of%20its%20religious%20objects.">Replicating Nepal's stolen gods</a>, Alisha SijapatiOn 15 April, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-homecoming-of-nepals-gods/">Nepal welcomed back an 800-year-old Laxmi-Narayan figure from the US</a>, which was stolen nearly 40 years ago from Patan’s Patko Tole. The statue was first located in 1990 at a Sotheby’s auction and was later spotted at the Dallas Museum of Art. Since then, four other statues have been returned to Nepal from collectors and museums in the United States: a 13th century carved temple eave depicting an Apsara, a 14th-century gold seated Buddha in Bhumisparsa Mudra, a 15th century seated Ganesh, and a 13th-century Chaturmukhi Shivalinga from Art Institute of Chicago. <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/emilinesmith/">Emiline Smith</a>, lecturer of Criminology at the University of Glasgow says, "Many countries around the world have been deprived of their rich cultural heritage for centuries through the exploitative and colonial looting and trafficking of cultural objects. Those countries have requested their cultural heritage back for decades, and now it finally seems like the 'repatriation debate' is gaining momentum.""While museums have attempted to work with claimants to return heritage as part of their decolonisation efforts, much more work needs to be done in this area - and not only by museums, but also by private collectors, auction houses and other stakeholders. Much like museums, auction houses including Bonhams should hold the objects they trade to the highest level of scrutiny," Smith says. <figure><img width="2048" height="1722" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf1fd9c7e80680e09d8dcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2010, a bronze Garuda water spout, the centrepiece of the Sundari Chok in Patan Darbar Square, was also stolen. However, it was retrieved by police a year later in Kathmandu before it could be smuggled out of the country.The exquisitely carved original figure is now on display at the National Museum in Kathmandu, while the Sundari Chok has a replica bronze created by artisans at the KVPT. In 2013, the Department of Archaeology had also approached the KVPT team to make replicas of the 12 figures from the Mulchok of Taleju Temple torana. “The torana had been stripped bare, and we had to refer to the original photographs to make replicas when we restored the Mulchok,” Ranjitkar told Nepali Times. There is now moral and diplomatic pressure being brought to bear on Bonhams to stop the auction. Roshan Mishra, director of Taragaon Museum in Kathmandu has reached out to the auction house in Paris with evidence of the origin of the statues, and that the stolen items should be returned to Nepal.“This is groundbreaking news for us that five of the 12 stolen antiquities have been located, we have to bring them back like the other statues from American museums,” says Mishra.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/us-museum-returns-stolen-nepal-god/">US museum returns stolen Nepal god</a>, Alisha Sijapati <figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf2009c7e80680e09d8ddjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf2039c7e80680e09d8dejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf2059c7e80680e09d8dfjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="854" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf2079c7e80680e09d8e0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf20a9c7e80680e09d8e1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Department of Archaeology in Kathmandu, the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nepal Embassy in France have already started the process to halt the auction immediately. Sanjay Adhikari, a heritage activist and lawyer says, “Nepal’s religious objects were being actively worshipped, they are not decorative art to be auctioned or kept in museums. They are not just metal or stone objects but our gods and goddesses we have been worshiping for generations and need to revere for generations to come.” Adhikari has already filed an application at the Department of Archaeology and UNESCO Kathmandu office for the return of the Mulchok figures. He says since France has always been a pioneer advocate for heritage conservation and where the UNESCO headquarters is located, its government should realise that its global reputation is at stake. He says, “This is a moral as well as a legal obligation of the government of France and  I hope there will be positive intervention from it and from UNESCO to bring our gods home.” Suresh Lakhe of Patan Museum says, “I knew that they were stolen in the 1970s, and just like the Laxmi-Narayan statue that was returned from the US will be restored to its original shrine in Patkotole these figures also belong in Mulchok. These are our gods."<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-gods-return-from-exile/">Nepal's gods return from exile</a>, Alisha Sijapati <figure><img width="1662" height="968" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131140/636cf20d9c7e80680e09d8e2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Even while effort is on to suspend the Bonhams auction, there are two other stolen religious objects from Patan that are in a warehouse of the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet in France (a 12th-century Vishnu with Laxmi and Garuda, which was stolen from Chyasal in Patan in late 1970s and another 12th-century statue of Uma-Mahesvar stolen on the night of 23 May, 1984 from Nasmanatol in Bhaktapur) which also need to be returned.  <figure><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131144/636cf2109c7e80680e09d8e3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131144/636cf2139c7e80680e09d8e4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Art historian Lain Singh Bangdel had documented these two stolen figures in his book Stolen Images of Nepal. Bangdel's late daughter Dina was working with the curator at the Guimet to get the statues back to Nepal before she died in 2017. American art crime professor Erin Thompson says, “Museums have started to wake up to the reality that stolen Nepali art needs to go back to Nepal. But dealers, auction houses, and many collectors are still ignoring the continuing crime of depriving Nepal of its heritage. The only way to stop the market in stolen cultural heritage is to stop the demand. No one should be buying cultural artifacts from Nepal because ever example of ancient or sacred artifacts from Nepal whether in a museum or on the market, was stolen.”

Nepal wants stolen antiquities returned from France

<figure><img width="4916" height="1673" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91189c7e80680e06f0cbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The original torona over a door in Mulchok of Patan Darbar Square in early 70s. Photo: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA. And after the 12 gilded bronze figures were stolen from the frieze in 1984. Photo: ELFRIEDE MOELLER.</figcaption></figure>Even though smuggled Nepali religious objects are starting to be returned to the country from museums and collectors in the West, gilded figures stolen from a temple in Patan 40 years ago are going up for auction in Paris this week.The five gilded copper-bronze images of <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/8/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7mJbqkuTE9UN6m-7_0LYaiYQ8XQ">Nrityanath</a>, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/10/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/10/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEz4FY3QxYWX-ajjca-us3O2ZFiVg">Mahalaxmi</a>, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/11/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGPHer28HHdclqxzcTf223rrLInSA">Chamunda</a>, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/12/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH-qYDQhec_Y8GefnPJ4YemWm0ugA">Shiva Gana (Bhairab)</a>, and <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/9/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27185/lot/9/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622807155775000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGzMdQX7qDVXKuuW0LieGbwkItrrQ">Panchmukhi Hanuman (Hanu Bhairab</a>) that were among 12 on a 16th century frieze at the south door of the Mulchok of the Taleju Bhavani Temple in Patan.The objects which were individually wrenched out of the torana in the 1970s and 1980s are now going under the gavel at the<a href="https://www.bonhams.com/search/?q=nepal&amp;main_index_key=lot&amp;fbclid=IwAR08FrLJGybL4CN9zmFKI1jHZhMFs1DHIegVeWPfDBRRsaJOy0u0NbO66H0#/ah0_0=lot&amp;q0=nepal&amp;c0_0=FR&amp;MR0_display=search&amp;m0=0?q=nepal"> Art Bouddhiste et Hindou de l'Himalaya in Bonhams, Paris from 1-10 June through Himalayan Art Online</a>. The asking price is from 3,000 to 5,000 euros.The original gilded bronzes from the torana were first recorded in the early 1970s by Indian art historian BN Banerjee in his book, Architecture of Nepal for the Archaeological Survey of India. Art historian Mary Slusser had also documented pictures of the original statues before they were stolen one by one.  The thefts were documented in German scholar Jurgen Schick’s book, Gods are Leaving the Country: Art Theft from Nepal, in which he writes, ‘One of the most odious cases of art theft in Nepal was the plundering of the torona of the Taleju Bhavani temple in the royal palace of Patan.’ The auction was first spotted  by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lostartsofnepal">Lost Arts of Nepal </a>who tracked the ongoing auction at Bonhams, Paris  on its Facebook page on Thursday.  <figure><img width="1080" height="810" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b911b9c7e80680e06f0ccjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Altogether 12 precious bronzes of the goddess Durga and her retinue dating to the 16th century were stolen from this site alone, and the torana was stripped bare. Later these bronzes were put up for sale by an auction house in Stuttgart in Germany.  “Of 12 statues that were torn out of the torana, thankfully five have now surfaced at the auction in Paris, so we now know where they are. I hope in the near future we will find the other seven as well, and they will be returned to Nepal,” says Rohit Ranjitkar of Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT) who is involved in the restoration of temples and monuments in Patan.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/replicating-nepals-stolen-gods/#:~:text=A%20museum%20of%20copies&amp;text=Bhaktapur%20architect%20Rabindra%20Puri,many%20of%20its%20religious%20objects.">Replicating Nepal's stolen gods</a>, Alisha SijapatiOn 15 April, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-homecoming-of-nepals-gods/">Nepal welcomed back an 800-year-old Laxmi-Narayan figure from the US</a>, which was stolen nearly 40 years ago from Patan’s Patko Tole. The statue was first located in 1990 at a Sotheby’s auction and was later spotted at the Dallas Museum of Art. Since then, four other statues have been returned to Nepal from collectors and museums in the United States: a 13th century carved temple eave depicting an Apsara, a 14th-century gold seated Buddha in Bhumisparsa Mudra, a 15th century seated Ganesh, and a 13th-century Chaturmukhi Shivalinga from Art Institute of Chicago. <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/emilinesmith/">Emiline Smith</a>, lecturer of Criminology at the University of Glasgow says, "Many countries around the world have been deprived of their rich cultural heritage for centuries through the exploitative and colonial looting and trafficking of cultural objects. Those countries have requested their cultural heritage back for decades, and now it finally seems like the 'repatriation debate' is gaining momentum.""While museums have attempted to work with claimants to return heritage as part of their decolonisation efforts, much more work needs to be done in this area - and not only by museums, but also by private collectors, auction houses and other stakeholders. Much like museums, auction houses including Bonhams should hold the objects they trade to the highest level of scrutiny," Smith says. <figure><img width="2048" height="1722" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b911e9c7e80680e06f0cdjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2010, a bronze Garuda water spout, the centrepiece of the Sundari Chok in Patan Darbar Square, was also stolen. However, it was retrieved by police a year later in Kathmandu before it could be smuggled out of the country.The exquisitely carved original figure is now on display at the National Museum in Kathmandu, while the Sundari Chok has a replica bronze created by artisans at the KVPT. In 2013, the Department of Archaeology had also approached the KVPT team to make replicas of the 12 figures from the Mulchok of Taleju Temple torana. “The torana had been stripped bare, and we had to refer to the original photographs to make replicas when we restored the Mulchok,” Ranjitkar told Nepali Times. There is now moral and diplomatic pressure being brought to bear on Bonhams to stop the auction. Roshan Mishra, director of Taragaon Museum in Kathmandu has reached out to the auction house in Paris with evidence of the origin of the statues, and that the stolen items should be returned to Nepal.“This is groundbreaking news for us that five of the 12 stolen antiquities have been located, we have to bring them back like the other statues from American museums,” says Mishra.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/us-museum-returns-stolen-nepal-god/">US museum returns stolen Nepal god</a>, Alisha Sijapati <figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91229c7e80680e06f0cejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91249c7e80680e06f0cfjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91279c7e80680e06f0d0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="854" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91299c7e80680e06f0d1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="974" height="1299" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b912c9c7e80680e06f0d2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Department of Archaeology in Kathmandu, the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nepal Embassy in France have already started the process to halt the auction immediately. Sanjay Adhikari, a heritage activist and lawyer says, “Nepal’s religious objects were being actively worshipped, they are not decorative art to be auctioned or kept in museums. They are not just metal or stone objects but our gods and goddesses we have been worshiping for generations and need to revere for generations to come.” Adhikari has already filed an application at the Department of Archaeology and UNESCO Kathmandu office for the return of the Mulchok figures. He says since France has always been a pioneer advocate for heritage conservation and where the UNESCO headquarters is located, its government should realise that its global reputation is at stake. He says, “This is a moral as well as a legal obligation of the government of France and  I hope there will be positive intervention from it and from UNESCO to bring our gods home.” Suresh Lakhe of Patan Museum says, “I knew that they were stolen in the 1970s, and just like the Laxmi-Narayan statue that was returned from the US will be restored to its original shrine in Patkotole these figures also belong in Mulchok. These are our gods."<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-gods-return-from-exile/">Nepal's gods return from exile</a>, Alisha Sijapati <figure><img width="1662" height="968" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b912f9c7e80680e06f0d3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Even while effort is on to suspend the Bonhams auction, there are two other stolen religious objects from Patan that are in a warehouse of the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet in France (a 12th-century Vishnu with Laxmi and Garuda, which was stolen from Chyasal in Patan in late 1970s and another 12th-century statue of Uma-Mahesvar stolen on the night of 23 May, 1984 from Nasmanatol in Bhaktapur) which also need to be returned.  <figure><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91329c7e80680e06f0d4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b91359c7e80680e06f0d5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Art historian Lain Singh Bangdel had documented these two stolen figures in his book Stolen Images of Nepal. Bangdel's late daughter Dina was working with the curator at the Guimet to get the statues back to Nepal before she died in 2017. American art crime professor Erin Thompson says, “Museums have started to wake up to the reality that stolen Nepali art needs to go back to Nepal. But dealers, auction houses, and many collectors are still ignoring the continuing crime of depriving Nepal of its heritage. The only way to stop the market in stolen cultural heritage is to stop the demand. No one should be buying cultural artifacts from Nepal because ever example of ancient or sacred artifacts from Nepal whether in a museum or on the market, was stolen.”

<figure><img width="1674" height="1183" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be05c9c7e80680e083decjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Lain Singh Bangdel paints a portrait of Balkrishna Sama in 1975. Photos: AGAINST THE CURRENT</figcaption></figure>On 15 September, a UK-based art promotion site <a href="https://www.mutualart.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mutualart.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE3SpprZpTpefc5k_Hh2j2r_Bj_CQ">MutualArt</a> sent an auction notification to its over 500,000 members. For sale was a rare <a href="https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Portrait-of-a-woman/C49A79DE6005AF77" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Portrait-of-a-woman/C49A79DE6005AF77&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHf4cYX4xtCiZ-LCNgRJCxi9eagqQ">1955 watercolour painting of a woman</a>, and it bore the signature of Nepal’s foremost artist, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10689#.X6YzQvMzbIU">Lain Singh Bangdel</a>. Within two days of the announcement, the painting was bought for £100, and that price understandably left Nepal’s artist community, connoisseurs of Nepali art and Bangdel's own family members disappointed.  “The 100 pound auction price is extremely low for someone of Bangdel’s stature,” stated <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/sangeeta-thapa-siddhartha-art-gallery,1999" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/sangeeta-thapa-siddhartha-art-gallery,1999&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG0Y5AFU_KZiOpfahtSFiGUyvzn0A">Sangeeta Thapa</a>, art curator and director of Siddhartha Art Gallery. “Nepali artists and their artwork are finally getting the momentum they deserve, but this is dismal.” Thapa is a lifelong admirer of Bangdel’s work, and says she owes a lot to “Lainji” to launch her own career in art. She worked with Bangdel’s daugher, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/complete-projects-of-Dina-Bangdel,977" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/complete-projects-of-Dina-Bangdel,977&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGN6hVbf3QAml5WljY2V0fa8OItlQ">Dina, in promoting Nepali art in the international arena</a>. Dina’s sudden death left a deep void in the country’s art scene,  Thapa says, and Nepal will probably never have a better father-daughter duo than of the Bangdels.   <figure><img width="575" height="506" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be05f9c7e80680e083dedjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The auction in September was organised by the UK-based <a href="https://www.burstowandhewett.co.uk/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.burstowandhewett.co.uk/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo7PvTRCwnTcPrJ8G6XcDcQ-EVGQ">Burstow &amp; Hewett </a>via <a href="https://www.burstowandhewett.co.uk/sales/fine-art/pisep20/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.burstowandhewett.co.uk/sales/fine-art/pisep20/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH7rEVbHOY9c8O-eY4MYdBEIaVz9w">The Abbey Auction Gallery</a>, and the watercolour portrait was <a href="https://www.burstowandhewett.co.uk/Lot/?sale=PISEP20&amp;lot=1063&amp;id=173473&amp;fl=1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.burstowandhewett.co.uk/Lot/?sale%3DPISEP20%26lot%3D1063%26id%3D173473%26fl%3D1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNED8QGiR_Cc1dpZYGasp2TRYUAt3Q">under the lot #1063</a>. But this is not the only Bangdel painting that has been sold abroad at such a low price: three other abstracts were sold via a Canadian auction house, <a href="http://westbridge-fineart.com/site/past_auctions_artist.php?artistID=2434" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://westbridge-fineart.com/site/past_auctions_artist.php?artistID%3D2434&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjfdJ_50ObljctOQ5i5PVeoV52uA">Westbridge Fine Art Auction House</a>, in 2016 and 2017, each at less than 700 Canadian dollars.  “In places like Canada, we can assume people haven't heard enough about Bangdel and that could be what determined the price,” says art crime professor Erin L Thompson at the City University of New York.  <figure><img width="2247" height="1780" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0619c7e80680e083deejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Dina’s husband Bibhakar Shakya is also saddened to see the latest auction price: “Most of the paintings are in our collection at home, and my father-in-law never really sold paintings, he mostly gifted them in the later years of his life.” Shakya has been keeping Lain Singh Bangdel’s legacy alive with their son Deven, cataloguing the collection of 300 to 350 of his father-in-law’s paintings at their home in Sanepa. He also plans to publish the English translation of Bangdel’s book Langada Ko Sathi, and find a permanent gallery for the paintings. “It was Dina’s dream to carry on in her father’s footstep, it is my responsibility to pick things up from where she left,” says Shakya, who says Bangdel could write as beautifully as he painted.  <figure><img width="2020" height="1538" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0649c7e80680e083defjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Lain Singh Bangdel was born to Ranglal Rai in 1919 near Darjeeling. As a child, he would paint everywhere, even on the walls of his home and street with images of gods and goddesses. Ranglal worked at a tea estate, and one day came home with a small collection of postcards given to him by his British employer. Bangdel was only eight then, but the images of various Impressionists and post-Impressionist artists, Corot, Millet, Monet, Manet and Turner were etched in his young mind. More than the others, Bangdel said later it was the French painter Corot whose work ‘captured his soul’ and inspired him to pursue his passion. <figure><img width="1649" height="1171" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0689c7e80680e083df0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It was only in high school that Bangdel came to realise that he wanted to be an artist. In 1939, he joined Calcutta Arts College. Calcutta was where that he met Indian filmmaker <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006249/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006249/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHNpaQ9mmB5ZQwZo_Mfl-lUXZmj_Q">Satyajit Ray</a>, and the two became lifelong friends.  <figure><img width="2896" height="2172" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be06b9c7e80680e083df1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 1952, Bangdel enrolled at the French National Art School in Paris. Part of the cost was defrayed in a strange way. Bangdel had painted a portrait of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5358#.X6UZz_MzbIV" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5358%23.X6UZz_MzbIV&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEG3zMlfDX5XNzjDsUEoGIseToh8w">Balkrishna Sama</a> and it impressed <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9501#.X6UaAvMzbIU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D9501%23.X6UaAvMzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFrENWu78o6z5FCWgw9aUOc4ufOqw">General Keshar Shumsher Rana</a> so much that he sent over Rs5,000, quite a hefty sum in those days. In Paris, Bangdel was introduced to the works of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, and he was deeply influenced by their style. But he felt the tug of home, and was taken by Laxmi Prasad Devkota’s Muna Madan which impacted on his paintings and writings. Bangdel later used the epic as a theme for his most famous impressionistic works.  In later years, Bangdel went on to receive many national and international awards, including the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Order of the Crown of Italy (Commendatore) for his contribution to the study of Nepal’s early history and art. In 1987, Bangdel was awarded the honorary Knight Commander of the Victorian Order by Queen Elizabeth II. <figure><img width="1895" height="2110" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be06e9c7e80680e083df2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5250#.X6VWdC8RoWp" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5250%23.X6VWdC8RoWp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcf_62OVWo_-TUZkYijYXSL3krjA">Bangdel died in October 2002</a> in Lalitpur at age 83. Two decades have passed, and many young Nepalis have never heard of him. His son-in-law Shakya wants to change this. “It is due to Lain Singh Bangdel that Nepal’s modern and contemporary art started being noticed internationally, and we have to keep his works alive,” he says.Lain Singh Bandgel was not just a painter, he was also an established writer, art historian and to a select few, a passionate art teacher. His daughter <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=730#.X6QrN_MzbIU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D730%23.X6QrN_MzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG4e2MptePoy33qjAEsq7WCx5Aqsg">Dina Bangdel </a>carried forward his legacy until her own untimely death in 2017. After Paris, Bangdel travelled to London in 1957 where he received a letter from his friend B P Koirala to return to Nepal. Koirala went on to become Nepal’s first democratically elected prime minister, but within a year was removed in a coup by King Mahendra in 1960. It was then Mahendra who convinced Bangdel and his wife Manu to return from Europe to Nepal. <figure><img width="1663" height="1128" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0729c7e80680e083df3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 1961 after moving to Kathmandu, Bangdel got a job at the Royal Nepal Academy and eventually became its vice-chancellor. He later went on to become the founding general-secretary of Nepal Art Council and the New Art Circle, where he taught 15 talented new artists for free. Bangdel also wrote three Nepali-language novels between 1948 to 1951, Muluk Bahira, Maitighar and Langada Ko Sathi. They were tales of struggle and hardship of families in the mountains. Bangdel’s eyes saw the world: he lived through wars and revolutions, he saw pain, angst and misery all around him, and he transferred them to canvas and text.In later years, Bangdel went on to become an art historian and was an activist lobbying for the return of Nepal’s stolen religious objects. He wrote Early Sculptures of Nepal (1982), 2500 years of Nepali Art (1987), and Inventory of Stone Sculptures of the Kathmandu Valley (1995). However, his most important book, and one that is still as relevant today as when it was written in 1989, is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7311#.X6UZPfMzbIU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D7311%23.X6UZPfMzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH5Yk-MQGvHmA-5UneCXMyxiOpucg">Stolen Images of Nepal</a> which documented 300 missing religious objects from Kathmandu. Most of them are still missing. <figure><img width="1653" height="949" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0759c7e80680e083df4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bangdel built the home in Sanepa with his wife Manu Kumari Thapa, a nurse, who figures prominently in his biography, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Against-Current-Bangdel-Historian-Portraits/dp/9745240524" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Against-Current-Bangdel-Historian-Portraits/dp/9745240524&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604809161009000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEKKvPhdTxzG6gPTPEjJ4svNAbh3Q">Against the Current: Life of Lain Singh Bangdel</a>. In the book, Bangdel narrates his beautiful love story with Manu and her undying support for all his work. She went on to become a matron in Prasuti Griha, and is now in her mid-90s, still living in the home she built with her husband in Sanepa.  Dina was the sunshine of Lain Singh and Manu’s life. An only child, she was her father’s confidante in the later part of career as an art historian, and shared the same passion for Nepal’s heritage and their preservation. Dina Bangdel and Bandana Thapa were childhood friends, and they used to walk school from home together during which Dina would share extraordinary stories of her adventures with her father, of going to various heritage sites and taking pictures. “I remember Dina’s excitement when she narrated her father’s work to document stolen idols and we could all feel her passion even when young,” Bandana Thapa recalls.  <figure><img width="640" height="959" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0789c7e80680e083df5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Dina’s death left a lot of her work to preserve her father’s legacy incomplete. But Lain Singh Bangdel lives on through the brush strokes of his students, some of whom have now become accomplished artists themselves.Abstract painter Jeevan Rajopadhayay studied under Bangdel till the year he died, and has only fond memories of a gentle and patient teacher. “If it wasn’t for Bangdel Sir, maybe I would never have been an artist in the first place,” he said. Rajopadhayay was also shocked by how little his teacher’s painting fetched in an European auction. He said: “Even in the nineties, Bangdel’s paintings were selling for at least Rs500,000 in Japan’s Fukushima Museum. He is the father of Nepal’s modern art. We need to value his work more.” <figure><img width="2264" height="1766" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be07c9c7e80680e083df6jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Excerpts from Against the Current: The Life of Lain Singh Bangdel:Bangdel’s life:Lain Singh changed his name from Rai to Bangdel in 1939, and as Lain Singh Bangdel he eventually became an able interpreter of Nepal’s economic and intellectual Diaspora, with its poverty and personal sorrows in villages existing side by side with the comparatively rich and inspiring intellectuals of towns. The socio-cultural traditions that the youthful Lain Singh grew up among profoundly flavored his life, guiding his scholarly development throughout a distinguished and multi-faceted career. B P Koirala's letter to Lain Singh Bangdel: <img width="640" height="683" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be07f9c7e80680e083df7jpeg.jpg" alt="">Meeting Satyajit Ray for the first time:The table where Lain sat belonged to someone named Ray who was away from the office for a few days, he was told. 'One morning near the end of my first week at about 10 o'clock, a tall and imposing man I'd never seen walked in and came directly to my desk. He spoke to me in Bengali: 'Arrey, kokhon eley?' (Hello, when did you arrive?) It was Ray's typical greeting on first meeting someone, a hallmark of his personality. Then he said, 'This is my table. Are you sitting here?'Lain did not know what to say. He had not been introduced. Then the stranger asked somebody, 'Why don't you provide another place for this gentleman?' Only then did Ganguli come over and introduce the stranger as Satyajit Ray whom he addressed familiarly as 'Manik Babu'.Space for Lain was arranged right next to Ray and in time they got to know each other, who each was, their interests and so forth. They were immediately attracted to one another, as fellow artists and inspired young intellectuals.  <img width="500" height="680" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0829c7e80680e083df8jpeg.jpg" alt="">Against the Current: The Life of Lain Singh Bangdel Writer, Painter and Art Historian of Nepal by Don Messerschmidt with Dina BangdelOrchid Press, 21 July 2006258 pagesRead also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=730#.X6YzRfMzbIU">Dina, the daughter Bangdel</a>, Dhruba Simkhada<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11342#.X6Yz7PMzbIU">Return of the gods</a>, Sujata Tuladhar<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10689#.X6Yz6PMzbIU">Lain's legacy</a>, Sraddha Basnyat

Lain Singh Bangdel’s legacy lives on

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936eb9c7e80680e03fe07jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Paintings of the Nepal Art Now Exhibition are in pre-display at Nepal Art Council for the next two weeks before being taken to Welt Museum in Vienna including this triptych by Sunil Sigdel. Photos: NEPAL ART COUNCIL</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.weltmuseumwien.at/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Weltmuseum Wien,</a> one of the most renowned ethnographic museums in the world, is organising a first-of-its kind exhibition to showcase the best works of Nepali contemporary and traditional art to a worldwide audience.Weltmuseum is collaborating with the Nepal Art Council, a national institution founded in 1962 to promote the arts and artists in Nepal, is the home-country partner and collaborator for this project.The Nepal Art Now Exhibition is scheduled for 11 April–05 November 2019 in Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and home to the great Hapsburg connoisseurs of the arts.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/artivists-at-the-bank/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Artivists at the Bank</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936ee9c7e80680e03fe08jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">This exhibition will include 100 art works by 37 Nepali artists and will be the first major exhibition of Nepali art outside Nepal. The selection has been carefully curated by Christian Shicklgruber, Director of the Weltmuseum in Vienna and assisted by Nepal Art Council. It will be showcased at Welt Museum, which used to be the Hofburg Imperial Palace.The project was conceived in 2016, by the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/complete-projects-of-Dina-Bangdel,977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">late Dina Bangdel</a>, and was co-curated by Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha from the Nepal Art Council Council. The project was coordinated by Sagar SJB Rana, Vice-President of the Council.“The exhibition will include original art works by the premier artists dating from the 1950s, the senior and the young emerging artists of today will compliment and enrich the collection,” Rana said.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936f29c7e80680e03fe09jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">Some of the art were commissioned especially for the Vienna exhibition, while others were borrowed from collectors and the artists directly. The art works are embedded in the culture and traditions of Nepal but also discuss and probe into current international issues and social concerns, giving them a global relevance.Art historians emphasise the overriding influence of the art of the European masters in the evolution of contemporary art in Asia. The exhibition will demonstrate this cultural cross-pollination and and serve to highlight Nepali talent that builds on the country’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-craft-of-art/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traditional art-forms fused to modern influences and techniques</a>. The curators say that the works of Nepali artists underline the coming of age of Asian contemporary art that now compares well with the best works in the West.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636936f59c7e80680e03fe0ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">While art works will dominate the exhibition, some outstanding sculptures and a few representative pieces of traditional metal, wooden and stone art will also be on display in Vienna to demonstrate and inform the international art community and visitors that these genre of art forms occupy equally important and vibrant space in the art of Nepal.A pre-show exhibition will be held at the Nepal Art Council 13-21 December before the pieces are flown to Vienna.Nepal Art Now Pre-ExhibitionNepal Art CouncilBaber Mahal13-21 December

Nepal Art Now in Vienna

Many of us former Nepal Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) would agree that our time in Nepal changed in significant but very different ways our perspectives on life if not the future paths we chose to follow. Of no one was this truer than Dorothy Mierow. Dorothy was born in 1920, in Colorado Springs. Her father Charles C Mierow was a classics scholar and Latin professor, who served for ten years as president of Colorado College.&nbsp; Dorothy developed an interest in animals as a child, graduated with a BA degree in natural history from Carlton College in 1942, a Master’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and another Master’s in geography from the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; As a young woman, Dorothy traveled with her father throughout Europe, including a visit to ancient Greek ruins, and took a Magellan Tour by cruise ship around the world in 1958.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262" data-rendition-name="original" width="903" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Dorothy Mierow as a college student in her native Colorado.</figcaption> </figure>  She was a college teacher during much of the 1940s, also teaching at a girls’ school in Hawaii. Then back to her native Colorado in 1953, where she became a curator and later director of the Colorado College Natural History Museum. She taught geography classes, and in her free time, Dorothy climbed 22 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Traveling in India in 1960, Dorothy decided to spend two weeks in Nepal. In late 1961, she filled out an application to join the Peace Corps and specified that she wanted to go to Nepal, ‘because I admired the people so much when my father and I were there on our trip’.&nbsp; Dorothy reached Kathmandu in September 1962 as the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. She stood out from the others: one of the few women in that group, surely the oldest at age 41, a world traveler, and a woman who already had established a professional career.&nbsp; One doubts if Dorothy had had a husband and children whether she would ever have gone to work and spend much of the rest of her life in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515" data-rendition-name="original" width="1259" height="910" loading="lazy" alt="How th Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life NT"> <figcaption>Pokhara Bazar in 1962.</figcaption> </figure>  The Peace Corps assigned Dorothy to teach geography at Tri-Chandra College. After the school closed in the winter due to lack of heating, USAID and the College of Education asked Dorothy to help train general science teachers.&nbsp; She taught for two months and became involved in a textbook-writing project, commenting: ‘I would like the children to know something about public health, conservation (the trees are going fast and so is the soil), and learn the names of some of their common birds, trees, and flowers. They are more impressed with electricity, airplanes, and cell structure.’ When a new college opened in Pokhara in 1963, Dorothy was transferred there and lived with a Nepali family. The college boasted 30 students and no permanent buildings.&nbsp; In October 1963, Dorothy wrote: ‘Pokhara is a town of almost 5,000 people … We are in a fertile valley surrounded by foothills … There is a small Mission Hospital … a Leper Hospital and Tibetan Refugee Camp started by the Red Cross and now run by the Swiss. With winter approaching, more Tibetans are appearing in town, often with pack horses or donkeys. Some have been carrying large boxes of powdered milk,donated (by USAID) to the camp from the airport … There is no electricity, and the transportation problems make many items scarce and expensive. I am really a sort of a museum. The landlord brings all kinds of people in to see how I live and count my shoes and dresses. They express amazement at my books, pictures, tin oven, Nepali dolls from Kathmandu, screened food shelves and curtained closet.’ The standard term for Peace Corps volunteers was two years, but Dorothy extended her term and was still at Prithvi Narayan College at the end of 1965, when she wrote that she had 20 Geography students in the first-year class and 6 in the second year preparing for the IA Examination. The college enrollment was 125 students, and the foundation for a new science building was being excavated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29" data-rendition-name="original" width="902" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow and friends at Phewa Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy noted that she ate one meal a day at the (Shining Mission) Hospital but otherwise lived on dal-bhat, momo, and potato curry at local shops. However, she had developed a new passion: to build what she initially called the Pokhara Museum of the Himalaya. In commendable Peace Corps fashion, Dorothy always worked with Nepalis and respected the culture. ‘The greatest joy and satisfaction I have had has been from the building of a Museum-Library in memory of my parents … It has been possible to feel like a wealthy benefactor with the money saved by father for the family’s education and now available for the education of others… (Father) would have loved to be in on the founding of a new college and be able to plan a library. Several hundred of the books to be in the museum-library came from his collection and were carefully selected to be of use for students in Nepal…’&nbsp; ‘The museum part is to satisfy my own inclinations and was thought of when I found how little diversion there was for the people of Pokhara… It is part of the University requirements for the college that it should have a geography and biology museum. The museum building is small but adequate.&nbsp; I have tried to design it in harmony with Nepalese architecture and decorate it with some of the art of the best artists or woodcarvers… Posts holding up the porch roof are carved by Cottage Industries to represent different peoples of Nepal in typical costumes. The door was carved by a local wood carver and has typical birds of Nepal around it. Inside are 10 roof-support carvings designed by the retired Director of the National Museum in Kathmandu, Mr. C.M. Maskey.&nbsp; They were carved by the best wood carvers in Patan very skilfully. The building has three rooms: the library, the exhibition room, and a smaller workroom which can be used by our newly formed Woman’s Club as well as other groups or classes.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow with local women in Pokhara in 1969.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy promoted her project to influential Nepalis connected with organisations whose support she solicited: The Department of Archaeology, the Department of Agriculture, the Godavari Botanical Gardens; Tribhuvan University’s Science and Education Department, Nature Conservation Society.&nbsp; The museum was opened officially in early 1967. The Annapurna Natural History Museum, the building Dorothy designed and had constructed, is still open and features some exhibits which she created many years ago.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>The Annapurna Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy returned to America in 1967, but she longed for Nepal. In the spring of 1969, she again tried to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer but was told that as she had spent more than four years, she would not be eligible for another assignment. Undeterred, she persuaded the college in Pokhara to invite her to return as a teacher.&nbsp; UNICEF and the Forestry Department sponsored Dorothy to prepare charts on trees, birds, animals and flowers in colour for distribution to the schools of Nepal. Dorothy, back in the Peace Corps, returned to Pokhara and the Museum in 1972. She formed a friendship with her former geography student from Sikles, Chandra Prasad Gurung, and in 1974, she brought Chandra to America, where he enrolled in Colorado College and studied cultural anthropology.&nbsp; Chandra subsequently earned his PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii and returned to Pokhara to become director of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project. Gurung actively promoted ecotourism, landscape conservation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal. His life was cut short along with those of 23 other Nepalis and foreigners who perished in a helicopter crash near Taplejung in September 2006.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow's four books on Nepal and its biodiversity. </figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy worked with several well-known Nepalis to publish her paintings and photos in beautifully illustrated books. She and Hemanta Mishra of the National Parks and Wildlife Service wrote Wild Animals of Nepal (Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1976). More than 400 photos Dorothy took on treks to the Everest region, Gosaikunda, Muktinath, Jumla and Rara Lake, as well as travels in the Tarai, appeared in Himalayan Flowers and Trees (Sahayogi Prakashan, 1978).&nbsp; The botanist Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha identified the species. Dorothy and Kesar Lall published This Beautiful Nepal (Sahayogi Press, 1981). Birds of the Central Himalayas (1988) contained Dorothy’s paintings of 250 species of birds found along the areas of the Kali Gandaki River, Pokhara, Chitwan and the central Tarai. Dorothy summed up her life and work in Nepal in Thirty Years in Pokhara (Pilgrims Book House, 1997). Dorothy returned to Pokhara and her adopted Gurung family several times during the 1980s and 1990s to celebrate festivals and meet old friends. Her final years were spent at her mountain cottage in Green Mountain Falls north of Colorado Springs. She died at the age of 79 in August, 2000. Nepal gave new meaning and purpose to Dorothy Mierow’s life. Daniel W Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 and is the author of several books on Nepal. The author thanks Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.

How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer’s life

· On the night of 15 May, two glacial lakes burst in Tharka in Humla and the debris flow washed away homes and bridges.&nbsp; · Last week, a slurry surge on the Kali Gandaki in Upper Mustang caused at least Rs15 million in damage, and was traced to a melting glacier. · Dozens are feared dead after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">an expanding glacial lake in Tibet overflowed</a>, sweeping down into Nepal and damaging four hydropower plants generating 230MW, nearly 8% of the country’s total grid supply.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060748_45225dc707c1e9c2968ca8dbf6e564e01e4eb6e2ff254fb8eb940cf62cdd910b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250718060748_45225dc707c1e9c2968ca8dbf6e564e01e4eb6e2ff254fb8eb940cf62cdd910b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2667" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Rasuwa flood"> <figcaption>Miteri friendship bridge connecting Nepal and China was swept away in the Rasuwa flood. Photo: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA / NPL</figcaption> </figure>  And those are just in the past month. Climate scientists say Himalayan glacial lake outbursts are becoming more frequent and destructive, and a warning for Nepal not to put all its eggs in the hydropower basket.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-it-rains-it-pours-ksqprbu3">Record precipitation last September</a> unleashed floods that killed 200 people, and temporarily slashed Nepal’s total generation capacity of 3,000MW by nearly half. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster">Melamchi flood of 2021</a> caused by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-not-so-permanent-frost">permafrost melting</a> on a glacier upstream nearly destroyed a $800 million water supply scheme, Nepal’s largest infrastructure project which four years later still has not resumed full operation. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sikkim-flood-is-warning-to-nepal">glacial lake overflow in Sikkim</a> caused by record rainfall in September 2023 that destroyed the $1.2 billion Chungthung Dam and caused catastrophic damage to infrastructure on the Teesta River. This was a warning to the cascade of hydropower plants on the Arun and Marsyangdi river basins.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060736_6f61797a6be308321e3bae26e55d2f64cba4b9e5eb262adacb9e92fb5f3c6152.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250718060736_6f61797a6be308321e3bae26e55d2f64cba4b9e5eb262adacb9e92fb5f3c6152" data-rendition-name="original" width="919" height="549" loading="lazy" alt="hydro disasters and hydropower plants"> </figure>  Nepal has set a target of generating an additional 28,500MW by 2035 -- out of the feasible 48,000MW -- but how viable is an energy strategy that is exposed to heightened risk due to climate breakdown? &nbsp; “As extreme weather events increase, we must design and build infrastructures respecting river flow and topography,” says former Energy Secretary Dwarika Nath Dhungel. “We must make the best use of our water resources, but not by letting excavators loose everywhere mining riverbeds and building haphazardly where we shouldn’t.”&nbsp; Although no project can be disaster-proof, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure">climate smart design</a> can minimise damage from flash floods and landslides. Recent disasters have driven up insurance premiums for energy projects in Nepal, and smaller ones cannot even afford them. The 456MW Upper Tamakosi hydroelectric project which is still not fully functional after the September floods has claimed insurance worth Rs1.8 billion. The alternative to high risk high investment hydropower projects is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-s-cooking-in-nepal-besides-politics">energy diversification</a> to other renewables such as solar, wind or biogas. Nepal gets annual sunlight of 300 days with 6-7 hours on average to total 50,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060744_4acd452b4117180ca9bb5d3be839ff46dfd5464e4d507f5ad3704cef6253bc48.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250718060744_4acd452b4117180ca9bb5d3be839ff46dfd5464e4d507f5ad3704cef6253bc48" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="solar power"> <figcaption>Farmers in Tarai using solar powered water pump. Photo: GHAMPOWER</figcaption> </figure>  The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) calculates that Nepal could source 3,000MW from wind energy alone, considering 10% of the area with more than 300W/m2 wind power density. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/decentralising-power-in-nepal">Solar energy</a> stations are cheaper and quicker to build, and would be an ideal alternative to reliance on hydropower.&nbsp; “There has been some investment in solar power, especially from the state sector,” says water expert Madhukar Upadhyay. “But there is an issue of land acquisition since the arrays need a lot of space. It is comparatively easier to get a permit to put up a hydropower plant on a river.” As for biogas, there is simply no incentive to build on past success with household level plants to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/more-bullshit">promote industrial-scale production</a>. Scaling up biogas by integrating it with urban biodegradable waste would still be a viable alternative to LPG.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060744_715d44afd5eb4ba8dafa209b0ad0f19400665797b5f078f5636821e600f96684.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250718060744_715d44afd5eb4ba8dafa209b0ad0f19400665797b5f078f5636821e600f96684" data-rendition-name="original" width="1419" height="954" loading="lazy" alt="windmill"> <figcaption>A wind mill in Hapsikot in Nawalpur. Photo: WINPOWER NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s public sphere is buzzing with excitement over the discovery of potentially 430 billion cubic metres of methane gas beneath Dailekh district that, if properly harnessed, would meet the country’s energy demand for the next 50 years. Even though a feasibility study is awaited, politicians from the prime minister down see this as a petro bonanza that will make Nepal rich. But drilling, storage and distribution of CNG in the country’s current kleptocratic state make that unlikely. If Nepal was to get rich solely on its hydro-energy potential, it could have done so in the past 50 years. Says Dhungel: “This is not exactly a new discovery, but it is premature to celebrate until its extraction is proven to be cost effective. And let us hope it does not get <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">tangled in geopolitics</a>, since China is involved in the prospecting and drilling, which could make India uneasy.”&nbsp; The country suffers from the Dutch Disease curse even before its resource is fully exploited. And the same cronyism, corruption and rent-seeking structure cannot deliver the riches we expect from Dailekh’s methane discovery. Now, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/right-climate-for-nepal-s-energy-transition">with hydropower in jeopardy</a>, Nepal’s planners will have to evolve a new strategy for energy security into the future. But first, governance needs to be cleaned up with long-term strategic planning that takes climate risk into account. For example, do we need to mine fossil gas when there are renewable options? Will Dailekh take Nepal away from its climate commitments? Says Madhukar Upadhyay: “Nepal has always been resource rich and management poor. And the larger the resource, the bigger our management incapacity. It is a societal malaise.”&nbsp;

Nepal’s Resource Curse

चौतारा rest stops have long been an integral part of scenic touristic town of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-six-decades-ago">Pokhara </a>but are now rarely seen as the city bursts at the seams. They say inhabitants of Pokhara saw a plane before they saw cars. Indeed, the grass airfield was built in the 1950s, while the Kathmandu highway 20 years later. Before roads, people walked to get around, pausing to rest or even nap under the shade of banyan-pipal trees. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-s-desperation-and-hope">Pokhara airport’</a>s ‘terminal’ in those days was a shady chautara where passengers waited for their flights. The chautara bore silent witness to daily life, whether it was travellers seeking a brief respite from the summer heat or villagers gathering for a chat in the mornings and evenings. But with the roads came vehicles, and then houses started filling up spaces, even farmlands. Pokhara began transforming from a serene village to a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-comes-alive-at-night">bustling city</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250719010724_d101fa482441ce67afdf5bc4e4547b334e7662c1cf0a20e9d31a0e8dff66f04b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250719010724_d101fa482441ce67afdf5bc4e4547b334e7662c1cf0a20e9d31a0e8dff66f04b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2147" height="1581" loading="lazy" alt="Trees of life and living NT"> <figcaption>Photo: DURGA RANA MAGAR</figcaption> </figure>  The banyan-pipal trees were chopped down to make way for wider intersections and buildings. The once-iconic rest stops that carried Pokhara’s identity had all but vanished. “Building chautara was once considered a religious duty, which is why so many of them were constructed across Pokhara,” says archivist Sunil Ulak. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10927">Ekai Kawaguchi</a>, a Japanese Buddhist monk, who visited Nepal 120 years ago en route to Tibet, documented <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/no-visitors-in-pokhara-to-admire-view">the landscape of Pokhara</a> and its surroundings. In his book, Three Years in Tibet, he reflects on the natural beauty of the town and its shady trees. A chautara used to be surrounded by ponds, where shepherds would bring their cattle to drink from while they took a nap under the shade. The gentle rustling of leaves in the cool breeze lent a soothing melody as did the chirping of birds, while the insects took refuge in the branches and leaves. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-800-years-ago">Pokhara 800 years ago</a>, Kunda Dixit This ‘nature’s breeze’, as botanist Kalyan Panta puts it, is now history due to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">haphazard urbanisation</a>. “When the wind strikes against one leaf, it creates a domino effect and other leaves start waving as well,” he explains. There were 632 chautara in the city until 1977, and by 2000 the number had fallen to 278. But in some wards the number of trees fell from 55 in 1984 to only five now.&nbsp; The gradual loss of these resting places has meant habitat <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal">destruction of birds and insects</a>, it has also damaged the environment and natural beauty of the city.&nbsp; Researcher Jagannath Adhikari’s study showed that infrastructure projects ignored the environment, and concluded that that urbanisation in Pokhara was unsustainable.&nbsp; The destruction continues to this day. Recently, old chaurata in wards 6, 13 and 14 were cleared to make way for a sacrificial ritual. In fact, ward 6 got a permit from the local government to clear its remaining trees.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250719010724_cee1d4faf8376e7ba18b9c7012ea4215b7c3fbf7e0983b0c97005df5567d6de0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250719010724_cee1d4faf8376e7ba18b9c7012ea4215b7c3fbf7e0983b0c97005df5567d6de0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Trees of life and living NT"> <figcaption>Photo: DURGA RANA MAGAR</figcaption> </figure>  But in wards 13 and 14, the Human Service Foundation cut down some 33 trees for which it is in a dispute with the metropolitan city as there is no unclear jurisdiction regarding who gives the permit. The Kaski Division Forest Office is currently investigating the matter. Elsewhere in ward 19, the ward office had launched ‘मेरो रूख, म काट्छु’ campaign due to an alleged chaos caused by monkeys in the area. The decision was rescinded after an all-around opposition.&nbsp; To be sure, there are policies in place to protect trees such as the Gandaki Province Forestry Act, 2080, and the Regulations, 2081. The province government also introduced an act in 2019 per which no tree, including pipal, silk cotton and other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/suburban-tales/trees-trees?%2F">trees of natural and historical importance</a> shall be damaged, eroded or removed. But the local government, responsible for implementing the Act, is doing the opposite. “If this rapid rate of tree felling continues, neither trees nor chautara will survive for the future generation,” conservationist Ram Bahadur Poudel tells us, adding that old trees are being cleared under the pretext of pruning branches. Interestingly, Ulak notes that Pokhara-8 was called सिमलचौर in the past because there were so many majestic silk cotton trees, but there are very few left, if any, and hence altering the identity of a place. With modernisation, people have questioned the significance of chautara in this day and age. But they still have relevance. Urban centres in Pokhara and Kathmandu are much hotter than the outskirts because of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-5xcycyot">urban heat island effect</a>. Says archivist Ulak: “While their original purpose was to provide rest, today they continue to play a crucial role in regulating temperature, beautifying the city, and preserving our environment.”

Trees of life and living

Nepalis are living longer than ever. By 2028, the country is set to join the ranks of other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-demographic-window-is-closing">ageing societies</a> around the world, and by 2054, 1 out of every 7 people in Nepal will be over 65. Life expectancy at birth has risen dramatically from just 55 in 1990 to 71 today, &nbsp;thanks to improvements in public health and access. But as more people live longer, the country must also prepare for a parallel rise in age-related illnesses and the complex social and medical needs that come with an <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/need-to-prepare-for-ageing-society,3624">ageing population</a>. Extended families have always acted as a safety net for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/home-sweet-home-for-older-nepalis">the elderly</a>, with children and grandchildren shouldering most caregiving duties. But with more than 1,600 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/migration-not-a-wish-but-necessity-for-nepalis">Nepalis migrating </a>every day, older parents are left behind with no one to care for them. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-equaliser">Remittances</a> from migrating youth, which account for nearly a third of Nepal’s GDP, have kept the economy afloat. But money sent home cannot make up for the chronic departure of kin and caregivers, who are often the first to catch the signs and symptoms of disease in elders. In rural areas where over 85% of Nepal’s elderly live, the absence of this daily vigilance means early signs of illness often go unnoticed until they become debilitating. As a result, chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and depression are left unmanaged.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250720130748_213f2c65f2638872e9ac0550a7ac251e4960c3726dc5c76215962a23ba71dff1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250720130748_213f2c65f2638872e9ac0550a7ac251e4960c3726dc5c76215962a23ba71dff1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1064" height="701" loading="lazy" alt="Smart ageing is Nepal’s next frontier"> </figure>  Geriatric medicine is largely absent from medical curricula and there is no national plan in place to manage cognitive decline, memory loss and confusion. These are often mistaken for signs of normal ageing, instead of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dementia-brings-new-problem-that-families-have-little%20knowledge-of,2151">dementia</a>, delaying care until it is too late. The same pattern plays out with strokes, osteoarthritis, and vision problems — conditions that could be managed early but are instead allowed to spiral into <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/changing-disability-to-this-ability-h68f6sq2">disability</a>. Nepal is not ready for an older future. It needs a strategy for ‘smart ageing’ where the focus is not adding years to life, but enhancing years lived through the intelligent application of policy, infrastructure, and crucially, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/tech-and-transition-in-nepal">technology</a>. Many models of smart ageing, however, are sculpted around modern societies where independent living in later life is the norm. Furthermore, eroding traditional family care and an underdeveloped formal care system means there is a large gap that can’t simply be filled by copy-pasting from foreign models. Nepal must shape its own version of smart ageing. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/healthcare-moving-from-hospitals-to-homes?%2F">tech boom</a> has led to homegrown digital healthcare apps such as Hamro Doctor, Cura Health, Jeevee and Health Yaad Ayo which offer teleconsultations, online appointments, and at-home test bookings. As <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/nepal-s-new-digital-landscape">smartphones and internet access</a> extend to the most rural fringes of the Nepali countryside, geography is no longer a barrier to the use of these digital tools. What limits their use is the lack of digital proficiency among the older generation. Others find the idea of turning to a device instead of a familiar, reassuring face unfathomable. That is why <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/addressing-nepals-digital-divide?ref=blog.togglecorp.com">digital literacy</a> efforts must be paired with guided human support to build trust alongside technical skill. Such a model of community-led digital mediation is already gaining traction elsewhere. In the UK, ‘digital health ambassadors’—often young people or even schoolchildren—are trained to co-design and advocate for online platforms that resonate with peers who might otherwise feel excluded from automated health services. A Nepali version could engage cohorts of nursing students, tech-savvy youngsters and returnee migrants to assist elders in navigating digital health platforms and troubleshooting problems, and most of all, normalising the idea of health apps being a reliable recourse.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250720130748_fcb94ab76e76b5574189757e88d76fccad4e115e78dd9eae92a3bd4c882c3431.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250720130748_fcb94ab76e76b5574189757e88d76fccad4e115e78dd9eae92a3bd4c882c3431" data-rendition-name="original" width="2246" height="1590" loading="lazy" alt="Smart ageing is Nepal’s next frontier"> </figure>  Nepal’s own network of Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs), whose credibility is rooted in long-standing relationships across rural communities, could be similarly upskilled, their roles in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/target-2030-for-maternal-and-newborn-health">maternal and child health </a>expanded and repurposed to also include geriatric tech support. However, there is a limit to how much older adults can adapt to new technologies. So, Nepal should simultaneously invest in passive technologies—tools that monitor and act for the elderly, instead of demanding active use. That is where wearables and in-home smart health devices collectively known as 'gerontechnology' come in. Picture an 82-year-old in far-flung Rolpa, away from the facilities of an urban hospital. Installed in her home are low-cost motion sensors that monitor prolonged inactivity or signs of a fall, instantly triggering alerts to the nearest health post when necessary. On her wrist, a wearable bracelet continuously tracks her sleep, vital signs, oxygen saturation, and glucose levels. This data is encrypted and synced to a digital dashboard accessible by health staff at the local post. If the system flags an acute risk—such as a potential stroke or hypoglycemia—a nearby health worker is dispatched immediately to her home. If her readings over time indicate a trend toward a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-do-so-many-nepalis-have-high-blood-pressure">chronic condition</a> like diabetes, community health volunteers step in. They help schedule a virtual consultation with an endocrinologist in Butwal. Based on the advice received, she gets a prescription and picks up her medication from the local community pharmacy, along with a smart dispenser to ensure she sticks to her treatment plan without missing doses. This is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Many of the individual devices forming this connected medical system called an Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) already exist in Nepal as imported commercial products. What is missing is a stronger framework for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/public-health-partnership">public-private collaboration</a>: one where health tech companies continue developing locally adapted tools, and the government actively integrates these innovations into public health delivery. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/nepal-as-an-ai-power-bank">Nepal’s tech ecosystem</a> is maturing, but policymaking must evolve in tandem, especially when it affects an older generation largely resistant to change. The backlash against the recent mandate requiring National Identity Cards for accessing social security benefits revealed the pitfalls of imposing top-down reforms without adequate preparation or support for seniors. For Nepalis to age well, community caregivers, doctors, innovators, and above all, the state, must step in where families have stepped away. The goal is not to replicate traditional care, but to build a coordinated system of support that connects everyone through technology. The future is older for Nepal, let us be wiser too. The writers are pursuing their undergraduate studies in biomedical engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

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Nepal’s Resource Curse

Trees of life and living

Smart ageing is Nepal’s next frontier