Through the intricate lattice window on the western facade of the palace must have been from where the Malla kings of Patan looked down at the square below.&nbsp; Today, visitors to Patan Museum can sit at the exact corner and see the same square which, several centuries later, remains largely unchanged. Except for the tourists and devotees at Krishna Mandir and other temples.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_31791a3a564ecaf85ad9e9ee52488bff034a5336f6561a0df2cb6d8e740cacea.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240329060316_31791a3a564ecaf85ad9e9ee52488bff034a5336f6561a0df2cb6d8e740cacea" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> <figcaption>Keshav Narayan Chok. All photos: SUMAN NEPALI(Photo: suman)</figcaption> </figure>  Inside is the best-designed museum in Nepal, the work of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Back-to-Basics-in-Bhaktapur,1377">Götz Hagmüller</a> and his team of architects, who had made Bhaktapur his home and who died in February. Hagmüller did not just restore the old palace, but also designed the museum interior and curated the exhibits. But most importantly, the team ensured that the museum would have an independent governing body that would use revenue from fees and events for the museum’s upkeep. This has given the museum a rare longevity for an institution in Nepal. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-s-legacy-is-goetz-hagmueller-s-legacy">Kathmandu’s legacy is Götz Hagmüller’s legacy</a>, Kunda Dixit  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_460c6ade80ae4064d3f761de57b7a004f9b755645db3185366754b1d2ffe82e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240329060316_460c6ade80ae4064d3f761de57b7a004f9b755645db3185366754b1d2ffe82e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> </figure>  The result is more than one of Kathmandu’s most popular destinations for visitors, but a museum that serves an educational function for Nepali students, supplementing what they learn in social studies and history classes in school. The carefully curated bronze, stone and wooden figures span Nepal’s religious faiths, historical periods and geographical zones, providing a striking experience of exploration and learning. Hagmüller led the restoration project of the Keshav Narayan Chok and the dilapidated palace structure, preserving the traditional architecture of the palace while modernising it to suit modern museum necessities. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/learning-from-nepals-past-to-rebuild-its-future/" target="_blank">Learning from Nepal's past to rebuilt its future</a>, Prakriti Kandel  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_bfc89739080a1339c9db8a83c7bc332aea37893f6cd9cb506b1a369ac9a68d00.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240329060316_bfc89739080a1339c9db8a83c7bc332aea37893f6cd9cb506b1a369ac9a68d00" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> </figure>  At a time when technology has taken over, and patience to learn through real experiences has decreased, Patan Museum is a space for young students and visitors to learn about Nepal’s glorious past, its culture, and observe intricate Nepali craftsmanship. “Patan Museum is a place of learning regarding two major aspects: heritage and art, specifically relating to Hinduism and Buddhism,” explains Suresh Man Lakhe of Patan Museum. “Students may learn about Buddha’s life in their textbooks, but the museum supplements that learning by letting them visualise his legacy.” &nbsp; Only 200 of the Museum’s expansive collection of 1,100 objects are currently on view, and they are spread across eight themed galleries. Images range from major gods of the Hindu pantheon such as Vishnu, Shiva and Ganesh to benign or fierce representations of Bodhisattvas.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/preserving-patan-post-earthquake">Preserving Patan post-earthquake</a>, Claire Burket  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_40b0b223afe15566e200ac14f69a527eacc736b040f5b5d982930aa601c51b41.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240329060316_40b0b223afe15566e200ac14f69a527eacc736b040f5b5d982930aa601c51b41" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> <figcaption>Dipankara Buddha</figcaption> </figure>  The section on Buddhist chaityas has clear explanatory notes about the significance of their design. No student will look at Swayambhu or Boudha after learning why the spire and cupola look the way they do. Indeed, all the exhibits have bilingual captions with comprehensive backgrounds about the myths and symbols present in the art pieces and their approximate age. This helps answer frequently asked questions from students such as the reason behind the multiple heads and hands of deities, the symbolic ornaments of Shiva and Vishnu, and the significance of the stupa design.&nbsp; The composition, medium, symbols, and expressions of bronze gilt copper repoussé are explained in detail, including the craftsmanship of the lost wax process. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/bedrock-of-buddhism">Bedrock of Buddhism</a>, Kunda Dixit  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_8e1bcf9bace65f4b7ba2c8b05cf92337b1f54d12776ebc0841bd179b56faf7a9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240329060316_8e1bcf9bace65f4b7ba2c8b05cf92337b1f54d12776ebc0841bd179b56faf7a9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> <figcaption>Students can learn in detail the process of creating a repoussé mask at the Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Gallery B has explanations of Ganesh in a military avatar, ablaze with a flaming backdrop, and another of the elephantine god with six heads and six arms. He rests on snakes in one sculpture and is part of an oil lamp in another. There are nuanced variations in the depiction of Ganesh’s eyes and trunks in each of the objects. "Patan Museum, and indeed the whole Darbar Square, is a living heritage where our students learn history through the architecture, art, culture, and festivals,” says Rekha Pandey, a social studies teacher and educator at Rato Bangala Foundation. “It is ideal learning as the museum exhibits provide a multi-sensory experience that cannot be found in textbooks or lectures.” Museum staff are planning interactive worksheets and cards as learning devices with colourful and interactive worksheets ‘Let’s Discover Patan Darbar’ that allow students to navigate the historic square.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/itumbahas-living-museum">Itumbaha's living museum</a>, Sahina Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_1d6a101fa7f8c593070171abbf2866b73497ac3a10f5660bb716f1aa85da9aa6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240329060316_1d6a101fa7f8c593070171abbf2866b73497ac3a10f5660bb716f1aa85da9aa6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> <figcaption>A 12th-century limestone sculpture of Uma-Maheswar depicting Shiva’s family on Mount Kailash.</figcaption> </figure>  Lakhe says the museum can expand its instructional function with a separate education department. “With additional resources devoted to education, we can focus on creating much more learning opportunities for students,” he adds. &nbsp; There is a story behind every exhibit at the Museum. Gallery B, for example, hosts a 12th-century limestone sculpture of Uma-Maheswar depicting Shiva’s divine family on Mount Kailash. This statue was stolen in 1982 and then returned by a museum in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-did-a-nepali-ritual-altar-end-up-in-berlin">Berlin</a> in 1990. Another piece shows Vishnu carried by the Sunbird, a copper alloy sculpture dating back to the 17th century, adorned with metallic Garuda wings. Students can learn in detail the process of creating a repoussé mask, from an initial pencil design to the feeling of the hammer hitting the bronze sheet. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/remembering-nepals-lost-and-the-found">Remembering Nepal's lost and the found</a>, Ashish Dhakal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240329060316_4431f200938cef4be6b390dbde827c0973d85c2ab36dcc1669e6b9dc92319f3e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240329060316_4431f200938cef4be6b390dbde827c0973d85c2ab36dcc1669e6b9dc92319f3e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A portal into Patan’s past and present Page 6-7 #1025 NT"> <figcaption>Tusha Hiti where King Siddhi Narsingh Malla used to pray and meditate in the 1640s.</figcaption> </figure>  Patan Museum provides an open-air experience, it is not limited to a building but has access to multiple courtyards including the Mul Chok and Sundari Chok with the exquisite Tusha Hiti step well, and the Bhandarkhal Tank. One of the treasures of the Patan Museum is Tusha Hiti step well where King Siddhi Narsingh Malla used to pray and meditate in the 1640s overlooking a gilded copper spout depicting a Garuda and Laxmi Narayan, and embellished by over 50 carved stone deities in thrones of carved foliage. Visitors can retrace the steps of past royals and their court treading the same stone steps that have been polished by the passage of feet and time.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/patan-heritage-in-fantasy-fiction">Patan heritage in fantasy fiction</a>, Trishagni Sakya

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A portal into Patan’s past and present

News of the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya swept India last week, and also sent ripples across the border here in Janakpur where Lord Ram’s consort Sita was born.&nbsp; The inauguration of the shrine by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/janakpur-to-janakpur">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> was controversial because the temple was built on the space where the 16th century Babri Masjid once stood, and which was razed by a Hindu mob in 1992. But last week’s temple inauguration was celebrated in Janakpur as well because it is the birthplace of Sita, 500km away from Ayodhya. Indeed, the Janaki Temple dedicated to Sita here is itself a holy site for Hindus from Nepal, India and across the world. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_ed08353ab53dbe6e85ee0721239f2aef9554b19f91faa012e20d67d5eec699b2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024020216020_ed08353ab53dbe6e85ee0721239f2aef9554b19f91faa012e20d67d5eec699b2" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>The inner sanctum of Janaki Mandir, which houses deities from the Ramayana.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_094e274b164e8c728550a747876845c4592d9ca7fb00a1ef77905115af2868ce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024020216020_094e274b164e8c728550a747876845c4592d9ca7fb00a1ef77905115af2868ce" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>Idols of Janak, Sunaina, Ram and Sita at Janaki Mandir that is dedicated to Lord Ram's consort.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_518c843b985d3651ea106b390f22d7a55aa099f9594a256065acf19ddd163aa7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024020216020_518c843b985d3651ea106b390f22d7a55aa099f9594a256065acf19ddd163aa7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>A pilgrim on his way inside the temple to offer prayers. SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>  Janakpur is the capital of Madhes Province and the erstwhile seat of the Mithila Kingdom once ruled by King Janak, the father of Sita who features in the Hindu epic, Ramayana.&nbsp; The city near the Indian border is often overshadowed by Pashupati in Kathmandu and more popular pilgrimage sites in India, but has its own unique and rich cultural heritage and historical significance. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020301024_2aa535a25e86055fbb36428480aff6b0ecbca54489b271e2eec56cfbe8461040.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2024020301024_2aa535a25e86055fbb36428480aff6b0ecbca54489b271e2eec56cfbe8461040" data-rendition-name="original" width="830" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita-Ram corridor NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_df6ca98da633ab978ea7a11dbf4d5178d32da522290cbd732834da072dca6163.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024020216020_df6ca98da633ab978ea7a11dbf4d5178d32da522290cbd732834da072dca6163" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>Less imposing than Janaki Mandir, the temple dedicated to Lord Ram dates back at least to 1782.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>  Besides the Janaki Temple few know that Janakpur also has its own Ram Mandir, as well as numerous historic ponds and ashram that have now been meticulously restored. All this makes Janakpur an epicentre of faith and spiritualism in Nepal’s southern plains. The Janaki Temple was built as recently as 1910 by Queen Brishbhanu of Tikamgarh in India, and imitates the Mughal architecture prevalent at the time. But this structure was built over the ruins of previous temples, including one erected by Sur Kishor Das, a sadhu from India who came here in the 17th century and established a temple dedicated to Sita, also revered as a goddess.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_0260b84896a419fa025672a9ed19109790efb2da44a64482db74fb6b6881a5d3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2024020216020_0260b84896a419fa025672a9ed19109790efb2da44a64482db74fb6b6881a5d3" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>People carry a stack of clothes at Janakpur Railway Station.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_1a22545086bb358edf6a01484c23446060cf302b5bf15b017a3c171a5e55e958.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2024020216020_1a22545086bb358edf6a01484c23446060cf302b5bf15b017a3c171a5e55e958" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>Sadhus from India travel to Janakpur via the Jayanagar-Janakpur Railway.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_aa837888a5b22b08c552eb3d6ac25b6a72ec1eff0e8ddeee63ce7e8847a489ae.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2024020216020_aa837888a5b22b08c552eb3d6ac25b6a72ec1eff0e8ddeee63ce7e8847a489ae" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>People wash clothes in the Angaraj Sar near Janaki Temple.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>  Sita herself is believed to have had an immaculate conception and born from a furrow in the earth. She was later adopted by King Janak and is now a prominent figure in Hinduism because of her role in the Ramayana in which she was abducted by Ravana and spirited away to Lanka, only to be rescued by Lord Ram’s monkey army led by the intrepid Hanuman. Just like Lord Buddha, who was also <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/buddha-s-birthday-in-his-birthplace">born in what is now Nepal</a>, Sita has been recognised as a national luminary of Nepal. Today, Janakpur where Ram and Sita were married is celebrated as the symbol of divine love, virtue, and loyalty. The temple is also frequented by newlyweds to make offerings for a happy marriage.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_94a654fea8a32e30c14159b14228042e650aad374cbc3e2ebae98c3e3a903268.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2024020216020_94a654fea8a32e30c14159b14228042e650aad374cbc3e2ebae98c3e3a903268" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>Sadhus smoke inside the premises of Ram Mandir.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_5191d485847a6efc7f325cd9b392916af0630b4e5c022ac0e4e0e792bd6d00a5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2024020216020_5191d485847a6efc7f325cd9b392916af0630b4e5c022ac0e4e0e792bd6d00a5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>A vendor in front of Janaki Temple sells tika powder and other materials used to perform puja.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_f491c60c89113c6be846f55db861c5f20b677eccc3dd3cfc06d6f5db2a888447.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="2024020216020_f491c60c89113c6be846f55db861c5f20b677eccc3dd3cfc06d6f5db2a888447" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>A vendor sells puja paraphernalia in Dashrath Sagar.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>  Just half a kilometre away from Janaki Mandir is the temple dedicated to Lord Ram built by Chaturbhuj Giri in the 17th century, and later rebuilt by Gen Amar Singh Thapa in 1782. The temple houses an idol of Ram, including those of Panchayan, Lakshminarayan, Vishnu Dashavatar, and Surya residing on a seven-horse chariot. Legend has it that there were once more than 52 ashrams and 72 sacred ponds in Janakpur, some of which are still intact. The holy sites are visited by many <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/a-thousand-sadhus-and-a-hanuman">sadhus</a> in saffron robes who represent the city’s roots in Vaishnavism.&nbsp; Mornings and evenings, Janakpur is alive with bhajan chants. Each day begins with the singing of Ramacharitramanas, and the sunset prayers at the Ganga Sagar pond in the evening is a spectacle for tourists and pilgrims alike exuding a unique feeling of harmony and devotion.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_58d1926f3a73957d796ad29f634eb09c5e1a375175afad0902f367b6b36655e0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2024020216020_58d1926f3a73957d796ad29f634eb09c5e1a375175afad0902f367b6b36655e0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>Saffron-clad women sing devotional songs at Ram Mandir.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_8dde569b14c3fe720c356289281fe323c3e8744983166606cb6a557a0df8b28a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2024020216020_8dde569b14c3fe720c356289281fe323c3e8744983166606cb6a557a0df8b28a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>Hindu hymns are heard all day long in all parts of Janakpur.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024020216020_a3f5b996949fb5b95e6e175141c6495194088167aca97cbc6359f32ae21cf5ec.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2024020216020_a3f5b996949fb5b95e6e175141c6495194088167aca97cbc6359f32ae21cf5ec" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Janakpur Sita Ram corridor NT"> <figcaption>The Ganga Aarati is held every evening at Ganga Sagar.SWORUP IMAGES</figcaption> </figure>  Intricate and exquisite <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/vibrant-mithila-art-thrives-in-nepal">Mithila art</a> adorn walls and buildings throughout the city. The origin of this art form can be traced back to the wedding of Ram and Sita, and has since become a visual expression of local lifestyle and culture. Initially, it was practiced as a way of life and the paintings and clay reliefs created by women were confined to homes, but over the years has gained immense popularity worldwide. Janakpur’s identity as the home of Sita, and its growth as the capital of Madhes can be the catalyst for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-geopolitics-of-pilgrimage">boosting religious tourism in Nepal</a>, and bring in both domestic and Indian pilgrims to the city. Janakpur already has a railway (Nepal’s only) connecting it to the Indian border that will soon be extended to Bardibas on the East-West Highway. There are a dozen daily flights to Kathmandu, and a flight to Ayodhya and other Indian cities are also planned. Janakpur is already a stopover for Indian pilgrims going to Pashupati in Kathmandu at Shivaratri and on to Muktinath, the two other important Hindu sites.&nbsp;

The Sita-Ram corridor

History is not always fair to the protagonists who find themselves caught up in it. The history of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/diary-of-a-nepali-soldier-in-france">Gurkha soldiers</a> is no exception. Brave khukuri-swinging soldiers in combat khakis and hats marching off to battle have been an iconic part of Nepal’s past. Forgotten on the pages of history, however, are their sarong-clad wives in Nepal or abroad, their struggles and their contribution. Lately, there has been an effort to correct this with welcome attempts to document the experience of Gurkha wives. Suzana Thapa Shris’s recent exhibition Gurkha Women: An Echo in the Story helped filled this gap by retelling the stories from the perspective of the wives of soldiers.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231207101232_c2517596a438db1f00d1643815a6c13815cec7d491509e897d9bed8879c5bbd4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231207101232_c2517596a438db1f00d1643815a6c13815cec7d491509e897d9bed8879c5bbd4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Gurkha women 2"> </figure>  “When Gurkha soldiers were fighting wars, it was their women who single-handedly led the households, they were the silent heroes,” explains 29-year-old Thapa Shris. “With limited money and resources, they raised families and boys who grew up to be lahure themselves. Their contribution is immense.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire">Beginning of the end of the Gorkha Empire</a>, Alisha Sijapati After her first exhibition Bharseli Gurkhas: From Stories to Portraits which looked into the lives of Gurkha soldiers from her ancestral village of Bharse of Gulmi district, Thapa Shris felt that she also needed to put the spotlight on the wives.&nbsp; Coming from a Gurkha household herself, where her grandfather was in the Indian Army, Thapa Shris was introduced to her family’s praetorian past from a very young age. She grew up with her grandparents in Butwal, listening to the lore both from the battles as well as the home front.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231207101232_bcce9d8fe47dc7c8ede1cd1f7a6f70e1877f4f9788865cb703f9504a6e205ab2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231207101232_bcce9d8fe47dc7c8ede1cd1f7a6f70e1877f4f9788865cb703f9504a6e205ab2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Gurkha women 4"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231207101232_185f09e6839ab5130514dc86ade39257b97b6095f4a8a300f7c7439832624997.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20231207101232_185f09e6839ab5130514dc86ade39257b97b6095f4a8a300f7c7439832624997" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="967" loading="lazy" alt="Gurkha women 3"> </figure>  Her father Bom Bahadur Thapa, a horticulturist by profession and a writer, wrote a book Bharseli Gorkhagatha ra Serofero about his ancestors. And when Thapa Shris started her project, the father-daughter duo interviewed some 50 women in their 70s and above from Baglung, Gorkha, Gulmi, Kaski, Palpa, Rupandehi, and Sunsari. They were all wives of Nepali soldiers who had served in the UK, India, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-malayan-rainforest-and-its-rare-flower">Singapore and Malaya</a> (now Malaysia). “The exhibition took shape as we were looking into who these women were, their life stories and their contribution to Gurkha history,” she adds. “Their identity and contribution has been the main objective of this exhibition.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget">Lest we forget</a>, David Seddon Thapa Shris never formally learnt art, but her raw talent for portraits is there for everyone to see. Also on display at the Nepal Art Council from 25-28 November were sketches, archival pictures, visual footage of interviews, and installation art with traditional music in the background. But the highlight of the event were evocative testimonies with their respective portraits depicting two kinds of women: those left behind in Nepal and those in foreign lands where their husbands were deployed. Most struggled to make ends meet, and that too in a new place where they did not speak the local language. <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FGAUPq7EK_vk%3Fsi%3DNtp3w8G4XbM_OSZy&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> “We automatically assume that Gurkha soldiers are well-off and their lives easy but that is not always the case,” explains Bom Bahadur. “There was no immediate means of communication or any channel to wire money. It was these brave women who made their way.”&nbsp; While archival footage helped the audience peek into their lives in foreign lands, an installation art of a classic Nepali knitted bag filled with envelopes depicted how in those days letters were the only medium of contact between spouses. One section was dedicated to hand photography intended to show the resilience and the kind of lives these women led. All the portraits here had wrinkled hands of the women resting on their patterned lungi.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231207101232_a97971b33334ae0e9ffca90c7feeb83e07c17af8a67753e99b6f29aab65035bd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231207101232_a97971b33334ae0e9ffca90c7feeb83e07c17af8a67753e99b6f29aab65035bd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="953" loading="lazy" alt="gurkha women 5"> </figure>  The exhibition also featured traditional dresses and jewellery of the Gurkha women as well as wooden utensils used by these indigenous communities in the past. Lungi, gold beruwa bangles and traditional gold asarfi rings synonymous with Lahureni were also heavily featured. “The gold came much later after the wartime,” adds Suzana.&nbsp; “One thing all the bojus said was that they were happy that they at least got to wear gold.” The father-daughter duo is now planning to transcribe all the testimonies and turn them into a book. Says Bom Bahadur: “I am glad our Gurkha women are highlighted. The fact that my daughter is working on it makes me even prouder.” &nbsp;

Pinki Sris Rana

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Retelling Gurkha history

When Balaram Chitrakar was only 10, he started helping his father in a photo studio in inner city Kathmandu to develop photos in darkroom. By age 12, Chitrakar was already a bonafide photographer. By the time he finished high school in 1959, his father had handed him the keys to the studio. He attended Trichandra College during the day and developed film by night. “Perhaps because photography had become my passion it did not matter that I worked all night,” says Chitrakar, now 82. In 1967, as he finished his BSc exam Chitrakar joined the Department of Archeology’s Bir Library. But during the first few months, all he was made to do was keep written records of the documents. He realised that library users, mostly foreign researchers, had access to original texts and documents of historical importance, as a result of which they had become torn and damaged.&nbsp; So Chitrakar proposed to the Director of the Archeology Department to make duplicate copies of documents so the originals were preserved. The department accepted it and set aside Rs800 for him to buy a camera.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023092511090_e3d69f83f919105d3885e9a8b62ced12ba56051e38cd5b69d1f52eaa14fe2ace.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2023092511090_e3d69f83f919105d3885e9a8b62ced12ba56051e38cd5b69d1f52eaa14fe2ace" data-rendition-name="original" width="6000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="Microfilm archiving in Nepal"> </figure>  Chitrakar then began to make photocopies of documents, the first time this was done. Impressed with his work, the Department of Archaeology sent him to India to be trained in microfilming.&nbsp; “Microfilms had not been introduced in Nepal at the time, so I used my curiosity and made an effort during training to figure out how the practice could be brought into application back home,” Chitrakar recalls. When he returned in 1969, the Bir Library was incorporated into the Department of Archaeology’s National Archives. The Nepal government had also agreed with their German counterparts to make microfilms of Nepal’s archival documents, one copy of which would be with Nepal and the other sent to Germany.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023092511094_422339effd991229237231a70c2213de5d6ae2ac09850c98d32d5a88204ab209.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023092511094_422339effd991229237231a70c2213de5d6ae2ac09850c98d32d5a88204ab209" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="1981" loading="lazy" alt="Microfilming in Nepal"> <figcaption>Balarama Chitrakar with German representative Bernhard Kolver (third from right).(Photo: suman)</figcaption> </figure>  German state-of-the-art equipment, including cameras and dark rooms were used to microfilm 29,000 documents during the first phase of the five-year project. The team worked every day for five years, microfilming many old books and paintings that Patan and Bhaktapur wanted preserved.&nbsp; In 1972, King Birendra personally took an interest in Chitrakar’s work and helped him with preserving the archives. The work continued for 25 years during which 182,000 manuscripts, inscriptions, copper plates, and other objects of archaeological significance were microfilmed. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yv8Fc2WDHPA?si=im2dd1KXGr69Af6D" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Chitrakar travelled to Helambu, Langtang, Pokhara, Manakamana, Janakpur and elsewhere to preserve more archival religious documents. &nbsp; He even went to microfilm archives in Dhaka.&nbsp; By 1993 Chitrakar found there was a storage unit of microfilms but it was not temperature and humidity controlled. With his help, the Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya in Patan also began microfilming its archives.&nbsp; After 30 years, Chitrakar retired in 2001, and some of the documents he archived are 1,700 years old. But since then, the fragile microfilms themselves need to be preserved with digitisation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023092511094_d660a59924507009b148c5e7a11828447a267f94cde841261b54d9e6220e93a2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023092511094_d660a59924507009b148c5e7a11828447a267f94cde841261b54d9e6220e93a2" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Microfilming in Nepal"> <figcaption>Balram Chitrakar in Lumbini stydying microfiliming. </figcaption> </figure>  The microfilms Chitrakar had so painstakingly preserved are beginning to deteriorate due to ‘Vinegar Syndrome’— a chemical reaction that decays the emulsion in film. &nbsp; Microfilms have a lifespan of 100 years, but in Nepal they have begun to deteriorate in half that time. The National Archive has more than 200,000 positives and negatives of ancient texts and documents, out of which 500 are already damaged beyond repair. The Department of Archaeology submitted the Microfilm Reel Preservation Action Plan to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in 2014 but the Ministry has not done much.&nbsp; Nepal stands to lose its archive of archaeological objects, and 82-year-old Chitrakar stands to lose his life’s work and legacy. He preserved historical documents by microfilming them which themselves now need to be preserved. “The fact that these microfilms are in a state of decay means that my entire life’s work will have gone to waste,” says Chitrakar wearily. “And what will we have left if we fail to conserve these microfilms?” &nbsp;

Memories of an archivist

Wine, women and song

Contrary to popular belief, Nepal as a nation with different boundaries was founded way before the unification by Prithvi Narayan Shah. From the time of the Gopal dynasty before the birth of Buddha and after, Nepal has seen many dynastic rulers including Kirat, Licchavi, Verma, Thakuri, and Malla, each with their significant contributions to nation-building.
Unfortunately, much of history before the Shah dynasty is not talked about. Discounting the Shahs, the Malla era is perhaps the best recorded. But even then, not much is known of its rulers before Pratap Malla.
Historians credit Jayasthiti Malla of establishing this dynasty with the unification of Kathmandu Valley. However, our documentation and archaeological research of the early Malla period is scant, and thus a king whose great deeds have created a legacy of Nepal’s culture and socio-economic foundations, is not given his due recognition.
This painting by artist Shreejan Rajbhandari is based on the research of the late historian Dilli Raman Regmi and the event is noted in Gopal Raj Vamsavali, a 14th-century hand-written manuscript of Nepal. It is an artistic tribute to a king who established the longest reigning dynasty which is still integral to Nepal’s identity today.
Jayasthiti Malla was a man of noble but obscure lineage who came from Simraongadh, Tirhut in present-day Tarai. His rise to power indicates the strong historical ties between Kathmandu Valley and the southern plains at the time.
When the Muslim sultanate of Bengal invaded Tirhut, King Harshinga Deva of Simraongadh died while trying to escape. His queen Devala Devi, who had ties with the Bhaktapur royalty, fled along with her son Jagat Singh and took refuge at the Bhaktapur palace under the protection of King Rudra Malla. But Rudra Malla died shortly after without a male hei and his infant daughter Nayak Devi was declared heir to the throne.
The young queen was married to a prince from Banaras, but he too soon died, after which Devala Devi seized the opportunity to marry her son Jagat Singh to the widowed queen, and thus became part of the Bhaktapur royal family. Nayak Devi later gave birth to a daughter, Rajala Devi, who became a full claimant to the throne.
With a son who was prince consort and an infant granddaughter who was heir apparent, the future of Bhaktapur was fragile with no strong leadership. Nepal with its many small warring kingdoms was in constant strife.
Moreover, in 1349, Kathmandu faced the first Muslim invasion by Shamsuddin Ilyas, the Sultan of Bengal. The valley was brutally attacked, looted and destroyed. The city was ransacked and temples and monuments were plundered including Swayambhu and Pashupati. The Sultan’s invasion lasted seven days and the only temple spared was Changunarayan because the invaders could not locate it.
Amidst all this chaos, Devala Devi was looking for someone with the right traits to lead and bring stability to the kingdom. She found Jayasthiti Malla and brought him to Bhaktapur after being impressed by his insight and dynamic personality.
Devala Devi then betrothed her eight-year-old granddaughter to Jayasthiti Malla in 1354. This union led to Jayasthiti Malla declaring himself the king consort of Bhaktapur after the death of Devala Devi. Eventually, he defeated the Raja of Patan, Jayarajuna and took control of the city. A stone inscription (1392) at the completion of the Kubeswor temple in Patan shows his sovereign status in the city.
The painting portrays the Tilapatra Daan puja that took place in Pashupati to celebrate the union of Kathmandu with Patan and Bhaktapur (1375). It took much effort on the part of Jayasthiti Malla to convince the leader of Kathmandu, Jayarasimha to join the union. This first-ever unification of the three kingdoms was a watershed moment in history.
Artist Shreejan Rajbhandari has done his best to portray medieval 14th-century Nepal, and is one of few depicting Jayasthiti Malla, and is a significant documentation on canvas of his reign. Jayasthiti Malla is seen performing the puja with his wife while Jayarasimha looks on with a sense of defeat. The contemporary landscape was difficult to pinpoint, so the artist had to rely on influences of the period.
The Pashupat temple being the main backdrop was drawn with some historical evidence that it was ornamented time and again by Licchavi and Thakuri kings before the Mallas. King Shivadeva III (11th century CE) was the first to have covered the roof in gold. The roof, however, has been shown bare keeping in mind the invasion of Shamsuddin Ilyas in 1349 who had stripped off all the gold. The doorway, however, is given its silver adornment assuming it was renovated as per Vamsavali III, which states that the temple was repaired and a ceremony was performed in April-May 1360.
All the women are portrayed to be of Mithila origin as most noble Mallas had wives from the Tarai. Their jewelry and clothing are of Mithila style. The men’s attire was believed to have been influenced by the Rajasthani style as the Thakuri dynasty before the Mallas were Rajputs. Which is why we see much Rajasthani influence during the Malla era as well. The musicians too are wearing Rajasthani dress, and the puja utensils are Kathmandu Valley style assuming the temple as having both Hindu and Buddhist influences.&nbsp;
The reign of king Jayasthiti Malla saw stability, unification and strength after a long period of chaos. The Malla dynasty, which had begun with King Ari Malla in the 1200s was firmly established under Jayasthiti Malla. He was king of Kathmandu Valley and its environs from 1382-1395 CE. The three cities remained united until the reign of his grandson Yaksha Malla (1482) following which the Valley was divided again. The three kingdoms were in constant strife until Prithvi Narayan Shah conglomerated a greater Nepal in 1768.&nbsp;
Besides his efforts in uniting the Valley, Jayasthiti Malla is also credited with the earliest constitution and codifying the law – Jayasthiti Paddati. This legendary compilation of traditional laws was seen as the source for Mulki Ain, in the 19th century. He also started the Gopal Raj Vamshawali, which is considered the first historically documented evidence of the Nepali state.
He instituted a job-based caste system to bring order and economic stability which is still practiced by the indigenous Newa people in Kathmandu Valley. Further economic reforms through a uniform system of weights and measurement was also established.
Also a builder of numerous temples and a promoter of art, literature and music, the nation owes much to Jayasthiti Malla, and this painting is an attempt to capture an important event in his life and in Nepal’s history.
Shaguni Singh Sakya is the Director of KGH Group and Museum of Nepali Arts (MONA) in Kathmandu where Shreejan Rajbhandari's painting will soon be on display.

History on canvas

The 2015 earthquake damaged more than 750 heritage structures in Nepal. Many collapsed entirely to the ground, including the 900-year-old Maru Sattal, or Kasthamandap.&nbsp; There was much controversy about how to rebuild the structure, and restoration was entrusted to the citizen-led Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee. With few architectural records of the original Kasthamandap, restoring it from scratch was not easy. Fortunately, the German architect Wolfgang Korn had published minutely detailed measurements of the structure in his 1976 book Traditional Architecture of the Kathmandu Valley.&nbsp; Korn’s drawings proved invaluable in accurately recreating this historic building from which Kathmandu borrows its name. Korn’s original sketches, along with other architectural studies of Nepal’s many monuments are preserved at Nepal Architecture Archive (NAA). The NAA is an initiative of the Saraf Foundation, which is also behind the unique Taragaon Next in Boudha. The idea about setting up the archive goes back to 2009 when Arun Saraf and his wife Namita met architects Niels Gutschow and Erich Theophile at the Yak &amp; Yeti bar to have a spirited conversation about conservation. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/saving-nepal-s-archives-from-oblivion">Saving Nepal’s archives from oblivion</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023042105048_c962dd66e0e96741f699cdd6fb56f93625cc6db8e2d1ea88b8c9ea856619b0bd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023042105048_c962dd66e0e96741f699cdd6fb56f93625cc6db8e2d1ea88b8c9ea856619b0bd" data-rendition-name="original" width="5184" height="3456" loading="lazy" alt="An archive of Nepali Heritage"> </figure>  Over the years, the talk turned serious and focussed on the need to document, preserve and ‘re-activate’ Kathmandu Valley’s historic landscape, through restoration and research, and with a special focus on indigenous heritage.&nbsp; When the Saraf Foundation began to restore the dilapidated Taragaon structure in 2013, it also began to acquire documents, sketches and photographs that related to Nepal’s religious and social architecture and vernacular landscape.&nbsp; “It was a much more organic process,” recalls Namita Saraf, co-founder of the Saraf Foundation and Director of Taragaon Next. “We had the building here, and did not want to tear down its beautiful architecture.”&nbsp; Then Niels Gutschow curated an exhibition there in 2014 and it seemed like a good idea to use the space to store and showcase Nepal’s architectural heritage. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/james-Nye-in-Nepal,4186">Digitising archives, sharing knowledge</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023042105048_032e93a852ee81a1cd2e62ad8afa63d1ff029795cd5563cfe8b2a69c978058e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023042105048_032e93a852ee81a1cd2e62ad8afa63d1ff029795cd5563cfe8b2a69c978058e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="4029" height="2686" loading="lazy" alt="An archive of Nepali Heritage"> </figure>  Initially, the Foundation collected material for an exhibition that would re-open Taragaon to the world. There were 150 documents from various European and American scholars who had come to Nepal starting in the 1950s with different projects. Arun Saraf remembers a scholar friend who left 10 cartons of papers for safekeeping until he returned. “He did not come back. A year passed, then another, and we added the papers to our archive,” he says. The collection continued to grow, and by 2015 nearly 2,000 archival material were housed at the Saraf Foundation, including architectural drawings, maps, sketches, photographs, slides, negatives, beta tapes, books, research documents, reference documents, proposals, feasibility studies, unpublished reports, diaries, manuscripts and digital materials.&nbsp; The collection now needed a more definitive home, and a room was quickly set on the fourth floor of the Hyatt Regency hotel. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/adventures-of-a-lone-archivist/" target="_blank">Adventures of a lone archivist</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023042105048_347ba89a2e80f9e6243e1dc0c31e7326cbef3980b51507a977da8f40914d83df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2023042105048_347ba89a2e80f9e6243e1dc0c31e7326cbef3980b51507a977da8f40914d83df" data-rendition-name="original" width="3325" height="4987" loading="lazy" alt="An archive of Nepali Heritage"> </figure>  Today, the unassuming double doors at the end of a corridor open into another long corridor lined with traditional pots on one side and carved window brackets on the other. The corridor leads into another room: the Nepal Architecture Archive.&nbsp; There are no windows, and it is a scholar’s dream to be in such a room, among books and papers, smelling of antiquity and yesterday’s world. The walls are lined with framed maps, paintings and sketches, alongside custom-made moveable chests and drawers. An intricately carved wooden window sits surrounded by original drawings and reproductions of chaitya, temple and the façade of a traditional Newa house.&nbsp; On the adjacent wall is a door from Thimi, possibly from a temple and salvaged from a demolition site in 1995. This door is nearly 2.5m tall and of unique design with sharp geometric patterns. A figure of Hanuman is carved on the top-centre, and directly underneath are nails in a multi-pronged group. The archivist Asmita Nepal’s workstation is at the centre of the room. Her computer is surrounded by books and sheets of paper. She explains that archiving is more than simply filing or storing information and materials: there are often stories to tell about each object. “Archives are usually seen as repositories of static data, and thus rarely explored,” says Nepal, “but they provide a space to create a movement of knowledge, across time and space.”&nbsp; The NAA receives a range of diverse material regularly, which undergo a digital scanning process, online references, and copyright adjustment according to international standards. Eka Resources helped to set a foundation for the NAA’s digitisation and standardisation processes, and the materials are now accessible to the public on written requests.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-nepal-s-history-colourful">Making Nepal’s history colourful</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230421050412_ba2b2a2dbcacd0fa4a31b414b8bd41d1af73d23558f4e4aa9d59011794cd0a3a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230421050412_ba2b2a2dbcacd0fa4a31b414b8bd41d1af73d23558f4e4aa9d59011794cd0a3a" data-rendition-name="original" width="4012" height="2675" loading="lazy" alt="An archive of Nepali Heritage"> </figure>  “We are not hoarding,” says Arun Saraf, “we are making sure that these important documents and testimonies of our past have a home.” Either the foundation approaches scholars, or the scholars approach the foundation, but the aim of archiving is the same: to preserve research works on Nepal and to put them in public domain so that future scholars may easily access them.&nbsp; Scholars whose work currently held at the NAA include Niels Gutschow, Wolfgang Korn, Jørgen Rahbek Thomsen &amp; Jens Wærum (from the Danish Architects team), John Harrison, Andreas Brandt, Robert Powell, Konstanty Gutschow, Thomas Kelly, Tiziano Terzani, Axel Weller, Klaus Kunzmann, Klaus Kette, Franz Frei, Ulrich Burscher, Thomas Turscher, Raimund Wuldz, and Peter Herrle.&nbsp; There are around 80,000 individual documents, drawings and photographs, excepting slides. While European and American scholars currently have more representation, the NAA is also actively seeking scholars from Nepal and the region for its expanding collection. Read also: <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/05/17/documenting-loss/" target="blank">Documenting Loss</a>, Stéphane Huët  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023042105048_0157e5b59999a3fe44f7a81dc64b31a9202387f92b0ed390e67d1ea174c66979.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2023042105048_0157e5b59999a3fe44f7a81dc64b31a9202387f92b0ed390e67d1ea174c66979" data-rendition-name="original" width="3765" height="2510" loading="lazy" alt="An archive of Nepali Heritage"> </figure>  “Being an archivist is so much more than managing the collection. Beyond cataloguing, recording, arranging, it involves also knowing the collection inside-out,” Asmita Nepal explains. “An archivist studies the material beyond its tangible aspects, its story, its maker, background, patron and journey.”&nbsp; It is a lengthy and dynamic process, and requires patience and passion. The NAA’s mission is that these documents must be within the reach of Nepal’s communities. It aims to democratise scholarship so Nepalis themselves better understand the country’s history and heritage. Preservation is the priority since the materials themselves are so fragile. “This gives us as a people the opportunity to decide together what should be kept safe for the future generations. Why take apart something that has value? Why destroy it?”remarks Arun Saraf.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230421150456_d8664680150e17ffa296b5fd2ea9c257d0e05006f8d8c4e0cb3f41e93c818f74.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20230421150456_d8664680150e17ffa296b5fd2ea9c257d0e05006f8d8c4e0cb3f41e93c818f74" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1066" loading="lazy" alt="sarafs and korn"> <figcaption>Arun and Namita Saraf (left) in conversation with Wolfgang Korn (right) at the Foundation's recent Taragaon Lecture Series #9 held in March 2023. Photo: TARAGAON NEXT.</figcaption> </figure>  The foundation also organises Lecture Series by scholars. Taragaon Next also has a new permanent exhibition co-curated by Sujan Chitrakar ‘Archiving for the Future: An Intersection of Heritage and Architecture’ which displays several objects, documents, paintings and instruments from the NAA, keeping with this theme of making Nepal’s architectural and academic past accessible. “We are just custodians and trying to get more people to care about this as we do,” says Namita Saraf. “Archiving may sound boring, but in fact it is fun and fulfilling work.” &nbsp; Read also: <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/data-mapping-the-aftermath-of-earthquake,2218" target="blank">Mapping the aftermath</a>, Ayesha Shakya

Ashish Dhakal

An archive of Nepali heritage

<div class="embed-block"><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/133">							<img width="762" height="261" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11c39c7e80680e0da4f5jpeg.jpg" alt=""></a>
											Issue #133 21-27 February 2003</div>
The obsession of our leaders with Singapore is unmatched. Every prime minister we have had in the 30 years (some of them serial prime ministers) has promised to turn Nepal into a Singapore one too many times. Why not just build a Nepal that is just and fair for everyone?
Many readers are going through a withdrawal syndrome after the Ass formally stepped down, including the author his-self. This week we revisit one of the earlier <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4308#.Y_guAy8w1KM">‘Under My Hat’ columns</a> which takes a dig at our Singaporean aspirations.&nbsp;
Excerpts from <a href="https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_133.pdf">issue #133 21-27 February 2003</a> 20 years ago this week:
If, one day, we want to become filthy rich like the Singaporeans, it is pretty clear that we must institute stiff fines for all major and minor misdemeanours and also turn ourselves into a penal colony.
But let’s be realistic: do our army, navy and air force have the capacity to instill fines on every non-flushing Nepali? Sadly, the answer is an unequivocal “no”. So, unlike Singapore, which penalises offenders with fines, we must use positive enforcement by rewarding those who do things right. In Nepal, instead of taking money away from those who litter, we must give money to those who don’t.
Cash prize of Rs 2,000 for the lone pedestrian who actually used the overhead walkway at Bhotahity in the last fiscal year. To be presented at a public felicitation ceremony chaired by the Mayor of Kathmandu or the MP of Kathmandu, whoever is elected first.
The Honest Cop Award in Cash or Kind for the pre-embarkation security check personnel at Tribhuvan Intercontinental Ballistic Airport who doesn’t ask you to open your wallet during the mandatory body search and contribute generously to the Free Lunch Fund for Kathmandu’s Finest.
The columnist who adheres to the highest standards of personal hygiene by not grooming his nostrils in full view of the rest of his staff during the course of writing the above column. This award carries with it a permanent residence certificate for Singapore. Terima Kasi.
From archive material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">www.nepalitimes.com</a>

Singha Darbar, not Singapore

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637238079c7e80680e0c7364jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"/><figcaption>King Bhupatindra Malla as Vishwaroop with his queen Vishwa Laxmi in his arms in Bhaktapur’s 55-Window Darbar. On either side the vast mural depicting Krishna-leela unfurls largely intact despite neglect in the previous centuries. ALL PHOTOS: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption></figure>The noise and dust from busy traffic at the Mangal Bazar intersection filters in through the lattice window at a corner of Patan Museum. Inside, along the walls of the dark, cool corridor are a series of half-erased murals.These 17th–18th century wall paintings – 195x210cm and 197x240cm – are indecipherable, but as the eyes get used to the soft interior, four horizontal bands on either side, of approximately 50cm height, begin to take shape. Red separates from blue, lines and angles give way to faint forms and figures. Two-tiered temples rise on the north wall in the cacophony of colours, while a musical procession marches across the passage. There are a couple animals and gods too – but beyond that, not much can be known.Only fragments remain. The murals are defaced by scratches, including what looks like a cross between the Prachalit (or Devnagari) letter क and a human figure with one arm on the hip, giving this Malla-era artwork a feral touch. After the Shah conquest of Patan, the palace complex was repurposed by the police, with one wing even used to house prisoners. During this time and perhaps till much later, whitewash would be regularly applied over the paintings.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/6372380b9c7e80680e0c7365jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 1995, the loose lime layer peeled away revealing a patch of colours. Four years later, UNESCO started to unveil and conserve what remained of the murals, and train staff from the Department of Archaeology. French conservator Sabine Cotte retouched some of the murals, filled the gaps using gypsum, and applied a coating of acrylic resin on the north-wall mural for protection.It was decided that the paintings would be conserved in situ without detaching them from the walls. Following the initial treatment, the Institute of Conservation (ICON) in 2013 conducted the first investigation of the murals and found that the brick walls were first rendered with a layer of plaster of mainly ‘sheet silicates, quartz and plant fibres’ which would have an uneven texture.Then, this layer was topped with a much smoother layer of fine mud mixed with plant fibres, over which several paint layers were directly applied. Carbon black, orpiment and red ochre were the original pigments, and animal glue added with drying oil was used as a binding medium.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/250-years-of-nepals-history-through-art/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal's history through art</a>, Lisa Choegyal<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/6372380e9c7e80680e0c7366jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>During the investigation, it was also found that several layers of overpainting had been done over the centuries, using synthetic cinnabar and ultramarine – shades not produced in the 17th century.The paintings were already in a bad shape in the 90s, with losses of mud plaster and paint layers. Some of the retouching done after its rediscovery did not hold well, as their consistency with the original materials did not match, reacting differently to the changes in humidity and temperature, and even falling out, pulling the original sections with them. Conservation efforts after the 2015 earthquake sought to prevent the paintings from further deterioration by removing the later harmful additions, cleaning, and sealing the cracks.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238119c7e80680e0c7367jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Barbara Ranki of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna arrived in Nepal two weeks ago to work on the wall. She explains that an important conservation ethic is to not introduce any new material as far as possible and stay in the same system as the original, such as using local mud as artists in Malla-era would have.“This also helps the conservators to know about the history of the paintings’ restoration methods,” Ranki says, “so it can be easily retreated in the future.”Today, the paintings look very much like a Jackson Pollock work at the outset. But one can feel a ring of almost-romanticism in the lacunae, like poetry fragments in ancient scrolls. These intervals may be appreciated wholly in their aposiopesis, or the viewer may have to exercise their imagination, fill in the gaps themselves.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238159c7e80680e0c7368jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Across the river and the city-lines, the mural in Bhaktapur is in better shape. On the walls of the 55-Window Darbar sits a celebration of colours and shapes: a vast mural spanning an entire room, casting a glorious and imposing sense of grandeur.Divided into five horizontal panels, the 18th century mural is largely intact despite the years of neglect. The palace was once used by the police too, and the room was turned into a kitchen. Few sections of the mural are still behind a thick layer of stove smoke and soot marks.Ram Govinda Shrestha of Bhaktapur Heritage Conservation points out the unique figure of Vishwaroop, the embodiment of the universe according to Hindu beliefs, with each head sporting a moustache. According to artist <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Illustrated-history-of-chitrakars-nepal,3655" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Madan Chitrakar</a>, this is a rare iconography of the god since he is almost never shown with so much facial hair.Further, the face of the god is the image of King Bhupatindra Malla himself, and in his hands he holds the chariots of Ram and Ravan before their final battle.In the deity’s other arm sits his divine consort modelled after Bhupatindra Malla’s queen Vishwa Laxmi. On her coiffure in the painting the name ‘Shree Bhupatindra’ is clearly written.On either side of the painting, a continual set of images – bilampu, says Chitrakar – unfolds, depicting scenes from the Hindu mythology. In one corner, one can make out an image of Ganesh which signifies the start of the story. It is a vast narrative, capturing the many stages of motion and plot: the same faces appear several times in different locations, doing different things, on the same two-dimensional stretch – an art style common in the Subcontinent which feels almost like a precursor to cinema itself.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238189c7e80680e0c7369jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Chitrakar believes that the methods of its creation are similar to the paintings in Patan: the same base for the walls, the colours and different mud layers.According to Shrestha, efforts to conserve the painting began in 1998. “Initially we added foam at the back to stabilise it,” he says. “Fortunately, there was not bad damage to the painting despite the earthquakes. The painting has remained the same since the 90s.”However, among the traces of gypsum and scratch marks are cracks and fading, illegible scenes. While it is clear that the story depicted is from Krishna-leela, several individual scenes are obscure. In recent years, a small section showing a young Krishna with the gopini has been discoloured by direct sunlight.Outside, the walls of Taleju Temple are also covered in paintings, above the bullet dents and sword marks from Prithvi Narayan Shah’s invasion of Bhaktapur in 1767. They have mostly faded due to exposure to the elements but the line-works in certain sections are still conspicuous, such as the drawing of two peacock-like creatures with human heads and limbs facing each other.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372381b9c7e80680e0c736ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>These murals provide a unique look into the art of the Valley influenced by Buddhist traditions, says artist Chitrakar, and are just as important as stone sculptures and wood carvings as a part of the Valley’s cultural civilisation. Most wall-paintings in the Valley are from the Malla period.“There are a couple such paintings from the early Shah period,” he adds, “but few.”But when compared to paper or cloth for art, wall poses some challenges – portability being the obvious one. Chitrakar gives examples of large-scale wall paintings found in the Buddhist monasteries of the Valley, explaining that these murals were most likely made for meditation. “So that when one is in the room for worship, nothing else comes to mind except the image of the god before them,” he says.The Malla kings enjoyed a time of cultural prosperity which could not be replicated by the Shahs owing to relentless political tug-of-war between rival families at court. It was also a time when art was made more as an instrument of religious and spiritual expression, than to be simply admired, Chitrakar remarks.“This is not to say that the Malla era was always peaceful, that was not the case,” he says, “but the Valley’s kingdoms were wealthy, and the kings were competing with one another to build more temples and create more art.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372381e9c7e80680e0c736bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There is certainly an aspect of wanting to impress and to transcend in Bhupatindra Malla’s mural in Bhaktapur which depicts himself as the godhead, but it also comes with a desire to be one with the divine, to demonstrate one’s purported godly lineage.There is also a recently discovered mural at Hanumandhoka Darbar in Kathmandu so badly damaged that the paint layers are mostly all abraded, leaving behind glaring lesions across confused shapes. It was located during restoration work after the 2015 earthquake on the wall at Agam Chhen hidden behind another wall which had been raised some five inches from it.“It’s almost as if the painting was quietly waiting all these years,” says Chitrakar. “The details are, however, very difficult to describe because of its terrible condition.”A dancing figure in wine-red – possibly Kapalika, a follower of Shiva – can be made out holding a flag, and someone seated on a bull before him. Chitrakar believes that this painting was contemporaneous with the murals in Patan and Bhaktapur, most likely commissioned by King Pratap Malla.Back in Patan, Ranki’s team are working with fine-tipped brushes and recently reduced a new layer of lime wash. Her team works undeterred by the passing visitors who stop to watch, steal a glance at the paintings.Much has been lost to time, but the approach now is to try and preserve everything that is visible. Says Ranki: “We try to keep the object’s history intact as much as possible.”Read Also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/prehistoric-rock-painting-in-mustang,4086" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prehistoric paintings in Mustang</a>, Sahina Shrestha

Painted walls and pieces of history

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ba9c7e80680e0c02cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>The first view inside the British Cemetery at Kathmandu as it looks today - the caretakers Prem and Durga Devi might ask you to sign their visitors' book. Photo: DR MARK F WATSON.</figcaption></figure>The British cemetery at Kathmandu is little known but not hard to find.Keep the imposing white sweep of the British Embassy gate on your left, and then walk past the well-guarded Indian Embassy entrance to your right. The lane shrinks dramatically between their towering walls and, if you are lucky, no passing vehicle pins you against the brickwork.Persevering on down the hill a little further than you think and avoiding a constant stream of bikes, the graveyard looms suddenly on your right. A mound of exotic trees, cultivated flowers and manicured lawns comprise this ‘corner of a foreign field’ that shelters a tantalising assortment of headstones and memorials dating back over 200 years.Once through the gate with a helpful sign beneath a friendly arch, you might encounter the conscientious caretakers Prem and Durga Devi. Lingering amongst the meticulously tended graves, the shades of people buried here begin to manifest at the edge of consciousness. ‘The laughter learnt of friends; and gentleness, in hearts at peace.’The atmosphere vibrates with the ghosts of times remembered, whilst the mind crowds with apparitions of historic figures, funerals and friends, long-stay residents and short-term visitors, whosoever fate decreed would never leave the valley of Kathmandu.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221bd9c7e80680e0c02d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="851"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221c19c7e80680e0c02d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="926"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/250-years-of-nepals-history-through-art/">Nepal’s history through ar</a>t, Lisa ChoegyalThis haven of tidiness was not always so. As we learn from this important new book, the fate of the British cemetery has ebbed and flowed with the tide of centuries at the whim of its diplomatic custodians. Sometimes neglected and overgrown, sometimes nurtured and cared for, it has always been at the heart of the history of foreigners in Nepal – ‘A pulse in the eternal mind”.For the first time, the facts about the British cemetery and its glamorous array of inhabitants are gathered together in this comprehensive volume. The first grave dates from 1820, and I attended the most recent funeral in 2014.Elegantly written and highly readable, Andrew Hall, anthropologist and former British Ambassador to Nepal, and Mark Watson, keen historian and Himalayan botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, have collaborated with Vajra Books. Initially conceived as a modest booklet to resolve the incomplete listings and jumbled records of the historic graveyard, it later expanded to include the wider context of Nepal’s complex relationship with the outside world.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221c49c7e80680e0c02d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="279"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221c79c7e80680e0c02d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="229"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ca9c7e80680e0c02d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="137"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As might be expected, such a formidable combination of scholarship has done a very thorough job. The evolving changes to the physical site are documented with maps, drawings, paintings and letters dredged from London collections, and identities clarified that have been disrupted by earthquakes, fallen branches and general dereliction that damaged the marker stones, rendering some unreadable.Every grave in the British cemetery in Kathmandu is catalogued, but there are others further afield. The Gurkhas had burial sites in Paklihawa and Dharan,<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/father-moran-and-nepals-jesuits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> the Jesuits</a> at Godavari, two memorial parks mark the terrible 1992 air disasters in Kakani and Lele, each facing the direction of the catastrophe, and there is even a solitary grave in the grounds of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-lovelier-spot-than-kakani/">British bungalow in Kakani</a>.We find exhaustive descriptions of the British cemetery graves, headstones, location maps, names, dates, images, stories and anecdotes, and even details of trees and shrubs that grow there; a glossary, bibliography, sources, endnotes and index; and a list of the British heads of mission assigned to Nepal, responsible for this patch of ground ‘that is for ever England … A body of England’s, breathing English air’.But not really. Of the 100 or so people laid to rest here only about 40% are British, the remaining represent at least 16 nationalities and several religions other than Christian. Their causes of death are an eye-opener into the Nepal of their lifetimes.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221cb9c7e80680e0c02d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="892"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ce9c7e80680e0c02d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="719"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221d29c7e80680e0c02d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Although the British were first to put down roots after the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire/">1816 Treaty of Sugauli</a>, the truth is that over the centuries this remote Himalayan country received a wide variety of visitors from all corners of the globe and the cemetery’s eclectic occupants reflect this – missionaries, mountaineers, military, traders, adventurers, eccentrics and dreamers.The earliest grave belongs to Robert Stuart, the Assistant Resident who died suddenly one spring evening in 1820 of ‘a violent cold’. His superior, Hon Edward Gardner was devastated but had no choice but to inter him beneath the nearby hillock that the British were hastily given to bury their dead.Hardly ‘that rich earth, a richer dust concealed’ of Rupert Brooke’s iconic First World War poem <a href="https://poets.org/poem/soldier-0">The Soldier</a>, but a sandy wasteland unsuitable for cultivation, situated not far from the uninviting piece of land on the then-distant outskirts of Kathmandu that had been grudgingly granted for the British residency – now given over to the Indian mission after Independence.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221d39c7e80680e0c02d8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="960"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>By 1857 the cemetery contained only three graves. The grandest monument commemorates <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3246#.YqNelI5BxpQ">Brian Hodgson</a>’s deputy, Ensign Hastings Young, aged only 20 and the first child burial, seven-year-old William Nott Nicholetts. The only official Commonwealth War Grave in Nepal, belonging to Gilbert Deatker who died in 1942, ensures a funding commitment which proved crucial to the garden’s maintenance during the leaner years of British government support. The grave diggers’ busiest period was the tourism times from the 1970s to 1990s, before mortuary freezers enabled repatriation and local cremations became more generally accepted.Some incumbents remain more mysterious than others, but the authors’ investigations have culminated in this highly readable account that spans not only the history of the British and other early foreigners in Nepal, but also curious, sad and sometimes extraordinary stories of how they met their end.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221d79c7e80680e0c02d9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2499" height="3000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Some of these tales are tragic and extreme. Particularly heart-breaking are the babies and children, including the infant son of Henry Ambrose Oldfield the Residency surgeon and artist dated 1861. In addition to the occupational hazard of illness, as might be expected in harsh mountain terrain, fatalities feature <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mountaineering</a>, rock falls, drownings and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2014/02/17/twin-otters-in-the-nepal-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air accidents</a>. On the back wall, a plaque remembers the New Zealand pilot of the flight that killed Sir Edmund Hillary’s wife and youngest daughter in 1975.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221da9c7e80680e0c02dajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1978" height="1389"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This peaceful garden is the last resting place of a roll call of Nepal’s early tourism, conservation and development pioneers. Familiar and colourful characters who left their mark include <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-tourism-now-has-to-re-start-from-zero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Boris Lissanevitch</a> (plus his mother, mother-in-law, wife and son), <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/remembering-des-la-at-shangrila/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Desmond Doig</a>, AV Jim Edwards, Mike Cheney, Freddie Bowles, Robert and Cecille Reiffel, Peter and Margaret Ross and many more. Unearthing some buried recollections of my own having known them all (full disclosure), I helped the ever-erudite Doctors Andrew and Mark with research, editing and proof-reading.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221dd9c7e80680e0c02dbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A collaborative and diligent research effort, many have contributed to this slim volume packed with information. Dedicated to the late great Charles Allen with a foreword by current British Ambassador Nicola Pollitt, both the Nepal Britain and Britain Nepal Societies supported its publishing, along with the <a href="https://www.bacsa.org.uk">British Association for Cemetaries in South Asia</a> (BACSA), Bon Travel and Tours, Vajra Books and the personal generosity of Pratima and Prithivi Pande.My only niggle is the misleading title. This useful book reaches far beyond the confines of the British cemetery enclosure, now a hidden and forgotten island in an ocean of concrete urbanisation down that narrow Lainchaur lane – which perhaps you will be inspired to discover. By using the graveyard and the circumstances of its existence, the chapters expand to encompass the entire early history of Nepal’s convoluted interaction and engagement with outsiders and the international world.Corner of a Foreign Field: The BRITISH CEMETERY at KATHMANDU by Mark F Watson and Andrew R HallVajra Books 2022Rs2,500168 pages<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221df9c7e80680e0c02dcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2164" height="3848">Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/mainly-fine-throughout-the-kingdom/">‘Mainly fine throughout the kingdom’</a>, Lisa Choegyal

Buried in history

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

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