<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204589c7e80680e0b2859jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="534"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372045a9c7e80680e0b285ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="547"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5065#.YeJVJKBBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">8.3M earthquake that struck at 2:28PM on 15 January 1934</a> was the last major quake to hit Kathmandu before the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Nearly 17,000 people were killed in Nepal and India.The disaster is commemorated in Nepal every 15 January as National Earthquake Safety Day.The Rana rulers at the time went about quickly rebuilding the heritage sites, with many thinking even today that the reconstructions closely resembled how the monuments looked before 1934. However, evidence indicates otherwise.“It may not be evident to the naked eye, but upon closer inspection one can see there are many anomalies in the way the reconstruction was handled after the 1934 earthquake,” says Rohit Ranjitkar of <a href="https://kvptnepal.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KVPT</a>, who is documenting the changes and is working on a book about the same.Following the earthquake, rebuilding Kathmandu Valley was of utmost priority as it was the capital and had faced severe damages. Engineer Dilli Jung Thapa, who was 93 years old when Ranjitkar met him in 1990s, was tasked with the project.“According to him, the rulers had given a timeframe and the job was expected to be completed within that period," says Ranjitkar. "So, replicating them to look as they did in the Malla era was not possible. Temples around the palace complexes were given more priority, and materials from the peripheral monuments were used to rebuild them."Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet/">The historic Kathmandu beneath our feet</a>, Sahina ShresthaWhen KVPT was renovating seven temples in the Kathmandu Darbar Square around 2007, they found that the struts used in the Narayan temple east of Kaal Bhairav were taken from other temples around it.In Patan, the Taleju Temple and the wings of Sundari Chok also have struts from other monuments. It is difficult to track their origins now because of lack of documentation.Using materials from one temple to reconstruct another also means that many temples lost their true forms or their history was completely erased.In Bhaktapur, while the city rebuilt the Bhairav temple in its original size, four temples in the Darbar Square were rebuilt as a one-storeyed structure, and four other buildings were never rebuilt.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372045d9c7e80680e0b285bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1217"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204619c7e80680e0b285cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3156" height="2220"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A black and white photo of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/Patan-town-as-a-museum-piece" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Darbar Square</a> taken by Kurt Boeck in 1890 shows three shikhara-style stone temples. Only one, Chaysin Dega is still around in the original style. Materials from the other two, a Shiva temple and a Narayan temple, were used in rebuilding it.Further, individual materials from temples were not only used to rebuild structures in the same area. Some travelled in-between the cities too.For example, in the 1980s when the Germans were helping with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/clash-of-cultures-in-bhaktapur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reconstruction of Bhaktapur</a>, they found that the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-beginning-of-history,3225" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chyasalin Mandap</a>, which had collapsed nine hours after the 1934 earthquake, was missing its original pieces.The priests knew that parts of the building had been recovered and were used elsewhere. They finally located the former chauffeur of the-then governor who reported that 32 roof struts with depictions of Krishna had been transported to Kathmandu to be used in the New Road Gate.According to an article by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/niels-gutschow-leaves-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Niels Gutschow</a> and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20Götz%20Hagmüller,3352">Götz Hagmüller</a>, they also found that the pillars, consoles, capitals and pedestals from the pavilion had been used as timber to construct a one-storeyed arcade in Sallaghari.The capitals had been shortened and lintels shred to pieces. Some of the pieces that had been preserved were reused in the reconstruction of the Chyasalin Mandap, but the struts from Kathmandu could not be returned.The team deliberately refrained from copying the design of the struts, and the roof was reconstructed with plain timber. They hoped that in the long-run, the components may be recovered.In Patan the once Shikhara-styled Shiva temple and Narayan Temple today are housed in stucco-dome style structures. As was the Bhaidega Temple after the original three-story structure fell down, but <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/restoring-a-piece-of-nepals-history/">it is currently being rebuilt in its original style and design</a>.The north wing of Mulchok, the largest and oldest of the three main choks in Patan Darbar was also damaged by the earthquake. During the renovation, the intricately carved window was replaced by another much simpler wooden window which can be seen today.Old photos also show that the dabali north of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Raze-retrofit%20-or-rebuild,3963" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Gaddhi Baithak</a> actually had houses which did not go down completely but were later cleared to make the open space as we see it today.There is also photographic evidence of the original three-storeyed Patan District Court House. Nonetheless, after the top floor was damaged in 1934, it was renovated as a two-storeyed structure.Currently, there are plans to reconstruct the wing with support from the Indian Embassy but it has not moved ahead yet. In the case of Bhaktapur, Gutschow's and Hagmüller's team were assisted by oral history. But today, there are very few people around who can remember the details from before 1934. And without proper documentation, it is difficult to know what the monuments looked like originally.Says Ranjitkar: “While it is a given that the architecture of a place can change over time, there needs to be proper documentation of everything so that when the time comes to reconstruct and renovate, we <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lessons-not-learned-from-2015/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">don’t repeat the same mistakes</a>.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lessons-still-not-learnt/">Lessons still not learnt</a>

Sahina Shrestha

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Kathmandu’s temple restoration after 1934 quake

https://youtu.be/aDKMAc6MxuYKing Pratap Malla built Nhu Pukhoo, the ‘new pond’ on the northern outskirts of Kathmandu in the 17thcentury CE to console his grieving wife. To sanctify Rani Pokhari, as the pond was eventually called, he toiled four years to bring water from 51 holy rivers, ponds and oceans of the subcontinent.Now, more than four years after the desecration of Ranipokhari by Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) in the name of ‘beautification’, the pond remains unfilled. All is not lost, however. The ongoing rebuilding process of Rani Pokhari is to some extent fulfilling.The 2015 earthquake damaged the Bal Gopaleswor Temple in the middle of the pond. The water body itself and the embankment walls remained intact, but the KMC misguidedly drained all the water, demolished the centuries-old brick embankment and replaced it with reinforced concrete in an effort to ‘modernise’ the pond.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/deconstructing-reconstruction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deconstructing Reconstruction</a>, Alok Tuladhar<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a50679c7e80680e04fd5ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>Photos: Alok Tuladhar</figcaption></figure>Despite public uproar over the vandalism of this holy site, Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya refused to back down from the project, vowing to build a coffee shop and recreation facilities in and around Rani Pokhari. Outraged activists finally threw the construction workers out and locked the premises in December 2017. Mayor Shakya was forced to remove the concrete he had poured.The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) stepped in, taking responsibility for the reconstruction. It formed a local group to oversee the process and manage funds, and enlisted the technical expertise of Bhaktapur Municipality, which had recently revived several ponds on its lands that had dried up.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/12/28/reconstruction-of-rani-pokhari-halted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reconstruction of Rani Pokhari halted</a><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a506a9c7e80680e04fd5bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">A team of 40 workers from Bhaktapur are now hard at work at Rani Pokhari every day. After clearing the overgrown vegetation, women are levelling the ground and lining the pond with a layer of impermeable black clay.  They are also building an embankment wall on the sides of the pond, using bricks specially manufactured with lime-and-brick-dust mortar.Subhadra Dhoju from Bhaktapur says the black clay (‘dyo cha’) has been chosen for its water retention capability. Dyo cha means ‘god soil’ in Newa. The large surface area of Rain Pokhari poses a challenge not faced elsewhere.“We have brought in 40 truckloads of black clay so far from Sankhu and Bhaktapur, but we need another 3,000,” says Ajay Sthapit, who heads the local group overseeing the project. Even though the NRA wanted to use cheaper ordinary bricks for the walls of the pond, Sthapit insisted on high quality custom-made one.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a506e9c7e80680e04fd5cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">For now, Rani Pokhari reconstruction is progressing steadily, using appropriate technical knowhow and following ancient pond construction methods. But this is true only for preventing the pond water from seeping into the ground. Getting water into the pond will be another story altogether.In addition to rainwater, the NRA is thinking of drilling a deep well and a dedicated Melamchi pipe to fill the pond. But the long-term sustainability of this method is contested by Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, a historian and member of the expert committee formed by KMC in 2018 to guide Rani Pokhari rehabilitation.“According to Vastu principles, Pratap Malla must have dug separate wells to fill and to drain the pond in the northeast and southeast corners respectively,” says Tiwari. “This was the ancient, proven and sustainable way of keeping the water flow under human control. The present reconstruction method is not investigating this method.”Cultural preservation activist Sudin Manandhar feels Rani Pokhari is being turned into a traditional swimming pool. “If the ancient system of natural water flow is not revived, the valuable engineering knowledge of our ancestors is lost forever. That lowers the value of the historical pond,” he says.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/08/24/save-rani-pokhari/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Save Rani Pokhari</a>https://youtu.be/moY2eji6loETiwari’s committee had also recommended that the Bal Gopaleswor temple be rebuilt in Shikhara architecture keeping with king Pratap Malla’s original style. The Department of Archaeology, however, ignored that advice and went on to rebuild the temple with a dome roof following the Rana-era reconstruction model. Once more, sustained public pressure forced the government to correct its mistake, and the NRA has now published a design to rebuild the temple in the Shikhara style. This is another major win for heritage conservation.Maharshi Prasad Rajbhandari, a young heritage enthusiast from nearby Asan, sums up the resurrection: “We were about to forget what we stood on. But sustained activism prevented that from happening. From the Rani Pokhari episode, we have learnt that if we raise our voices and are persistent, we can bring even the most powerful government to heel and set things right.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a50729c7e80680e04fd5djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="532"></figure>Rani Pokhari with the Bal Gopaleswar temple in Shikhar style, before it was destroyed by the 1934 earthquake. The sketch was drawn by an artist who accompanied Prince Waldemar of Prussia on his visit to Nepal in February 1845.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/draining-the-swamp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Draining the swamp</a>, Sumana Shrestha

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Resurrecting Rani Pokhari Right

https://youtu.be/aG3NqSX0Sk8Woodcraft embellish Kathmandu Valley’s traditional architecture, adorning columns, eaves, windows and door frames with meticulously carved figures of gods and goddesses. Historically, these anonymous works of devotional art were carved by generations of the Shilpakar clan, whose surname was derived from their ancestral profession.Indra Prasad Shilpakar is from a long line of the woodcarvers from Bhaktapur who has decided to give new life to the craft by using traditional motifs, but adding artistic license with new elements. He has separated these pieces from architecture and created them as freestanding structures of art, modifying some background designs and poses of the gods.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4ebb9c7e80680e04fcd0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4ebe9c7e80680e04fcd1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="853">"Woodcarving on temples are strictly defined by rules that follow the storyline of the scriptures,” Shilpakar explained during a walk around his ongoing solo exhibition at the Taragaon Museum this week. “But outside of the architectural frame, I try to experiment.”Shilpakar has a degree in fine art from Tribhuvan University and he says the background in  contemporary art helps him try out new aesthetics so that traditional woodcarvings can also be viewed separately as individual pieces of art.In his day job these day, Shilpakar works in the restoration of Patan’s Bhai Dega temple which was destroyed in the 1934 earthquake. There he tries to replicate missing pieces of the temple based on old photographs and damaged pieces. After work, he is back at his basement workshop in Bhaktapur where with his father Indra Kaji Shilpakar he works on traditional carvings.Indra Kaji is not too enthusiastic about his son trying out new styles and selling them in galleries. He says: “Work in exhibitions ultimately end up in private collections, and only a few people will see them. On the other hand, when your carving adorns a temple everyone sees them, and it spans generations.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4ec19c7e80680e04fcd2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="853"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4ec59c7e80680e04fcd3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"></figure>Artist Indra Prasad Shilpakar (right) with his father Indra Kaji ShilpakarNonetheless, the younger Shilpakar says it is difficult to make a living making traditional wood carvings for temples, whereas experimenting with modern forms of traditional art and exhibiting them in galleries can earn the artist extra money.Shilpakar's Taragaon exhibition that ended on Tuesday depicted the best of woodcarving found in temples: windows with intricate patterns of flowers, deities like the Buddha, Ganesh, and Matrika, animals like crocodiles and Garuda, a pair of singing Gandharva and dancing Kinnara.Even more modern renditions of traditional wood carvings are strewn around Shilpakar’s workshop in Bhaktapur. Senior Shilpakar and his son share a passion for traditional woodcraft, and have designed their home keeping true to their Newa heritage. Carved wooden pillars line the ground floor, a traditional wooden staircase leads to the second floor which has intricately-carved wooden windows.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4ec89c7e80680e04fcd4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"></figure>Photos: Monica DeupalaThe attic kitchen has a high, triangular roof supported by wooden balustrades, and the balcony outside is lined with woodwork. The walls have a museum feel with displays of mallets, chisels, gouges and skews in various sizes that were used by their ancestors. "We wanted our house itself to reflect and preserve traditions," says the younger Shilpakar.Indra Prasad Shilpakar feels his family’s ancestral work is still seen as a lowly occupation, and he wants to be recognised as a creative artist as well. He says: "It is sad that we don’t know the names of the masters who created the exquisite carvings on our temples. They were never known as artists. But here in this gallery I am known as an artist in my own right.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4ecb9c7e80680e04fcd5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000">Wood Carving: The Art of the Newars of Nepal Solo exhibition of wood art by Indra Prasad ShilpakarTaragaon Museum, 1-9 July

In with the old, in with the new

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a35199c7e80680e048290jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="998"/><figcaption>Photos: SHEILIN TEO</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/Patan-town-as-a-museum-piece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patan Museum</a> is a must-visit among the draws of Kathmandu Valley: tastefully designed and informative, its curation is logical yet sensitive to the nuances of the richly-layered heritage and local traditions. Visitors can trace chronological lines in Nepal’s cultural history, and are guided to recognise stylistic themes in the faces of gods and goddesses and the iconography that they pass on the streets of the Valley’s old towns.Visitors get an introduction to the symbiosis of Hinduism and Buddhism in the Nepa civilisation. Besides the artifacts on display, the corridors provide an unassuming serenity, places of repose and leisure of rulers past. We see courtyards where the public would gather to celebrate, debate or venerate, and sense a graciousness, a deep attention to detail. And most striking: these are living traditions that carry on to the present day.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kathmandus-past-for-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saving Kathmandu's past for the future</a>, Sonia Awale<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a351b9c7e80680e048291jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="1252">There is the bathing well, (tusha hiti) of King Siddhi Narasimha Malla in <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17399#.XKXurlUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sundari Chok</a> with its gilded garuda spout. Or, a large display of a gilded pair of the Buddha’s hands, ‘calling the earth to witness’, depicting the moment he attained enlightenment.In these days of quick-fix concrete and steel, visitors sense a dwindling appreciation of lingering around a water well, resting on a courtyard ledge, or leaning in to admire the intricate carvings of a temple’s eaves.Which is why it is important to accept the invitation to spend a day at the museum, to explore, to rest, to compose one’s impressions of the city, and even rekindle the divine spark with greenery, nourishing food and inspiring architecture.Monuments are kept alive by their relevance to the community. In Nepal, they have been maintained by devotion: annual rites and festivals that ensure places of worship are regularly tended to and repaired by devotees. In cases where monuments are given into state care, they have often fallen into disrepair.Luckily, the team led by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Austrian architect Götz Hagmüller</a> that was given the charge to restore Patan Durbar in the 1990s, took to the task with an intention to turn the palace complex into a self-sustaining cultural institution, capable of withstanding not just natural shakeups but also political instability.In its modernisation into a world-class cultural treasure, the palace complex underwent a significant rearrangement to house not only artifacts, but a constant flow of people within what would once have been quiet, private quarters of the royal court. Amid the mostly faithful restoration of the palace to its Malla heritage, the Patan Museum also features a clutch of modern elements: new materials and motifs seamlessly worked into the intricate historical fabric of the East Wing’s Malla and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-rana-reign-a-recap-of-history,3751" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rana styles</a>. As part of the rearrangement, a graceful timber staircase leads from a new foyer to a stunning display of iconic tundaal: intricately carved timber struts featuring deities in various poses.The columns and capitals supporting the restored Rana-style wing are detailed in steel and timber, to clean modernist lines, and hold their own within the simple brick and white plastered detailing of the period. They also feature a postmodern take on the scrolls of old Newa capitals, reinterpreting the decorative art of traditions past, whilst acknowledging the architectural language of the restoration’s own timeline. At the Museum Café, new metal-roofed pavilions also feature similar modern detailing in timber, a graceful reminder within the new construction of its heritage.The restoration efforts that led to the establishment of Patan’s Royal Palace as a public museum in 1997 features modern twists on traditional motifs, designed in timber and steel by Hagmüller’s team. The clean lines and geometric postmodern interpretation of decorative Newa carving presents a nod to the architectural language of the restoration’s own timeline.Patan Museum8am-6.30pmCourtyards and access to the Museum Cafe are open 7am-6.30pm.Entry fees to the Museum:Foreigners: Rs1,000 (included in Patan entry fee)SAARC: Rs250Nepali Rs30Nepali Students Rs5 (with ID)<a href="http://www.patanmuseum.gov.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.patanmuseum.gov.np/</a>Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/In-perfect-harmony,3251" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In perfect harmony</a>, Sahina Shrestha<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15470#.XKXxaFUzaUl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ancient mordern</a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViWX21zLjVQ&amp;feature=youtu.be<h2>Heritage gastronomy</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a351f9c7e80680e048292jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="833"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Ever since it opened more than 20 years ago, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/patan-museum-updated,1304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patan Museum</a> has been a quiet sanctuary hidden away from the densely-packed city outside. And in a tranquil, leafy corner of the complex is an oasis within an oasis: the Patan Museum Café.Under new management by Dwarika’s Hotel, the restaurant offers a delectable selection of continental cuisine, as well as finessed pickings of Nepali and Asian dishes. The menu features healthy salads, brunch specialties, snacks and full-portioned meals, hinting at the raison d’être of the place: all-day dining, whether you choose to start, continue or end your day at the museum.Lush greenery reaches up to rooflines of weathered jhingati tiles. Artfully contained shrubs spread against the geometric curves of patterned brick and into dining nooks and inviting enclosures. Low-slung pavilions reminiscent of Patan’s many resting platforms (pati) provide shady private cubicles, as do cafe-style umbrellas dappled with shadowplay as the trees dance with the wind.Austrian <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/15/gotz-hagmuller-awarded/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restoration architect Götz Hagmüller</a> also transformed the Kaiser Café in the Garden of Dreams in Thamel into the popular destination it is today. It seems fitting, then, that both these treasured historic restorations now feature bars and cafés managed by Dwarika’s Hotel whose revenues contribute to the upkeep of the sites. Patan Museum Café now has a menu and service that places quality and consistency foremost.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The guardian of the shadows</a>, Sebastian Gansrigler<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19497#.XKXvEFUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Living in Bhaktapur the Austrian way</a><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a35229c7e80680e048293jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="476" height="1024">Museum menuOrganic produce from Dwarika’s own organic farm in Dhulikel features on the cafe menu.Caprese saladCreamy buffalo mozzarella, organic tomatoes and torn holy basil, drizzled with rich, flavourful olive oil, and a selection of viscous balsamic or crisp white wine vinegar to liven the palate.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a35259c7e80680e048294jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="1671">Baked Jalkapur fish with quinoa and vegetable saladA sweet sticky sauce accentuates the mouthwatering caramelisation of a fried Jalkapur fillet, cooked to moist, breakaway softness. Soft quinoa and hearty vegetables complete the healthy ensemble.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a35289c7e80680e048295jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="938">Shrimp bisqueA rich bisque, perfectly sweet and buttery, with pieces of cooked shrimp and a hint of cream, garnished with a sprig of micro herbs.AffogatoA generous double shot of espresso with a double scoop of vanilla ice cream, served in style in a martini glass.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a352c9c7e80680e048296jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="1568"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Almond chocolate cakeA luscious log of nutty chocolate cake, smothered in rich chocolate ganache, accompanied by an assortment of fresh fruits and slivered almonds.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepoli-nepali/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Napoli Nepali</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/northeast-indian-cuisine-is-a-hot-new-sensation-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Northeast Indian cuisine is a hot new sensation in Nepal</a>, Sewa Bhattarai

Patan's museum piece

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/636934179c7e80680e03dfd7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="455"/><figcaption>Vishumati House with the Shivapuri Peak.</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/6369341b9c7e80680e03dfd8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="502">With the privilege of building a house from scratch in Kathmandu Valley comes a sneaking suspicion that in reality it is more akin to an onerous curse. The only land we could afford was way out on the far rim of the Valley, roads were rough, building supplies unreliable, and contractors even more so.By 1990 Tenzin and I were weary of Kathmandu landlords – something about renting their houses turned the most civilised owners into unreasonable fiends. Sangjay was six and Rinchen at four years old had already lived in four different homes – not that he seemed to mind the endless upheavals.A systematic scan of outlying areas took us on weekend searches down the radial roads that stretch outside the Ring Road. Having scoured the possibilities of Godavari (no sun), Bhaisepati (too far south), Thankot (too many trucks) and Sankhu (too tortuous), we eventually settled on the north, beyond Bansbari.We struck lucky one kilometre past the huge Vishnu who reclines on his watery snakes, sculpted in mysterious black stone protecting the Valley from his Budhanilkantha eyrie, high above what used to be the sacred lake before being drained by Lord Manjushri’s sword.On the hill to the gate of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6950#.W-qFgtIza70">Shivapuri National Park</a>, accessible only by a dirt lane with no telephone links and minimal electricity, we settled on a series of rice terraces bordered on one side by the headwaters of the Vishnumati River and on the other by a sylvan stream that has long since dried up. Mr Vaidya had the foresight to buy up large tracts along the river, and offered us first choice of whichever plot we preferred.Of course we chose the topmost section with the best aspect and shaded by Nepali poplars lining the river bank, but what clinched it for us was the scattering of huge granite boulders, vestiges of a massive avalanche rockfall many centuries ago. We oriented the house around those ancient stones, creating a series of small pools with the sound of running water and a rock garden by the veranda through which generations of children have scrambled and explored. A surprising number of guests remark: “It must have been a job moving those rocks!”Sheltered by the Shivapuri forest rising behind us, we had no glimpse of white peaks but were compensated by the benefits of all day sun, plentiful water and extensive views south across the entire Valley. Being a thousand feet above the Valley floor, the microclimate kept us cool in summer and warm in winter, sited safely above the chill morning mists that shrouded the view beneath us like the legendary lake, with Swayambhunath peeking above the fog, the mythical floating lotus island with its hallowed blue flame.It was two years before the first sod was turned, if that is the right expression, and two more years to build – no wonder the process is considered a curse. Inspired by the work of <a href="https://kvptnepal.org/">Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/in-perfect-harmony">Goetz Hagemuller’s</a> restorations of Bhaktapur, Patan Durbar and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12488#.W-qDwdIza70">Kaiser Mahal</a>, we were fortunate to have <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/preserving-our-valley,908">Eric Theophile</a> design the house, but it was the brilliant <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2010/08/17/good-job/">Rohit Ranjitkar</a> who had the hard grind of supervising the construction and managing all the component parts: brick-layers, plasterers, engineers, plumbers, electricians. Once the building chaos had retreated, Muni Rana helped with the planting.We were very particular to use vernacular architecture and traditional design themes with thick mud mortar and brick walls, local materials and chingati tiled roof. Strengthened to withstand earthquakes, which it did in 2015, we used a minimum of concrete but lots of wood imported from Malaysia. Not everything worked and there have been compromises along the way – loo flushing and water heating is less than perfect, the chimney still smokes, central heating never worked and damp patches persist on some walls.Tenzin complained that one third of the cost of the house went into timber floors and ceilings, but despite all the frustrations we were delighted with the result – a peculiar blend of neoclassical Rana meets <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/patan-museum-updated,1304">Patan Museum</a> Malla Newar, with Tibetan chests and carpets. The newly created spaces and empty rooms soon filled with echoes of family life, permeated with memories of friends and visitors.This month is the 24th anniversary of the auspicious day that we first moved in on 12 November 1994. Since then the boys have grown up and left, the garden and birdlife have flourished, and willow and bamboo cut back to protect the foundations. Generations of family dogs have raced around the lawn, disturbed the flowerbeds and, amidst much grief, been buried in the grove at the bottom of the garden.Other than that, very little has changed. When the earthquakes dislodged a few tiles, caused some superficial cracks in the plaster and separated the veranda roof from the main house, we chose to repair it exactly as before: even the colours we painted the walls did not change.Vishnumati House has stood the test of time for our needs, but we did not succeed in convincing others that it was a desirable architectural model that reflects the glorious heritage of historic Nepal. Although thousands have since undertaken the onerous task of building a home in the Kathmandu Valley, very few have attempted to emulate the sublime architectural styles of their Malla and Newar ancestors.Even our book <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15470#.W-qEFtIza70">Kathmandu Valley Style</a>, published in 2008 to celebrate the adaptations of traditional design to modern living in private houses and hotels, has failed to stem the tide of comfortless concrete <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19765#.W-qFUNIza70">monstrosities</a> that cloak our once-emerald Valley.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/6369341e9c7e80680e03dfd9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3785" height="1483"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>

Lisa Choegyal

A house in Budanilkantha

<h2>The cultural legacy of Nepal’s famous son can still be seen across East Asia</h2> <figure><img width="1000" height="614" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6609c7e80680e03147ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>An artist's rendering of the White Dagoba (stupa) built by Arniko, that still stands at the Miao Ying temple in Beijing. </figcaption></figure>Stamps have been issued, a highway has been named after him, he has been declared one of Nepal’s national icons. But 900 years later Arniko still remains very much an enigma in the country of his birth. In China, however, where Arniko went as a master architect to the court of Kublai Khan in 1260, he is still respected. He was given the title of Duke of Liang, and a memorial stele marks the spot where he was cremated in Hsiang Sheng near Beijing. A biography was written about him, and the Yuan genealogy contains a chapter on him.It is because of these reliable sources from Chinese sources that today we are able to trace the story of this remarkable historical figure from Kathmandu, even though details about him in Nepal itself are patchy.In 1260, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan asked his spiritual guru Phags-Pa to build a golden stupa in Tibet. When the patriarch of Tibetan Buddhism’s Shakya sect asked the king of Nepal, Jaybhimdev Malla, for a hundred artists the king could muster only 80. Sixteen-year-old Arniko, already known as a child prodigy, volunteered to lead them. “The fact that they needed Nepali artists proves just how developed Nepal’s art and architecture were at that time,” explains art historian Manuj Babu Mishra. “In fact, the sixth-century Changu Narayan Temple pre-dated Arniko and indicates the richness of Nepal’s artistic past.”Due to the decline of Buddhism in the subcontinent Tibet looked upon Nepal as the source of Buddhist wisdom and philosophy. Phags-pa was so impressed with Arniko’s stupas that he trained him into  monkhood and sent him to Beijing to meet the Great Khan himself. Arniko impressed Kublai Khan (Genghis Khan’s grandson) by repairing a bronze statue, and went on to build the White Dagoba, which is a Beijing landmark to this day.  <figure><img width="1750" height="2091" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6629c7e80680e03147fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“China’s art and architecture were already highly developed, so China was not looking for just any architect from Nepal. What Arniko took to China was Buddhist architecture with its philosophy and symbolism,” says historian Satya Mohan Joshi, whose treatise on Arniko was published in 1988.  “for example the Chaitya in Swoyambhu and Baudha symbolised Chaitanya, or consciousness.”It is supposed to be Arniko who took Kathmandu Valley’s famous tiered temple style to China, from where it travelled to Korea and Kyoto. But while that is difficult to prove, Satya Mohan Joshi says Arniko took many other Nepali  elements north: the wooden gate, stone steps and carved windows (tikijhya) at the White Dagoba, its bronze spire (gajur), Nepali-style statues of Dipankar, Shakyamuni and Maitreya Buddha, Paubha paintings of deities like Mahakala, White Tara, Green Tara, Avalokiteswar.Amidst the ruins of the Cloud Terrace near the base of the Great Wall is a huge stone arch containing  images like the Garud, Nagkanya, crocodiles, elephants, and Panchabuddha. The white stupa in Nanking and other sites actually have inscriptions in Ranjana script – all vestiges of Arniko’s influence in China.Read Also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7263#.WvqndKSFPIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Resurrecting Arniko</a> After Arniko constructed three stupas, nine great Buddhist temples, two Confucian shrines, one Daoist temple, he was made the ‘master of all classes of artisans’. Prof Jing Anning at Michigan State University writes that Arniko made ‘new symbols of the emperor’s sovereignty, based on designs from Indic culture such as the dharmacakra (Wheel of the Law) which was used to lead imperial processions, and the image of Garuda, the celestial bird that was displayed over the imperial throne’.In another research paper, late historian Dina Bangdel states that Arniko’s works were instrumental in the conversion of Kublai Khan to Tantric Buddhism. ‘Phags-pa directed Arniko to create an image of Mahakala that was used in a protection ritual to aid Khan in his battles (which he won). Arniko’s Mahakala image became a powerful symbol of a leader’s authority to rule,’ Bangdel has written.Arniko also crafted scientific instruments like armillary spheres and water clocks. However, art works  that can be definitely attributed to him are rare. The Cleveland Museum says its image of Green Tara is by Arniko, while portraits of Kublai Khan and his wife Chabi at the National Palace Museum of Taiwan are believed to be by Arniko. <figure><img width="1250" height="1613" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6669c7e80680e031480jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Although these claims cannot be proven, Prof Anning says a bronze statue of Manjushri (dated 1305) now in the Palace Museum in Beijing and a brocade image of a three-faced, six-armed Guhyasamaja now in the Potala Palace in Lhasa are by Arniko. Arniko established a school of Nepali art in China which trained at least two of his own sons and thousands of Chinese artists. ‘By drawing inspiration from the artistic traditions of Pala, Nepal and China, Anige (Arniko) single-handedly created a new form of court art and promoted it through the huge artisan agencies under his leadership,’ Prof Anning writes.   The Italian traveller Marco Polo, who journeyed to China from 1271-1295, was a contemporary of Arniko. If they ever met, history has no record of it. Marco Polo is not even named in Chinese history. Ironically, while Marco Polo gained lasting fame after he returned home and wrote of his travels, Arniko despite the respect he commanded in the Chinese court, disappeared from world history after his death in 1306 at age 62.Satya Mohan Joshi thinks Arniko’s legacy is the enduring bond between Nepal and China, and cites the White Dagoba which was left alone even during the Cultural Revolution, and is still cared for and renovated with high priority by the Chinese state.He adds: “Nepal needs to live by the policy of panchasheel, and we have historic proof that Arniko espoused it. That is why he deserves to be our national icon.” <h2>Arniko meets Kublai Khan in Beijing</h2> After he arrived, the Emperor looked at him at some length before asking, “Are you afraid to come the big country?”He answered, “The sage (Kublai Khan) regards people in all directions as his sons. When a son comes to his father, what is there to fear?”“Why do you come?”He replied, “My family has been living in the west (Nepal) for generations. I took the imperial edict to build the stupa in Tibet for two years. I saw constant wars there, and wish Your Majesty could pacify them. I come for sentient beings.”“What do you practice?”He said, “I take my mind as my teacher and know roughly painting, casting and carving.”The Emperor was greatly pleased.(Extract from Arniko’s biography) <figure><img width="360" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6689c7e80680e031481jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>

The life and times of Arniko

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Thousands of Nepali students dreaming of an American education have been forced to look elsewhere as the Trump administration’s visa restrictions make their future uncertain.
The US was long considered a top destination for higher studies, making Nepal the 10th biggest country of origin for international students in America.&nbsp;
However, that number has seen a significant decline with the total for Nepali students now at 16,482. Some 8,000 Nepali students obtained no-objection certificates to study in the US from the Ministry of Education in the past year.&nbsp;
India, Australia, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom and Japan are the other popular destinations for Nepali students. There are no clear numbers for Nepalis going to India, but a slight decline was noted this year after the deaths of two female students.
The US State Department has issued a circular to its embassies not to issue new visas to applicants until further notice. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the directive stated that the department planned to expand the screening of applicants' social media.&nbsp;
While new applicants are barred including those applying for visitor visas, students with scheduled interviews are allowed to proceed.
“Many of our students are affected by the new restrictions, but those who had applied for student visas earlier have got interview dates,” one Kathmandu-based college counsellor told us.
Meanwhile, even foreign students with spotless records already in the US have not been spared, as visa scrutiny intensifies under the new policy. In a move that underscores the growing sense of insecurity, many US colleges advised international students to carry their passports and documents at all times, even when traveling locally.
“Me and my friends did not go home this summer because we were not sure we would be allowed back, so we just went to Niagara Falls,” said a Nepali undergrad in Ohio, who like many interviewed for this report did not want her name used for fear of repercussion.
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Nepali students have adopted a cautious stance, with many choosing not to return home during summer vacation due to fear of visa revocations as well as travel bans. Meanwhile, over 7,000 Nepalis with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will have to come back to Nepal by 5 August or face deportation. Thirty-seven were flown back to Kathmandu on Omni Air last week.
“The US is one of the most sought-after destinations for higher education, and the ban will definitely impact bright students,” says Narottam Aryal of the King’s College in Kathmandu.
Indeed, Nepali undergraduates admitted into Ivy League colleges for the 2025 academic year have been asked to look for alternatives. The entire Fulbright Foreign Scholarships Board resigned on Wednesday citing interference from the Trump administration on the selection of this year’s cohort. Some Nepali students already on Fulbright scholarships have noted disruptions, delays and even cancellation of stipends.&nbsp;
The student visa restrictions were initially just for foreign students admitted to Harvard University, but it was later extended to all Chinese students and now to all students. Universities like Columbia which actively recruit foreign students, face sharp enrolment declines, threatening their financial stability and diversity.
An Indian female PhD candidate at Columbia University had her visa revoked by the US State Department, and said she was targeted on the basis of her social media posts on Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Social media vetting of political activism has raised concerns about privacy and freedom of expression in a country where such rights were a given.
Many students have been informed via email that their visas have been revoked for getting speeding or parking tickets, but even others with no criminal record have been affected. The fear of deportation looms large amongst international students, including those from Nepal.&nbsp;
For most Nepalis who migrate to the US for education, the journey is a high-stakes investment. They come largely from middle-class families, often rely on a patchwork of scholarships, work-study programs, loans, or even the sale of family assets to afford fees.
Most Nepali students pursue STEM subjects which offer extended Optional Practical Training (OPT) periods that help fund their education. But with the US backsliding on education and humanitarian matters, countries like the UK and Canada are becoming more attractive despite their own recent stricter controls on student visas.&nbsp;
The UK universities saw a 63% rise in Nepali students’ admissions in 2024. Japan is another popular destination with 64,816 Nepali students enrolled as of 2024.
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Already, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are poised to benefit from the increased scrutiny of US student visas. Several Hong Kong universities are offering unconditional admission to affected students, while Malaysian institutions are targeting previously US-bound Asian students. China and India have 330,000 and 280,000 students respectively in America, but the numbers for China have seen a sharp drop in the past year.
Elsewhere, branch campuses of American institutions such as NYU in Abu Dhabi, Georgetown in Dubai and Northwestern in Doha are getting more admission applications, and universities in the Gulf region are expanding infrastructure to accommodate those who would otherwise have gone to the US.&nbsp;
Even educational institutions in Nepal are hopeful that the US visa restrictions can be an opportunity to at least keep Nepali undergrads in Nepal, and also attract foreign students from the region.&nbsp;
“Many students might choose to complete their undergraduate degree here in Nepal and then move abroad for their Master’s degree later,” says Aryal of King’s College. “There was a need for quality higher education in Nepal anyway in terms of innovation and opportunities, so this could be the time to reduce our dependence on other countries.”
Nepal’s strategic position between India and China makes it sensitive to US policy shifts. India, a key ally, is also under US scrutiny for potential student travel restrictions. Chinese universities are already offering more scholarships to Nepali talent to capitalise on the US retreat.
American universities have challenged student visa restrictions in the courts. A federal court in Boston revoked the blanket ban on Harvard, and the State Department has ordered the resumption of processing student and exchange visitor visas.&nbsp;
Some are still hoping that President Trump will backtrack on the student visa restrictions, just like he has done with many of his more drastic executive orders.
Even so, the visa see-saw and longer-term uncertainties about living in the United States and its education system means students across the world are making alternative plans.
Says Aryal: “Policies of foreign countries change according to their needs, so excessive dependence was never a good idea. We should work to create different opportunities and choices of higher education within Nepal, so students are retained.” &nbsp;

America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

While Nepal was hosting the Sagarmatha Sambaad international climate conference in Kathmandu this month, on Mt Everest it was pretty much business as usual.&nbsp; The signs of climate breakdown are all there: a river now runs through Base Camp in summer, the Khumbu Icefall is more unstable, and there are more &nbsp;frequent avalanches. When expeditions arrived in March, the mountains were bare: it had not snowed since September, but then blizzards dumped unseasonal snow in May. And despite climate worries, such is the pull of Himalayan mountaineering that the Everest Industry showed no signs of slowdown. More than 600 international climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. At one point there were an estimated 2,000 people in the tent city on the Khumbu Glacier. All the ropes and ladders on the Icefall came down on Thursday, marking the official end of the spring climbing season, and just in time to avoid a monsoon cyclone approaching from the Bay of Bengal. It has been an action-packed season. One factor could be that Everest fees will go up from September: each foreign climber needs to pay a $15,000 royalty, up from the present $11,000. The cost for a Nepali climber on the South Col route will also go up: from Rs75,000 to Rs150,000.&nbsp; The fee to climb Everest in autumn is $7,500 (up from $5,500), but most climbers still prefer spring. Winter permit fee (December-February) is only $3,750 per person and the mountain is now also open for monsoon (June-August) climbs, when the fee is ever lower at $2,750. The revised rule also makes it mandatory for every two climbers on an 8,000m peak to hire one Nepali mountain guide.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046" data-rendition-name="original" width="931" height="732" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry graph 1"> </figure>  In addition, climbers also have to pay for porters and guides, equipment, Base Camp costs, Ice Fall and fixed rope team fees, so climbing Everest does not come cheap. But such is the draw of climbing the world’s highest peak that some say the increased fees will not diminish the crowds next year. The government has tried to spread expeditions out to other seasons and other 8,000ers, but with not much success. Earlier this year, Nepal unilaterally increased the number of 8,000m peaks to 14 by adding six more sub-summits to broaden the choice for climbers. Added were: Yalung Kang (8,505m), Yalung Kang West (8,077m) &nbsp;Kangchenjunga Central (8,473m), Kangchenjunga South (8,476m), Lhotse Middle (8,410m) and Lhotse Shar (8,400m).&nbsp; The announcement could go against the accepted topographic criteria that a stand alone peak has to be at least 300m higher than an adjoining prominence, and at more than 3km isolation from it. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) still recognises only 14 mountains as eight-thousanders, and only eight of those are in Nepal, or on the border with China. Nepal’s revised mountaineering regulations also increased the insurance coverage of high-altitude workers to protect porters and high altitude guides who usually take more risks on the mountains. Rescue teams and clean-up campaigners to collect trash and remove bodies of dead climbers up to Camp IV of Mt Everest do not need permits.&nbsp; The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is now using drones to fly down trash in 20kg sacks. Each climber is also required to bring down at least 6kg of waste and not just their own, but this rule is erratically enforced. With five fatalities on Everest and Lhotse, Spring 2025 had a historically low death toll. Another five climbers died on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="665" height="740" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest industry graph 2"> </figure>  Journalist Ben Ayers who ran the Everest Live social media channel from Everest Base Camp with daily updates credited the low death rate to dramatic rescues of climbers from the ‘Death Zone’ by their Nepali guides and longline helievacs — the visuals all uploaded on YouTube.&nbsp; “Ironically, this perception of safety is bringing more and more inexperienced climbers to the mountain, and they need more rescues,” Ayers said in one of his dispatches.&nbsp; American expedition chronicler and summiteer Alan Arnette suspects there is a lot of under-reporting given that the jet stream and storms were lashing Everest even till late in the season. He told us: “I heard a lot about frostbite and rescues that were not made public. It’s become practically impossible to cover the details on Everest. All the teams report nice news, and they don’t talk about bad stuff to avoid hurting businesses.” Although trash on Nepal’s mountains makes headlines, what does not receive as much attention is the climate impact of so many expeditions. The Sagarmatha Sambaad conference sidestepped this issue, which is ironic given that the impact of climate breakdown is most evident on Himalayan peaks and their glaciers.&nbsp; <h2>Need for Speed</h2> The big stories this year have been about speed-running from their home cities to the top of Everest. Ukrainian entrepreneur Andrew Ushakov flew out of JFK on 15 May at 10:15AM Nepal time, and was on the summit 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes later on 19 May at 9:22AM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry"> <figcaption>Andrew Ushakov at the summt. Photo: ELITE EXPED</figcaption> </figure>  “I could never find the time for the traditional 40-50 days of acclimatisation,” Ushakov explained matter-of-factly. His ‘Everest Sea-to-Summit’ climb was possible because he spent 400 hours in hypoxic sleep tents over the past four years in New York. However, Ushakov did use ropes already fixed, hired four Nepali guides, helicoptered to Base Camp, and used much more oxygen than an average climber. And after the climb, Ushakov was arrested at Kathmandu airport for being in possession of $20,000 of undeclared cash and spent a night in jail and fined $60,000.&nbsp; The other speedsters were Garth Miller, Alastair Cairns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington, all former British Army commandos. They left London and summited five days later on 21 May, and flew right back. They also used hypoxic tents to simulate the thin air high on Everest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry "> <figcaption>All four members of the Furtenbach team at the summit. Photo: Sandro Gromen-Hayes</figcaption> </figure>  But more controversial was their use of xenon gas therapy in a German hospital to ramp up the production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobins in their blood. Xenon is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for being performance enhancing in sports. Expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach said this rule does not apply to mountaineering, as it is not a regulated sport like swimming. Nepal has no rules about xenon, but the Department of Tourism said it was launching an ‘investigation’ to decide on future policy since it is difficult to ban xenon, but allow oxygen. The controversy has also divided the mountaineering community, with some climbers saying they just want to maximise their chances of survival. Spending less time on the mountain could make climbing safer by reducing avalanche risk. It would also mean less trash on the mountains, but it would reduce the income of Nepal’s expedition industry. It is also unclear how much of the success was due to xenon therapy and whether the ex-special forces were already in good physical shape.&nbsp; The need for speed hides the fact that climbing in the Himalaya is dangerous business, and climbers cannot sprint to the top just by huffing xenon. But ultra-fast climbs could be charged more, and the revenue generated can be used to establish state-of-the-art rescue operations, and increase pay and insurance for guides. Two other speed chasers this season were Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff and American Tyler Andrews, both on Everest without oxygen. Andrews choppered to Base Camp to catch a weather window, but turned back from 8,500m due to high winds. Heavy snow and wind also forced Egloff to descend from 7,000m. Slow and steady climbers like Anja Blacha from Germany did make it to the summit without oxygen, while Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 31st Everest summit as he led a 26-strong Indian Army group. There were 468 permits issued for foreign climbers from 48 expeditions to Everest this spring. Nepal’s other eight-thousanders together had only 17 expeditions. Nepal has more than 1,000 peaks above 6,000m, and has opened only 476 of them for climbing.&nbsp;

The Everest Industry

While Nepal marked <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a> Day on 29 May, on the other side of the planet in the US state of Colorado dozens of Nepalis who have climbed the world’s highest peak multiple times were busy working as chefs and Uber drivers. Among them is Nima Doma Sherpa, who climbed Mt Everest in 2019 after her husband Tshering Wangchu was among 16 crushed by an avalanche on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu">the Khumbu Icefall</a> five years earlier. A large serac broke off the West Shoulder of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Mt Everest </a>and fell directly on a group of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-porters-sick-on-everest-trail">porters and guides</a> making their way up the Icefall at 5,800m. Their bodies were flown by helicopter to Khumjung where Tshering Wangchu was born. He was excited about climbing Mt Everest for the first time.&nbsp; In Khumjung, Nima Doma felt like her own life had also ended. This was the kind of news Sherpa wives, mothers and sisters dreaded every <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">mountaineering season</a>. She stayed home for more than two years grieving, but ultimately gathered up all her emotional strength to take care of her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. Nima had grown up in Khumjung hearing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/stories-of-nepal-s-summiteers">tales of adventure on the mountains </a>from their father, Ang Chubi Sherpa who had climbed Everest in 1993. He used to bring her and her sisters and brother European chocolates after every expedition, and used to tell them that the chocolate bars grew on the mountains. “It was only after we got older did we realise that he told us that chocolates grew in the mountains so we would not worry about him putting himself in harm's way,” Nima Doma recalled with a faraway look at her home in Boulder this week. Nima went to the school that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/commemorating-edmund-hillary-in-nepal,4145">Edmund Hillary</a> opened in Khumjung till Grade 8, and then dropped out to help in the kitchen and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">tend yaks</a>. She was married off to Tshering Wangchu, who was also a high altitude guide. When Tshering went on expeditions, Nima also started working as a porter from Namche to Base Camp. It was perhaps her father’s tales of mountains of chocolates that had always attracted her to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/knowing-our-mountains-43v4iyvo">the peaks</a>. After her husband was killed ten years ago this month, being a widow with children was not easy for Nima Doma. But she was not alone: there were at least 200 single mothers in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khumbu-since-1950-jaww4qn0">the Khumbu</a>, and 20 of them just in Khumjung whose husbands had been killed in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/tragic-start-to-himalayan-spring-nepal,3695">mountaineering accidents</a>. Some were not even 20 years old, and had children growing up without fathers. But there were also women in the 50s whose husbands had been killed in the 1980s. Nima found sponsors for her children’s education, and moved to Kathmandu. In the capital, Sherpa widows used to meet to help each other. Some of them had joined the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) training for rock and ice climbing. “I decided that it was no use sitting home and crying anymore, after meeting other single mothers I felt less alone,” remembers Nima, who joined the Juniper Foundation and enrolled in an NMA training camp in Manang. There she climbed Chulu East (6,584m) and met Furadiki Sherpa, whose rope-fixing husband had also been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities">killed on Everest</a> in 2013. They set themselves the goal of climbing Everest one day, and started a fund-raising drive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2678" height="1274" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  “We decided we had to overcome society’s stigma of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/widows-personal-happiness-comes-last-in-face-of-social-financial-hardships,1855">widowhood</a> and prove that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-junko-tabei">women could also climb mountains</a>,” Nima said, adding that she was inspired by Nepal’s first woman Everest summiteer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, who died during her descent in 1993. Nima Doma and Furdiki climbed the technically-difficult Ama Dablam (6,812m) and then arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 2019 as part of their Two Widows Expedition with the motto, ‘So Can We’. While climbing up the Icefall Nima passed the spot where her husband had been killed. It was a jumble of constantly-shifting ice blocks bigger than houses. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. “I remember thinking, this is so difficult and dangerous. This is what my husband had to do to support our family,” Nima Doma said. “I was determined to fulfil my husband’s dream of climbing Chomolungma, and to prove to ourselves that we two women could do it.” It was 23 May 2019 when <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/world/two-sherpa-widows-scale-everest-and-smash-stigma-idUSKCN1SU0MV/" target="_blank">Nima and Furdiki stepped on the summit</a> and looked over into Tibet, and down at Tengboche Monastery to the south.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b.png" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="1522" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  Nima Doma hugged Furdiki, took off her mask and wept. But for the first time in five years, it was not from grief but relief — relief for being free of all the sadness and sacrifices and for fulfilling her husband’s dream. They had found <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">life after death</a>. “I felt this immense joy to be on top of the world, it was indescribable,” Nima Doma said, “I have wept only twice in my life. Once when my husband died, and once there on top of Everest.” The tears had frozen on Nima Doma’s cheeks, as she and Furdiki headed back down the mountain.

malla