An update from earthquake hit Kathmandu that witnessed colossal destruction of iconic buildings and the intangible cultural heritage.
The three major Durbar Squares in Kathmandu Valley located at Bhaktapur, Patan, and Basantpur (all UNESCO World Heritage Sites) consisting of magnificent old palaces, temples, and other buildings suffered colossal damage. At Kathmandu Durbar Square, several iconic buildings survived but Kasthamandap, the very structure that gave Kathmandu its name, was reduced to rubble, amongst other temples and buildings. At Patan Darbar, the Char Narayan Temple and the Hari Shankar temple, amongst finest temples in the square, went down within seconds, while the Krishna Mandir remained almost unscathed. The rescued wood panels with intricate wood panels, valuable artefacts and other treasures are being stored at the Patan Museum, which survived the earthquake. In Bhaktapur, the main temple in the square lost its roof, while the 16th Century Vatsala Durga temple, famous for its sandstone walls and gold-topped pagodas was demolished by the quake.
The half-century old Tribhuvan University (TU) Central Library, Nepal’s largest, houses half a million books, 100,000 journals and periodicals, thousand-year-old precious Hindu manuscripts and rare genealogies of the country’s dynastic rulers. Following the first earthquake, the building was deemed unsafe but the employees keen to salvage the collections, had begun rearranging the bookshelves, when the second big quake hit on 12 May. TU has set up the 'TU Reconstruction Fund' for public donations after the earthquake devastated the university, as the TU vice-chancellor Hira Bahadur Maharjan says, “In a time of national crisis we cannot leave everything to the government alone. We want to set an example by showing that we are capable of generating resources on our own. This will lower the burden on the government.” |
Verse in Worst Times
Celebrating Faiz’s resistance poetry also means taking it to the very people Faiz warned us about, writes Tina Sani
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Video Showcase of the week-long event
Videos showcasing some of the exciting events of the week
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Salhesh Nacch
Salhesh Naach recorded at Thera, Dhanusha District, Nepal on 14 October 2010 by Sudip Jha. For more on the legend of Salhesh and Naach in Mithila see Sudip Jha's piece at
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PCF Network Partnership Overview
Hri was host to the Prince Claus Fund Network Partner's meeting, from 05 – 09 May in Kathmandu, Nepal
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Shiva Gandarva singing Behosi pachhi
A popular Nepali pop song 'Behosi pachhi...' performed by Shiva Gandarva
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8 December 2015 |
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Fernando Botero’s contribution to the city of Medellin is not just the very
13 October 2015 |
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The Judicial Historical Archives allows a peek into centuries-old notions of
10 September 2015 |
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9 September 2015 |
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Nepal is still reeling with shocks and aftershocks after the earthquake on 25th
26 April 2015 |
"Hri" - a sound or a vibration, the utterance of which awakens the empathy that is an inherent part of every sentient being. Regionalism must no longer remain a prisoner of platitude, since there is a consensus that geopolitical friction, poverty and pressing environmental issues as well as cultural and social dislocation must be addressed through the regional framework. There is a need to revive and energise discussions of regionalism on the platform of mainstream politics, public information and research, with a dynamic Southasian sensibility.
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