26.09.

2019

Rebuilding from the Rubble - Kasthamandap

- By Ipshita Karmakar

Very often, in the case of South Asian countries like India and Nepal, religious structures are the
epicentres around which community life revolves. There is a sense of collective ownership for these
structures, and they become icons of community pride, heritage and identity. But what happens
when such an icon is destroyed, and how do communities rally behind the rebuilding of such
structures?

Kasthamandap

Kasthamandap, translating literally to ‘wooden pavilion’ is considered to be the oldest structure in

Kathmandu from where the city derived its name. The post-earthquake archaeological research
revealed evidence of the structure dating back to the 7 th century. For the indigenous Newar
community in Kathmandu, the Kasthamandap symbolised more than a historic structure, rather a
manifestation of their cultural identity. The Kasthamandap originally designed as a ‘sattal’ (Rest
house) for travellers, has changed its function over the centuries[ CITATION Kai06 \l 16393 ]. It was
also used as the assembly hall by the royal court and later with the establishment of the Gorakhnath
statue, the Nath cult community stated living there, during which time several modifications to the
structure were made[ CITATION Dip15 \l 16393 ]. In the 70s, it became a haven for the global hippie
movement. Despite the changing nature of this structure, various religious rituals that were
performed on its premises every year have continued.

Figure 1: Kasthamandap before its collapse | Sygic.travel

On the afternoon of 25th April 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale struck the
valley of Kathmandu, flattening the valley and leading to collapse of several heritage buildings.
Among them was the Kasthamandap; the entire superstructure collapsed leaving only the plinth of
the historic monument. The foundations were severely damaged in the rescue operations, and for at
least 3 years, Kasthamandap ruins remained under lock and key.

Figure 2: Kasthamandap after the earthquake of 2015 | Photo A. Joshi

The reigns of the reconstruction was given to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City authority of the
Government of Nepal. However, cultural heritage in Kathmandu has traditionally been handled by
community based socio- religious groups called ‘Guthis’[ CITATION Kai06 \l 16393 ]. The care of each
temple, its upkeep, and donation to its activities has been done through these caste based
institutions with no external help. Coupled with the unstable political climate of the new democracy
of Nepal, community members were reluctant to handover the responsibility of reconstruction to
government authorities. In the light of this situation, Kasthamandap reconstruction remained in a
tussle for 3 years, and was only kick-started when a unique system of ‘government aided community
based’ reconstruction committee was instituted for its rebuilding.

With this started a rebuilding strategy that was truly unique in its outlook. Miffed at earlier
suggestions for structural retrofitting of the foundations with concrete piles, the committee took the
decision to rebuild the entire structure with the help of strictly traditional methods[ CITATION
Atu18 \l 16393 ]. They argued that the value of cultural heritage in Nepal was not only symbolized by
the physical, tangible structure, but by the continuity of traditional building practices involving the
traditional craftsmanship of artisans and masons. In fact, traditional structures were designed with
the principal of ‘cyclical renewal’; the wood would rot in a few years, and the buildings were
designed such that a few elements could be removed and replaced without dismantling the entire
structure[ CITATION Gov17 \l 16393 ]. What led to the collapse of the historic structures during the
earthquake had more to do with the eroding of such traditional practices, lack of maintenance and
nationalisation of ‘Guthis’[ CITATION AlJ19 \l 16393 ].

For the residents of Kathmandu Darbar Square, where Kasthamandap is located, religious activities
after the earthquake continued even without the physical manifestation of the structures itself. The
Panchadan, a ritual of cooking rice on the ground floor of Kasthamandap as an offering to priests
continued right amidst the rubble, with construction workers milling around the priests with their
wheel barrows. It was not unusual to see poojas being performed to the lock on the fence guarding
the premises, and the country’s several jatras (processions) continued over the years, the chariots
stopping reverentially before the pile of rubble that was Kasthamandap. In fact the structure had
become a modern day ‘Ship of Theseus’, the legendary Greek ship, that posed the conundrum of
what actually the ship was, an idea or the amalgam of its materials? Kasthamandap did not need to
exist physically to exert its importance, but as the reconstruction commenced, the act of rebuilding
became an act of worship for its community.

Figure 3: Restoration section of Kasthamandap | Basemap- A. Joshi, Artistic reconstruction – I.Karmakar

Figure 4: Panchdaan ritual, 2019 | Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee

Rebuilding Kasthamandap

Throughout the process of rebuilding, a delicate balance had to be struck between the voices of all
stakeholders; the structural engineers, historians, conservation architects, masons, artisans and
community elders. On one hand, structural engineers conducted load calculations for a primarily
load bearing, brick and mud mortar structure, and on the other hand historians pored over the
mandala design of the structure, and its alignment with the tenets of Buddhism and Hinduism.
Kasthamandap was a living heritage site, and every modification to its structure had to be socially
acceptable. The construction site was open, and every step of the onsite work was preceded by a
Pooja and a feast. In Feburary 2019, the almost 7 meter tall central columns of Kasthamandap were
hoisted with the help of volunteers of the Newar community, who refused the use of cranes to do
the task. They saw it as an example of community building exercise, and a contribution of each
individual to the task of rebuilding their national pride.
Figure 5: The living goddess Kumari, blessing the Kasthamandap Columns | K. Weise

Figure 6: The ritual for consecration of Kasthamandap column | I. Karmakar

Figure 7: Artistic representation of the column hoisting | I.Karmakar, S.Shrestha

Reconstruction process

The process of rebuilding meant conducting experiments with traditional construction materials, for
their structural properties as well as their availability in modern times. Sample cubes made of
varying proportions of clay and mud mortar and brick were subjected to a shake table test, to
tabulate the structural properties of traditional materials with regards to seismic safety. Though
Kasthamandap was said to be carved from a single tree, it became difficult to comply with the
mythology and a compromise was made to reconstruct it with multiple sal trees. Though the
building was built keeping in mind traditional practices, it was at most times aided with technology
and structural logistics, balancing both myth perpetuation and the science of building.

In the process of this reconstruction, Newar artisans with years of experience working with timber
and on heritage structures, hand carved hundreds of exquisite carvings on brackets and columns.
The trade had continued through generations among these Newar artisan families, and the
earthquake had, in a cruel twist of fate, provided an impetus to revive these woodcarving traditions.
One of the major decisions taken foremost in the rebuilding process, was to salvage as much of the
wooden structural elements, and reuse them once they were declared fit for reuse after damage and
structural mapping.

Figure 8: All elevations of one of the central brackets of the Kasthamandap | I.Karmakar, A.Joshi
Figure 9: Pairing together of salvaged central brackets of the Kasthamandap | I.Karmakar

This brought along an added challenge in the reconstruction effort; to determine the exact
dimensions and placement of elements such as brackets, railings, columns etc. Each element has a
significance in the larger placement, whether ritualistic or historic. In one instance, when
overlapping salvaged central brackets had to be placed together in pairs, it was difficult to determine
which two brackets had originally been paired together before the collapse of the Kasthamandap. It
was the artisan’s experience that saved the day, who suggested that we look for numerical scratched
markings on the wood that perhaps the 7 th century carvers had left on it, who in turn must have
predicted the quandary that such an operation would put future rebuilders in. And inadvertently,
the process of pairing the brackets followed smoothly, once we followed the line of breadcrumbs
that masters several centuries earlier had laid.

This idea of cyclical rebuilding makes sense when we consider that earthquakes are known to strike
Nepal every 80-100 years. What is built will eventually have to be rebuilt when it collapses several
centuries later. In our contribution to this trail of breadcrumbs that started several centuries earlier,
the architects left a layer of strikingly yellow mortar in between the original foundation of the
Kasthamandap, which we left untouched, and the superstructure that we built over it, to distinguish
the layers in the structure for future architects and researchers down the line to refer to.

Building Resilience

Heritage reconstruction has several faces, and it starts to question what it means to truly ‘preserve’
a building. In Japan, the IseJingu grand shrine in the Mie prefecture is torn down every 20 years, to
be built anew[ CITATION Rac13 \l 16393 ]. This tradition makes sure that traditional building skills
are passed down to the next generation, and the rebuilding the temple keeps it eternally alive. This
argument was used repeatedly in the context of Kasthamandap. The idea was to rebuild the
Kasthamandap so that it survives a major disaster, but the building is continuously repaired and
rebuilt in parts, to ensure its continuity.

Today, the ground floor timber work of the Kasthamandap has reached its finishing stages. The
entire construction is presumed to end in 2021, and the world awaits with bated breath a unique
experiment in community based historic conservation.

Figure 10: Kasthamandap as per June 2019 | Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee

About the author:

Ipshita Karmakar worked with the Himalayan Consulting Architects and Engineers for a year from
2018 – 2019. She was involved in the process of reconstruction of the Kasthamandap from the HCAE
in the capacity of an architect, assisting Ar. Anie Joshi and Ar. Kai Weise.

Bibliography:
Al Jazeera. (2019, June 19). Thousands in Nepal protest against cultural 'guthi' bill. Retrieved from
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/thousands-nepal-protest-cultural-guthi-bill-
190619121216425.html

Bhattarai, A. (2018, March 1). Storeyed Past. The Caravan.

Government of Nepal. (2017). Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site. Kathmandu: UNESCO.

Nuwer, R. (2013, October 4). Smithsonian Smart News. Retrieved from Smithsonianmag.com:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-japanese-shrine-has-been-torn-down-
and-rebuilt-every-20-years-for-the-past-millennium-575558/
Risal, D. (2015, September 3). Kasthamandap: Microcosm of Kathmandu's Living Culture and Storied
History. Retrieved from Asianart:
https://www.asianart.com/articles/kasthamandap/index.html

Weise, K. (2006). Hanuman Dhoka Darbar Square - Cultural Portrait Handbook. Kathmandu:
UNESCO, Kathmandu Office.