Shaphalya Amatya

Excavations conducted at various sites inside Kathmandu Valley have proved that there were evidences of man-made structures since the beginning of the Christian era. The excavations carried out during the decades of 70’s and 80’ have revealed that the early settlers of the valley knew how to use burnt bricks. Stones were mainly used for art works such as making sculptures.
The discovery of stone statue of King Jaya Verma dated 185 AD or 2nd century AD, the bricks with inscribed name of King Amsuverma dated 7th century, and the inscriptions mentioning names of the palaces of that period such as Mana Griha, Kailaskuta Bhawan, Bhadradibas and Indra Griha have substantiated the fact that at least since 5th century AD burnt bricks have been used in construction.
Except for the mentioning of names and some descriptions in the Tang Annals, dated 10th century AD, we do not have much information about these edifices.

Tang Annals
The Tang Annals have highly praised and appreciated a contemporary Lichchavi palace. It describes the palace as having seven storeys and copper roofs. With the aim of discovering the remains of some of these palaces the DOA has been excavating within the valley since 1970s. After the devastating earthquake of 1915, the DOA has permitted numerous archaeological teams from different countries and institutions to check the damaged foundations of the important monuments in the valley aiming at the possibilities of discovering ruins of some of these ancient palaces and also to find out the technology of building construction.
Excavations have proved that since the beginning of civilization in the valley, the houses were built by clay bricks. After the arrival of early Lichchavis (of Verma dynasty) Sakas, Partinians and Kushanas, the practice of using of burnt bricks in constructing both secular and religious structures have been in vogue. The tiles, bricks, and some other remains found in these excavations have given us ample support to conclude that these buildings had roofs. Slope tile roofs, supported by wooden structs, decorated or facilitated with doors, windows and balconies are some of the main characteristic of our traditional buildings.
Nepali artisans, who had either been to Mathura and Taxila or were taught by the skilled teachers, started using carvings to beautify their edifices. The early settlers of the valley built not only palaces and houses but also temples like Pasupati, Changu Narayan, Swayambhu and Khasti chaityas.
Unlike in India and China, stones were not much in use during the early period of our history. But I have already stated earlier that they were used for making statues and sculptures of various deities. Stones were also used in strengthening structures whether it was a temple or some other building.
During the later part of the Malla period, kings like Pratap Malla, Siddhi Narasimha Malla, and Bhupatindra Malla, initiated constructing stone temples. It is said that frustrated by the attacks on the valley by the Muslim invaders who destroyed and burnt temples. the later Mallas commenced building stone temples which could not be easily destroyed by fire.
In 7th century AD, Nepali architecture had received international recognition along with the marriage of Princess Brikuti with the Tibetan king Tson-song Gampo. This matrimonial relationship had paved the way to cultural, political and commercial exchanges between these two countries.
This relationship had reached its zenith during 12th century AD, when a group of eighty artists under the leadership of master artist Araniko went to Tibet and China. There they had introduced different types of Nepali craftsmanship in building monasteries and beautifying cities including Tai-tu, present day Beijing.
Although, we do not have much recorded history or archaeological evidences of the period spanning from 879AD to 1210 AD, known as interim period, we know that within this period of about nearly three hundred years Nepal Valley had peace and tranquillity. What we now call Nepali cultural heritage or culture of the valley was developed and flourished during that period of time.
When the great fire of 10th /11th century completely destroyed the ancient capital of Lichchavis at Bisalnagar (Hadigoan), the Thakuri rulers, the successors of Raghav Dev and Gunakama Dev, were compelled to build a new capital which later became Kantipur. After this great fire a new settlement had emerged at Dasin Koligram, which later became a part of Kantipur.
One of the rulers of this dynasty King Siva Dev not only built the famous Rudravarna Mahavihar of Patan but also built a palace at Kritipur known as Shree Raj Griha. His son and successor King Ananda Dev constructed Tripur palace at Bhaktapur. He is also credited for establishing Bhaktapur city.
Affluent Period
Economically this period became very affluent. Worshipping of Bhimsen among the Hindus and Basundhara among the Buddhist communities also became very popular. These deities are considered as god and goddess of good luck and prosperity. Temples, monasteries, stone waterspouts, buildings and many other architectural structures such as rest houses, etc. were built. Historians are of the opinion that during this period numerous intangible cultural heritages were added to the society rather than tangible structures etc.
As a matter of fact, Buddhist monasteries belonging to Mahayana Buddhism has been flourishing in the valley since the beginning of the Lichchavi period. Monasteries built during this period such as Mana vihar and Gum vihar etc. were not only the places of worshipping but also the centres of art and learning, frequented by scholars from neighbouring countries like Tibet, China and India.
With the rise of King Jayasthithi Malla a new dynasty emerged in Nepal valley, now known as the Malla dynasty. The Malla dynasty ruled the valley for more than three hundred years. After the death of King Yaksha Malla the Malla kingdom was divided into three major kingdoms, Kantipur, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.
Although the divided Malla rulers had disputes and fought among themselves, they always endeavoured to enrich their respective kingdoms with cultural heritages. In spite of quarrels and jealousies, this period is famous for the development and prosperity of arts and culture in the valley. The rulers vied with one another in adorning their capitals with beautiful palaces, temples, monasteries and other architectural structures, which are still not only the pride of the country but also enlisted by UNESCO into world heritage list.
The Shah rulers from Gorkha conquered Nepal valley and ruled the country from 1769 AD to 2008 AD but the valley remained as their capital. Within this period of more than two centuries they continued constructing some traditional style buildings and temples, but on the other hand they introduced Indian shikhara temples and stucco buildings and palaces of European style. The Rana Prime Ministers built dozens of stucco palaces particularly in Kathmandu and Lalitpur.

Precarious Situation
The end of the Rana rule in 1950-51 and the advent of democracy in the country encouraged tourism. The traditional arts and architectural heritages have become the main attractions to them. These heritages have been protected and preserved not only by rulers and but also by the people with the help of Guthi, a kind of trust, which is supported generally by land assets. But as time lapses and due to wrong political decisions, the system of Guthi has been collapsing, as a result these monumental heritages and other tangible and intangible heritages are either dying or collapsing. To protect them people began to look towards the government and other international organisations and friendly countries.
In this precarious situation the country suffered from severe earthquake in 2015. Hundreds of our architectural heritages were either totally collapsed or damaged badly. International assistance, both technical and financial, have come pouring in to rescue these structures. However, the funds were not sufficient to salvage all these monuments. Haste of people and government can be detected by observing various restoration works. In fact, restoration of ancient monuments should not be done in hurry, they need deep study and examination and also be given careful scientific treatment, according to archaeological restoration principles, without fulfilling these conditions if restoration works are done it will have many bad repercussions.
I hope the damages caused by this recent devastating earthquake and its repercussions on numerous other socio-political and economic situations will certainly be studied carefully and measured by future researchers.

(Amatya writes on culture, and heritages)