KVPT’s Patan Darbar Earthquake Response Campaign - Work to Date - September 2016

Harishankara Temple
The process of repair, restoration and replacement
Procedure
Following an application submitted in June 2015, the
Gerda Henkel Foundation decided in August to fund
the rebuilding of the Laykuphalca in Bhaktapur. In
order to concentrate on a single World Heritage Site,
the Patan Darbar Square, this seed contribution was
redirected towards the rebuilding of the Harishankara
temple on that square in December. In mid-April 2016
the Foundation decided to fund the rebuilding of the
temple on the basis of a detailed cost estimate that came
up to ca. 440.000 Euros. The project is expected to be
completed in Spring 2019.
In the first week of January 2016, two carpenters started
to replicate two of the twenty pillars of the ambulatory
which were damaged beyond repair and to assess the
damage inflicted on the top ends of the remaining 18
pillars and the four corner pillars of the sanctum.
Conservation approach
We understand that the temple, dated to 1706, survived
the earthquakes of 1809, 1833 and 1934 largely intact.
This assumption is based on the fact that all pillars, cornices,
doorways and tympana originate from the period
of the original construction. Not the slightest repairs
or replacement can be observed similar to the damage
inflicted upon the temple's wooden components in the
2015 earthquake.
The ultimate aim is to restore the temple to its 1706
configuration. This necessitates countless major as well
as minor repairs to "restore" the individual members to
their original configuration. To date only two of the pillars
and the lintel of the southern doorway have had to
be replaced. In all cases, decorative elements were copied
in analogy to preserved pattern on similar architectural
components. This procedure is also followed on the 20
tympana, on which missing parts of foliage or of hybrid
creatures can be replicated following examples on the
same or a similar tympanum. Loose parts are being fixed
with the use of bamboo pegs.
The overall guiding principle is to preserve as much of
the original / historic fabric as possible. We are fully
aware of the fact that this approach is alien to the traditional
/ local practice of Newar craftsmanship. In earlier
centuries the challenge would have been to replace the
entire building destroyed by an earthquake, or to replace
broken parts such as an entire doorway. The practice established
by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust
reflects a global attitude which in the 21st century aims
at preserving historic evidence "at any cost". The outcome
is a hybrid mixture of types of repairs which on the
Harishankara temple for the first time has introduced
galvanized nuts and bolts to tie preserved elements to
new timber. We understand this "antiquarian" approach
as a tribute to the unique accomplishments of an endangered
architectural tradition.
We are leaving the well-accepted track of repair, restoration
and replacement when it comes to the recreation of
lost iconographic details. Four quarter-round panels and
one threshold block were lost already before the earthquake,
probably in the early 1970s. Although the general
configuration and many decorative details and moldings
can be recreated based on the preserved examples, the
faces and the presentation of the mounts of the deities
were carved without any evidence at hand. The usual
discourse rules out such "conjectural" replacements, but
the practice of the Newar carpenters and their specific
cultural background require the completion of the iconographical
programme in order to return the restored
temple's dignity.
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