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

Ground floor
The pillars
Two of the 20 pillars of the ambulatory had to be replaced
as they were damaged lengthwise beyond repair.
Of one more pillar the lower half was reused. Of the
remaining 17 pillars, the top part had to be replaced in a
variety of ways. The earthquake shocks made the bottom
tenons simply slip from their supporting stone blocks,
while the long tenons on top caused the breaking away
of the molded top of the pillars. The original location of
the pillars cannot be ascertained. This work was completed
in July 2016.
The colonnettes
Of the 24 colonnettes, 13 were broken, three needed minor
repairs, and seven are preserved - even the comparatively
short tenons at the top and bottom are preserved.
The original location of the colonnettes canot be ascertained.
Repairs will be completed by early November.
The plates
The plate on top of each of the 20 pillars was torn apart
by the twisting of the pillar's long tenon. The tearing
apart of the four constituting parts of the plates did only
little damage to the stepped kulan cornice. The repair
followed the original technique of joining the constitutive
parts with bamboo pegs. The original location of the
plates cannot be ascentained. All plates were repaired by
mid-September 2016.
The tympana
Of the twenty tympana five are fully preserved, two are
severely damaged and 13 show minor damage. Of the
latter 15 tympana, the top including the head of Vishnu-Narayana
and the crowning umbrella could not be
found in the debris of the collapsed temple.
The 16 full and 8 half medallions featuring the sun-bird
Garuda and a mirror, which frame the 20 tympana, are
fully preserved. The four corner pieces feature Vishnu
on Garuda; only one of these is damaged. The original
location of the tympana cannot be ascertained. All tympana
will be repaired by February 2017; the work will be
done by Pushpa Shilpakar, who since June has been fully
devoted to this kind of repair.
The beams
Of the four beams (nina) supported by the pillars, two
were preserved but the end of one of these had been severely
affected by termites. Half of this end is being replaced
- an intervention that also requires the re-carving
of the lotus frieze at the top of the beam. Two beams are
slightly cracked. These will not be replaced but strengthened
with galvanized steel plates. This work will be complete
in November.
The cornices
Of the five constitutive elements of the stepped cornice
above the pillars, all levels were broken on all four sides.
This caused replacements in a range of 10 to 240 cm.
The eight projecting ends of the dentilled level in the
shape of a hand all broke away. Seven of these had to
be replaced while one could be repaired. This work was
completed in May 2016.
The cornices on the inner side of the pillars - within the
ambulatory - were broken and needed replacements of
30 to 150 cm length. The three constituent parts of
the cornice above the wall of the sanctum (lotus foliage,
stylized beams ends and snake body) were broken on all
four sides, making replacements necessary covering 10
to 100 cm.
The three constituent parts of the cornice above the
doorways were also broken on all sides, needing replacements.
Work on all four cornices on ground floor level was
completed by May 2016.
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