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

Such a process of repair, replacement, and renewal is
in the true sense a “restoration”, because the building
is returned to the physical condition it was in prior to
the intervention, “not at some previous stage of its morphological
development”, as the term “restoration” is
usually understood. The main aim was to achieve added
value from renewing the surface—an action that in its
essence sets out to ensure continuity not for the physical
body of the Stupa, but for the transcendental body of the
Buddha. In this process, the patina or “age value” of the
surface had to be sacrificed and the missing figural décor
recreated. Insistence on compliance with the passages
in John Marshall’s Conservation Manual (1923) or the
Charter of Venice (1964) that rule out the replacement
of figural details and require a contemporary stamp on
replacements that are decorative in nature would have
been out of place. Authentic in this case was the craftsmanship,
which was in line with traditions of fire gilding.
It was, as it were, the grandsons of those craftsmen
from the Buddhist community of Shakya who cast the
figures and hammered the repoussé in 1918 who were
engaged in the restoration and renewal.
The example of the Svayambhu Stupa demonstrates that
in a living religious context it is the donor’s wishes that
guide the interventions. Curatorial agencies (in Nepal
the Department of Archaeology) may be involved to ensure
quality standards, but they are not in a position to
insist on global principles that have no foundation in
local cultural reality. The process of restoring and renewing
the surface of the stupa must be regarded as authentic,
because it is embedded in ritual and involves crafts
based on generations of experience. Even the lime that is
removed from the surface of the dome is not treated as
waste, ready to be discarded. It has attained some kind
of spiritual quality which is enshrined in a stupa that is
newly constructed for that purpose.
The art of copying by wood carvers—the Ratneshvara
experience, 1996–99
One of the only three temples of the Newar architectural
heritage of the Kathmandu Valley predating the 14th
century stands in the middle of a small square in Patan.
It is dedicated to Shiva, manifested in his phallic form
(linga), which is named Ratneshvara. With a host of other
shrines, the square forms the center of the quarter of
Sulima.
After years of research, documentation and fund-raising,
the restoration of the small, two-storeyed temple started
in 1996 and was completed in 1999 by the Kathmandu
Valley Preservation Trust. With parts of the roof collapsed
and the roof struts missing, the temple was in a
deplorable sate: Six of the eight roof struts supporting
the lower roof had been stolen since the 1960s. They just
disappeared, leaving no evidence in the catalogues of the
auction houses in Geneva, London or New York. One
strut was secured by a neighbor and one was salvaged
from the ruin.
Since the establishment of the Department of Archaeology
in 1956, not a single roof strut of any temple had
been replicated in good quality. In most cases financial
constraints resulted in the installation of uncarved timber.
In 1997, the Ratneshvara project initiated the copying
of one of the surviving struts by Bhaktapur’s master
carver Indra Kaji Silpakar (Figs. 28, 29, 30). To discuss
alternatives, it was placed against an uncarved strut and
a slightly molded strut. After two years of painful discussions
all struts were finally re-carved, based on the initial
experience. Two copies were based on photographs
taken by the American anthropologist Mary Slusser in
1968 and four were based on her short descriptions, the
memory of the neighbors and the expertise of Brahmin
priests who act as caretakers of the neighboring esoteric
shrine. Likewise, the elaborate tympanum was recreated,
based on a photograph. The eight miniature aedicules
(small shrine-like niches with a pediment) of the ground
31
Patan, southern Manimandapa.
Replicating a column which was
damaged beyond repair in the
April 2015 earthquake.
Photograph: B. Basukala, 2015
47