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

are all marginally damaged, enabling the carpenters to
carefully repair broken parts and replace the few missing
parts. We are aware of the fact that such repairs were not
carried out in earlier centuries, because for a generation
the intervention remains visible, and in a way impairs
the perfection a divine shelter would demand. In earlier
centuries, the replacement of damaged elements would
even have been mandatory.
In the light of a scarcity of material—hardwood of the sal
variety is no longer easily available and is costly—and a
growing appreciation of the originality of cultural products,
salvaged fragments are to be reused in the course of
any rebuilding of a historical structure. We are aware of
the fact that this attitude or approach mirrors an international
debate that values the original more highly than
the replica. We are also aware that this practice entered
Nepal only in the 1970s and that it is not always appreciated
by the local community.
The tympana of the Char Narayana, dating back to
1565, are much more badly affected by the total collapse
of the temple, because the carving of the arched panel is
not only more voluminous, but more transparent. This
fact will be a major challenge. Some missing parts will be
recreated on the basis of the photographic survey made
in 2008, but at least in one case a complete replica will
have to be made based on the surviving fragments. These
fragments would be artfully put together to exhibit the
tympanum at the Architecture Galleries of the museum
to testify to the 16the century art of carving—when
Newar craftsmanship reached its apex. The same is true
for the much damaged columns of Harishankara temple
and the Manimandapa arcade.
Another issue is the recreation of replicas of lost elements.
At the Harishankara temple, four quarter round
panels (dyahkva) framing the doorways were lost to theft
already in the 1970s. As the panels feature the Eight
Mother Goddesses (Ashtamatrika), it is an easy task to
recreate these in analogy to the existing ones. The lotus
throne, the devotee to the side, the attributes of the
goddess—everything can be identified beyond doubt.
Therefore it is not conjecture, but following an age-old
practice which allows a carpenter to realize and complete
a well-known iconographical context (Fig. 33, 34). At
no point in history would this have been done differently.
The empty niche referred to by John Marshal in
1923 would be an insult and hurt the religious feeling of
the Newars. The empty niche establishes an antiquarian
view, it documents loss. In the context of a living religious
practice, the empty niche would demonstrate an
imposition ordered by those who are guided by a rigid
ideology that defends objectives that may be justified in
a different cultural set-up.
Even more challenging is the recreation of the Eight
Mother Goddesses and Eight Bhairavas which were once
supporting the roof the northern Manimandapa in the
form of struts. The two surviving struts will, however,
serve as examples which the recreated ones will refer to.
The iconographical program is again verifiable beyond
simple conjecture. Such iconographical schemes exists
in the memory and experience of the people. They con
thus be identified as an intangible heritage, a knowledge
system that justifies replication.
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