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

in later pages.) The temple is a rare survival and quite
strong in its construction, which likely helped to save
it from collapse in April 2015. While the inner structure
of the sanctum remained intact, the exterior layer
of veneer bricks collapsed, due to an inherent weakness
of Newar building techniques. Even more serious, the
tenons at the column bases of the outer ambulatory were
dislodged. Three weeks after the first earthquake, minimal
shoring was put in place by the municipality. KVPT
then quickly added further timber shoring to prevent
collapse.
The Vishveshvara is still standing thanks to both rounds
of emergency shoring, but damage from earlier earthquakes
is also evident, although the fabric seems to have
been compromised before the earthquake less than that
of most Newar structures today. Further shoring still
will allow safer access to assess up close the full extent
of wood rot, displacement, and other damage inside the
sanctum and at the upper levels. Replacement of emergency
upper roofs installed in late 1989 will allow the
implementation of a sophisticated seismic scheme, along
with a return to the upper temple’s historic configuration.
The restoration and strengthening project under development
by the Trust for this temple exemplifies in-situ
repairs to a multi-tiered temple that survived the earthquake
but needs significant repairs. To stabilize and reinforce
this structure in-situ is a valuable exercise and a rare
exception to practice in Nepal, where building research
is still in its infancy. To execute and publicize a high
profile project is an important demonstration to encourage
retrofitting as opposed to wholesale rebuilding. Lack
of expertise in this still new field of work would make it
otherwise mandatory to dismantle the endangered structure
and rebuild it, a sadly pervasive trend in post-earthquake
contexts.
Investigations to date reveal several important things.
The structure was selected for its artistic importance and
level of damage, but ongoing investigations have now
Above
The southeast corner suffered the
worst damage, wih the timber
corner column pushed out in both
direction and base stone crushed
from altered loads.
Photograph by Rohit Ranjitkar, May,
2015
Vishveshvara Temple Before the
earthquake (far left) and after (near
left), with emergency shoring.
Photographs by Stanislaw Klimek (2008)
and Rohit Ranjitkar,(July, 2015)
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