Damaged heritage sites continue to attract visitors

With life gradually returning to normal after the devastating earthquake almost a month ago on April 25 and a major aftershock on May 12 in the Kathmandu Valley, cultural heritage sites too have started seeing visitors — foreign as well as domestic.

A New Zealander, who arrived in Kathmandu yesterday, said he made a dash for heritage sites immediately after his arrival in the capital.

“Nepal is my second home. Just because it is broken I would not stop coming. I came here to share the tragedy of these cultural sites and people with whom I have emotional ties for more than 15 years,” said Barry Whitaker, adding: “It’s heartbreaking to see these beautiful structures in ruins but my love for them will never cease.” He opined that efforts must be made to restore the monuments.

“I thought what I could do to help people protect and conserve these ancient properties handed by their ancestors. I was very sorry to see the pictures and video footage of destruction on the Internet,” he said.

Ramesh Kumar Adhikari, Deputy Director General at the Department of Tourism, said flow of visitors has increased in heritage sites that suffered huge loss due to the April 25 massive quake with several monuments either completely destroyed or partially damaged. The purpose of the visit however has changed now, he said. Some are visiting the sites for research while some want to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of the disaster, he said, adding most of them, however, are one at restoring the monuments.

The beautiful centuries-old monuments that would leave people stand in awe now are in ruins and for those who have been to these places many times before April 25, the rubble now presents a heartbreaking sight.

The heritage sites filled with twisted debris have been visited by tourists and international journalists, said Adhikari.

Mohan Murti Panta, a professor of architecture at Khwopa Engineering College, Bhaktapur, said, “I have been visiting these heritage sites almost every day to assess the damage of the historical structures not only for my individual knowledge but to help my students study and conduct research on future reconstruction work for conserving our unique properties.”

Manoj Ray, a post-graduate student of Cultural Studies at Indira Gandhi National Open University, Kolkata, India, whose team is busy interviewing people and photographing the collapsed structures in Hanumandhoka Durbar Square, said, “We are here to conduct a case study on cultural impact caused by an earthquake.”

Sudir Bhandari, who has already made half a dozen documentaries on cultural sites of Nepal, said, “We are now filming videos of these damaged structures and are planning to make a documentary about the impact of earthquake on heritage sites of the Valley. This time we want to help the country raise fund for reconstruction.”

Historical and cultural sites, which had a broad range of historical and artistic achievements within the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property, were badly hit by the earthquake and its aftershocks. Particularly, Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka, Patan and Bhaktapur as well as large number of ancient palaces, courtyard, stupas and temples were almost reduced to the rubble by the earthquake.

source:the himalayan times,21 may 2015