Nepalis are proud to proclaim that the Buddha was born in Nepal, but the over-development of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddha-s-lumbini">Lumbini</a> may mean that the nativity site could be struck off the World Heritage Sites listing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nepal is internationally recognised for its cultural landmarks and their protection, but &nbsp;corruption, commercialisation and over-development are endangering sites like Lumbini and Pashupatinath Temple.&nbsp; World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for their historical, cultural or natural significance, and Nepal has four landmarks in the listing: Kathmandu Valley, Sagarmatha National Park, Chitwan National Park and Lumbini.&nbsp; It is difficult to be struck off the list, but UNESCO can put some landmarks in the List of World Heritage in danger. The spotlight is now on Lumbini and Pashupati because of recent construction. U Thant, the United Nations Secretary-General from Burma who <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace">visited Lumbini in 1977</a>, hired famous Japanese architect Kenzō Tange to devise a masterplan for the site. It has taken nearly 40 years for Tange’s scheme to more or less be put together, but the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) has been flouting the Tange design. For example, a concrete and glass structure is coming up right next to Mayadevi Temple, an area of unexcavated archaeological significance. More recently, LDT announced that it was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lharkyal-lama-s-lumbini-inc">leasing out to a private company</a> for 99 years the sacred Ramgram Stupa, 35km east of Lumbini, one of eight sites in the Subcontinent with corporeal remains of the Buddha. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The plan was cancelled in January by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee which also demanded a corruption probe into the Rs7 billion deal to lease 81 hectares around Ramgram for 99 years. The deal was to the Singapore-based Moksha Foundation and its Nepali counterpart The Promised Land, owned by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s landlord’s son.&nbsp; LDT is now headed by political broker and shady former lawmaker Lharkyal Lama, who was appointed by Prime Minister Dahal despite knowledge about his murky past. &nbsp; Neither the Ministry of Culture nor the Department of Archaeology had prior knowledge of the Ramgram proposal, and this lack of oversight and accountability has further eroded the LDT’s credibility, increasing concern about conflict of interest and political patronage.After the controversy erupted, an LDT executive committee meeting shelved the Ramgram agreement. &nbsp;&nbsp; The Heritage Site listing doubts come just as another ancient Buddha-era settlement of Tilaurakot near Lumbini is about to be added to the UNESCO Heritage List.&nbsp; Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) also faces the risk of having one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines delisted from the World Heritage Sites.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024032213038_4d830080d521db354a577a999e97d850282dab6cbf6795b04cab76535d1300cc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024032213038_4d830080d521db354a577a999e97d850282dab6cbf6795b04cab76535d1300cc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1574" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Pashupati NT"> </figure>  The reason is similar to what has tainted Lumbini: political interference. LDT and PADT are chaired by the Minister of Civil Aviation and Culture, but are supposed to operate autonomously from the government. The minister has just been replaced by another Maoist confidante of Dahal, Hit Man Tamang. PADT’s director Laxmi Pun was suspended soon after her appointment because she did not meet qualifications for the job. There is also a brewing controversy involving the Digital Copyright Act about the right to film the Ganga Arati evening prayer ritual at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-healer-of-pashupati">Pashupati</a> by the entertainment company Budha Subba Digital.&nbsp; The company says it signed a deal with PADT, but this is denied by spokesperson Rewati Raman Adhikari whose signature is on the agreement between Budha Subba Digital and PADT. Now, both PADT and Adhikari vehemently deny any ownership or knowledge of such an agreement.&nbsp; “We don’t know how they got the stamp, this is nonsense,” Adhikari told Nepali Times. He added that PADT is working on crowd management at the evening prayers after several near stampedes. &nbsp; Adhikari says the Ganga Arati is not under the jurisdiction of PADT, but organised by a separate entity. He notes that the prayer ritual adopted more than a decade ago is not inherently a part of Nepali culture.&nbsp; Our investigation shows that on 15 June, 2023 former Minister of Tourism and Culture Sudan Kirati signed an agreement permitting the Kirat ethnic group to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">bury their dead</a> within the sacred Shleshmantak forest until a permanent burial site was found in three months.&nbsp; Six months have passed but no alternative site has been designated. Nabin Manandhar of Kathmandu Metropolitan Office had no idea about the agreement Kirati signed. Rewati Raman Adhikari also had no idea about an agreement. PADT has already been wracked by a corruption scandal over missing gold used to make a new necklace for the main Pashupati deity. Thapa is facing charges related to corruption in that case which goes back to when K P Oli was Prime Minister in 2021. &nbsp;

Alisha Sijapati

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Unholy developments at holy sites

In what seems to be a replay of an initiative 13 years ago by the shadowy Asia Pacific Cooperation and Exchange Foundation (APECF) to invest billions in the ‘development’ of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace">Lumbini</a>, a new scandal has erupted about a lease of the nearby Buddhist shrine of Ramgram to a private entity. The Hong Kong-based <a href="http://www.apecf.org/en/work_projects/lumbini/index.html">APECF</a> purportedly signed an MoU with <a href="http://www.apecf.org/en/work_projects/lumbini/lumbini05.html">a United Nations office in Beijing</a> in June 2011 for the Lumbini Buddist Cultural Special Zone project with the aim of turning it into an international tourist destination having the world’s tallest Buddha statue. The new Ramgram proposal, meanwhile, was pushed by a shady former lawmaker named Lharkyal Lama, who heads the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) and involved leasing 82 hectares of the sacred site for 99 years to the Singapore-based Moksha Foundation to build hotels and other structures. Interestingly, both projects involve Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The APECF was chaired by Dahal after he resigned as prime minister in 2009 during his first tenure. And the local counterpart of the Moksha Foundation is Promised Land, owned by the son of Dahal’s landlord in Kathmandu. The vice-chair of APECF Xiao Wunan <a href="http://www.apecf.org/en/foundationnews/20230630.html">visited Kathmandu in June</a> last year and met Dahal after which Dahal is said to have offered to support the foundation’s ‘core focus’ of Buddhist culture. The APECF project has been in limbo ever since then UN Secretary General <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19159">Ban Ki-Moon cancelled a visit to Lumbini</a> to endorse it after geopolitical pressure and the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19096">controversy</a> in Nepal, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19096">reported by this paper at the time.</a> Then, last week the LDT cancelled the MoU with Moksha Foundation and Promised Land after a directive from the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which also ordered the Commission on the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to probe the deal. Prime Minister Dahal appointed Lharkyal Lama to head LDT in August 2023 despite knowledge about his nefarious past. Proximity to powerful leaders across the political spectrum has allowed Lama to keep being reincarnated despite allegations ranging from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-gets-gold-medal-for-corruption">corruption</a> to sedition.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240221080248_5bc713d63c962d3ad00716a8c4da9eb7e78758d8a96c4a8b20be6af8c0678733.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240221080248_5bc713d63c962d3ad00716a8c4da9eb7e78758d8a96c4a8b20be6af8c0678733" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="533" loading="lazy" alt="Lharkyal Lama NT"><figcaption>Lumbini Development Trust vice chair Lharkyal Lama.</figcaption></figure>  “With Gautam Buddha and Maya Devi as my witnesses, I will promise to never denigrate this holy place and to uphold the dignity of Lumbini,” Lama declared after his appointment last year. The story about Ramgram, 35km east of Lumbini, was broken in January by a Kantipur investigation which revealed that Promised Land was owned by Nikesh Adhikari, the son of Sharada Adhikari, Prime Minister Dahal’s landlord. Tourism and Culture Minister Sudan Kirati, who chaired LDT before Lama’s appointment, had previously also attempted to hand over the same land to Moksha Foundation and Promised Land but the deal was blocked by other branches of government, including the Department of Archaeology. Lama tried to bulldoze the agreement despite the objections. One out of the eight relics of Gautam Buddha that were distributed among his disciples was sent to the ancient kingdom of Koliya, where present-day Ramgram stupa is located. Experts have long pushed to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/buddha-s-birthday-in-his-birthplace">archaeologically substantiate</a> the site’s history and include it in the World Heritage list. “What they tried to do with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7358">Ramgram</a> is heartbreaking,” says Bhairawa-based cultural expert Geetu Giri. “It seems that the Prime Minister has been using Lama and the Lumbini Development Trust as proxies to monetise Lumbini in collusion with cronies.” Lharkyal Lama was hugely controversial even before being appointed to the LDT. Media investigations showed that his citizenship paper states that he was born in Helambu on 28 November 1964, and came to Kathmandu to study Buddhism. Papers made public by Lama in 2016 state that he obtained a Khenpo degree from the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Karnataka in 2000, but the institute’s website shows only one person graduated that year and it was not Lharkyal Lama. During the newly post-Panchayat era, Lama was close to powerful Nepali Congress (NC) leader Khum Bahadur Khadka, who himself would go on to be convicted of several counts of corruption in August 2012. In 2001, during his second tenure as Prime Minister, the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed Lama chair of the Monastery Management and Development Committee.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240221080248_7ec49626c0b71a8f2df46c4ab1ac32b6fdf288260e07b22fdff0e5c0de293768.png" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240221080248_7ec49626c0b71a8f2df46c4ab1ac32b6fdf288260e07b22fdff0e5c0de293768" data-rendition-name="original" width="568" height="426" loading="lazy" alt="Ramgram stupa NT"><figcaption>Ramgram stupa. Photo: LUMBINI DEVELOPMENT TRUST</figcaption></figure>  Lama then pivoted to the UML in 2007, and was close to Ishwar Pokharel and Amrit Bohara who lined up a proportional representation seat for him in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. He was appointed state minister for finance by Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal in 2011 but had to resign just two weeks into office after it was revealed that he possessed two Nepali citizenships, an Indian passport, and a Tibetan refugee ID card. A Home Ministry investigation further revealed his close ties to an emissary of the Dalai Lama and leader of the Free Tibet campaign. The investigation was never completed due to ‘non-cooperation by government agencies’. Lama then left the UML and joined the Maoist party in 2014 and was appointed lawmaker in 2015 despite the Election Commission's objections. Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal wrote four letters to the Commission on Lama’s behalf. Even Maoist leaders objected to his appointment, but Dahal went ahead with it. Lama was once again investigated by the CIAA in 2016 during his second stint in Parliament after illegal wealth and bullets were discovered inside his bank locker. He spent nine days in custody and was released on a mere Rs60,000 bail. The CIAA filed a case in the Special Court, but Lama was acquitted. Lama’s appointment to the LDT was also heavily criticised from within the Maoist party, but Dahal overruled objections. The Promised Land deal that Lama pushed therefore could have the backing of the highest office in the land. Basanta Bidari, who has worked as an archaeologist at the LDT for 28 years, says that Lama’s tenure has been disappointing but he is not surprised. He says, “There is no need for me to comment on appointments by Dahal and Kirati. We never had any expectations from Lama.” The LDT was established in 1985 to develop and promote the birthplace of the Buddha, and was under the tutelage of the royal palace. But even then there were allegations of misappropriation of funds and lack of progress in developing the nativity site. Four decades on and with multiple changes in government, political interference in Lumbini’s development continues. Meanwhile, the contrast between the heritage site and the surrounding <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddha-s-lumbini">Greater Lumbini region</a> is starker than ever. Says Bhairawa-based observer Ram Bikas Chaudhary: “There are two Lumbinis here, separated by a wall. Inside it is beautiful, prosperous, and peaceful, while the outside is ugly, poor and chaotic.”

Lharkyal Lama’s Lumbini, Inc

Sarus cranes hold a unique place among all the other species of birds found in Nepal, owing to their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-lumbini-s-rare-cranes" target="_blank">legendary connection with Lord Buddha</a> in his birthplace of Lumbini. It is believed that Prince Siddhartha was strolling in the palace garden one day when he came across a wounded crane. As he was taking the arrow out, his cousin Devdatta, who had shot the bird, demanded the bird back. Unable to establish who the rightful owner was, the two went to King Suddhodhan who then declared that the bird belonged to the one who saved its life. The bird mentioned in Buddhist scriptures is said to be the Sarus crane found in Lumbini and the wetlands of the Tarai plains of Nepal, and have possibly been living here for millennia.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230822070848_b8f603465496e926a7ba7caef0d03f781e6719702a0d2ce25e4f977d62b97b8c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230822070848_b8f603465496e926a7ba7caef0d03f781e6719702a0d2ce25e4f977d62b97b8c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1146" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Saras NT"> <figcaption>Photos: DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  The Sarus crane’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/cranes-nature-and-godliness" target="_blank">cultural importance</a> has been recognised by the local municipality which regards the bird as its mascot. But rapid urban spread in this part of Nepal has resulted in the destruction of its habitat. A study by Nepal Zoological Society and Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Biology funded by the <a href="https://savingcranes.org/" target="_blank">International Crane Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-lumbini-s-rare-cranes" target="_blank">World Wildlife Fund</a> puts the population of these monogamous birds at only 690 in Nepal. Lead researcher ornithologist Hem Katuwal warns that cranes and other bird species could disappear from the Nepal Tarai if conservation measures are not urgently undertaken.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230822070848_20650eed8af4be7b9fb7e63fc92c7f4b19c1c737e9ad301b37ca02a6664eedce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230822070848_20650eed8af4be7b9fb7e63fc92c7f4b19c1c737e9ad301b37ca02a6664eedce" data-rendition-name="original" width="831" height="625" loading="lazy" alt="Saras NT"> </figure>  Hari Sharma at the Central Department of Biology, however, is not so discouraged. He says, “The survey was conducted in the dry season, and even then we counted more cranes than expected. This number will definitely increase in the monsoon.”&nbsp; The study looked at the population and status of cranes in the greater Lumbini area and other districts with 14 teams fanning out across 93 blocks with roosting sites, including ten in Lumbini, two in Kapilvastu, seven in Rupandehi, and one each in Jagdishpur Lake, Bajaha Lake, and Nawalparasi. Among the 15 species of cranes found globally, Nepal is home to four, the Sarus (Antigone antigone), Karyangkurung (Demoiselle Crane), Laxman (Common Crane), and Kalikantha (Black-necked Crane). <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Ftn9sYLe_lZY&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> The Demoiselle, Common Crane, and Black-necked Crane are migratory birds, flying down from the Tibetan Plateau across the Himalayan mountains to the plains of Nepal and India in winter. But the Sarus prefers to stay put, and the study focussed on this group.&nbsp; Like other wildlife, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/shooting-sarus" target="_blank">survival of the Sarus</a> depends on the availability of water in rivers, lakes and wetlands. But water is drying up due to over-extraction, pollution, invasive species and weather extremes caused by the climate crisis. “As the rivers shrink during summer, the birds migrate further to the south. Last winter, over 100 cranes were found in Bajaha Lake. This time the water had dried up, and only 27 were seen,” says Katuwal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230822070848_e779ea21a4900a2d6a0f25daa519c1bdea88127619dc55679f0d90233e43466a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230822070848_e779ea21a4900a2d6a0f25daa519c1bdea88127619dc55679f0d90233e43466a" data-rendition-name="original" width="831" height="1045" loading="lazy" alt="Saras NT"> </figure>  A dedicated <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/proposed-change-to-lumbini-masterplan-threat-to-Sarus,4090" target="_blank">Crane Conservation Area</a> has been formed within the &nbsp;Lumbini enclave due to its sacred connection to the Buddha. The study focused on the Lumbini area, which includes Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, and Parasi, and found out that although wetlands are important, cranes tended to breed in open fields and avoided forests. The region has now been declared an Important Bird Area by <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/" target="_blank">BirdLife International</a>. Increasing construction activity, new cement factories in the Lumbini region worried researchers who felt it would lead to further habitat destruction and water scarcity.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230822070848_3f1ede6cf02961058be67cf73af22e21c68af2f866a84778d915d5784436ec3a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20230822070848_3f1ede6cf02961058be67cf73af22e21c68af2f866a84778d915d5784436ec3a" data-rendition-name="original" width="830" height="594" loading="lazy" alt="Saras NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230822070848_f110d5c17b0bd309c85b328fc5847491c588142fc15d01dccb7812cc473c5297.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20230822070848_f110d5c17b0bd309c85b328fc5847491c588142fc15d01dccb7812cc473c5297" data-rendition-name="original" width="328" height="250" loading="lazy" alt="Saras NT"> </figure>  Another threat to cranes and other birds is the changing agriculture practice of burning harvest residue which reduces the availability of insects which are already impacted by pesticide use. Electric transmission lines also pose a threat, and at least 42 cranes have been killed in the past 12 years after colliding with wires. Stray dogs and people stealing eggs also pose additional danger. As the habitat of cranes spans the Nepal-India border, many cranes fly back and forth, which points to a need for a trans-boundary conservation campaign by tagging birds to track their movement.&nbsp; The study also surveyed local perception of cranes, and found them to be largely positive with most residents regarding the presence of the birds in their fields as an auspicious sign. However, the Nepal Tarai is now home to more than half of Nepal’s population and there is increasing migration of people from the mountains who may not share the same veneration for cranes. <h2>Cranes&nbsp;</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230822070848_4780b96b8e37038a2538696df6b2ea80a31a33938c48ef2d61964d8a3b0a32a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20230822070848_4780b96b8e37038a2538696df6b2ea80a31a33938c48ef2d61964d8a3b0a32a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="831" height="1044" loading="lazy" alt="Saras NT"> </figure>  Cranes are the world’s tallest birds that can fly, and the Sarus stand 2m high and can be 3m wide when they spread their wings. They are light brown in colour and have red patches on the head and neck, with pink legs. Cranes weigh from 6-12kgs and are omnivorous birds that feed on plants, grains, roots, insects, and worms. They breed in the monsoon season and build their nests near wetland areas and in fields with &nbsp;grass, roots, and stems of giant reeds.&nbsp; Usually, they hatch one to two eggs in one nest. Both male and female cranes sit upon the eggs &nbsp;for 30 to 32 days and then hatch the eggs. they live in pairs for life, and have been known to have a lifespan of 40 years in captivity. The arrival of cranes indicates rain, and rice planting time. They are regarded as symbols of love because of their conjugal habit.&nbsp;

Saving Lumbini’s Sarus

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111128/637218519c7e80680e0baa36jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1342" height="671"/>To make a country great again, one prerequisite is that citizens must respect their leader.The Chinese people hold President Xi Jinping in high regard, and his country is now a super-duper power. Or take Prime Minister Shree Modiji, it is because of the veneration of his citizens that he has been able to completely modify India.And then, the esteem which the DPRK people have for their Dear Leader Marshall Kim Jong-un is what has allowed North Korea to attain the pinnacle of progress and test its own hypersonic intercontinental missile.And here in Nepal, how do we treat our leader? We show disrespect for our prime minister, and run him down every chance we get. Like it or not, he is our Shree 5-time prime minister, so show uncle some respect even if he is not a rapper.Take <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/deuba-and-modi-meet-in-lumbini/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Modi-Deuba get-together</a> on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti on Monday. But on social media, Nepalis poured scorn at their own prime minister, poking fun at the way he sat, his enunciation, his gait, how he watered plastic flowers, and the way he yawned.What most people do not know (and the following is a closely guarded military secret because of its vital importance to Nepal’s national security so don’t go blurting it to everyone in public) is that this was all an elaborate ruse. Prime Minister Deuba deserves the highest medal of valour in the land, if not the Oscars in the Best Supporting Actor Category.It was pre-planned that Arzoo was the decoy and Nepal’s Prime Minister would look bored with the entire proceeding so as to upstage Modiji with a better photo-op. It was a masterstroke in planning and execution on Deuba’s part, and we have to thank the PMO for briefing him so carefully to just be himself.Modi had also planned his optics meticulously so that he sat cross legged at Maya Devi Temple with hands folded in a reverent namaskar, eyes closed, and deep in meditation. But that was no match for Deuba’s posture, which was a hybrid between the sukhasana cross-legged yoga sitting position and a latrine squat. This was a well-calculated move on Deuba’s part to steal the spotlight from Modiji, and make him look like a grumpy old man.In other photographs of the event, Deuba is on the verge of dozing off, eyes glazed over and his mind elsewhere — probably on how to make Renu win again, if she loses once more. This is a deliberate defence tactic that a much smaller country uses to throw off the leader of a larger neighbour by not giving it the attention he thinks he deserves.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/quid-pro-quo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Body language</a> is important in international relations, and passive-aggressive Deuba’s message was: “Who cares?”But the coup de grâce (not to be mistaken for coup d’état) was The Great Yawn. With that one gesture, Deuba achieved the equivalent of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Gorkha conquest of Kumaon and Garhwal</a> and allowed Nepalis to hold their head high once more, and show the world that we will not be pushed around.

Ass s

The Great Yawn

<figure><img width="603" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111124/637218259c7e80680e0baa28jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Micheal Croft. Photo: UNESCO</figcaption></figure>Michael Croft, UNESCO Representative to Nepal, spoke to Nepali Times on the occasion of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddhas-lumbini/">Buddha Jayant</a>i to discuss the development of Lumbini and other heritage sites in the country. Excerpts:What is UNESCO’s role in Nepal?Michael Croft: Nepal is almost a microcosm of the wider human community because it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-turning-into-a-nation-of-hybrid-identities/">intensely diverse</a>. The many different languages, Indigenous groups, traditions and geography make it a complex functioning entity.And in that mix, there are certain lessons that can be drawn on how people can get together, how people can get along, how people can live in peace. And with the diversity comes also a rich cultural and creative heritage in Nepal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddhas-lumbini/">Telling the story of  Buddha's Lumbini</a>, Sahina ShresthaAs a result, we came up with a strategy by focusing on three main issues. We ask ourselves: What are the priorities here? What do Nepalis really care about?We work directly with the government, private sector, civil society, and we also work with international partners and other UN agencies. In Lumbini, <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en">UNESCO</a> can bring everybody on the table where they can put their perspectives for all to see, understand and comment on.Our resources are limited, our time is limited, and it would be really difficult for UNESCO to move the needle without support from the stakeholders. But if we can facilitate a partnership, a common understanding, things can perhaps move in the right way.How about UNESCO’s work in natural heritage preservation?The brand of the world cultural heritage is so strong that it tends to overshadow everything else. But the true magic happens in the interesting space where culture meets nature. And UNESCO has a range of designations for natural sites: global geo-parks, biosphere reserves, and such.Nepal has an outstanding natural heritage, with two designated sites: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5470#.YoG0D9NBz0s">Sagarmatha</a> and Chitwan. These sites provide an important leverage, especially since Sagarmatha is known worldwide. Showcasing these best practices makes them globally relevant and visible. This is the same for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddhas-lumbini/">Lumbini</a> although in a different context, and the two sites that can generate enormous soft power because they are known and valued by millions of people many of whom have never even seen them.Given <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepals-rhinos/">global climate change</a>, there is a need for just as much energy and resource, if not more, to be put into promoting biodiversity. We have to protect these few remaining places so that we can learn more from them and draw lessons on how to restore the same in other parts of the world.This also links to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/conservation-at-the-crossroads/">role of Indigenous groups</a>, who are 4% of the world population but control or manage 80% of the biodiversity. If we don’t have an ecosystem then it makes no sense to talk about cultural heritage anyway, because there is a complex codependency between the two.What other steps can Nepal take in leveraging the soft power of Lumbini and Sagarmatha? In Nepal, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1886#.YoGwedNBz0s">Lumbini and Sagarmatha</a> are discussed a lot. But in the case of Lumbini, especially, the international dialogue is not yet what it could be. Because UNESCO is an inter-governmental organisation, it can play a part in providing international visibility and facilitating international interactions.These can play a pivotal role in influencing international perceptions of Nepal. They provide a chance to exchange ideas and practices with other countries and global institutions with different experiences and expertise.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4514#.YoGwONNBz0s">Sagarmatha's buffer zone is vanishing</a>, Navin Singh KhadkaThe visibility attained in this way allows for the Nepali story to reach other countries and communities, and people can have an appreciation for Nepal for what it really is, not what they think it is.The key role of UNESCO is to promote peace and sustainable development through international collaboration, education, science and culture. The ground-level work has to be accompanied by the discourse that reminds us <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/lumbini-is-not-a-buddhist-disneyland/">why Lumbini is important</a>, what it stands for. UNESCO can assist the government to build a network with international partners.Is Lumbini being overbuilt?I wouldn’t say that Lumbini is overbuilt. The issue is that Lumbini is an area where the greatest amount of resources have been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-buddha-was-born-in-lumbini/">focused on infrastructure</a>, and to some extent some of the archaeological work, but not so much on other elements.Perhaps the infrastructure has gone ahead of other aspects because the responsibility of expanding infrastructure falls on one key official actor, the <a href="http://lumbinidevtrust.gov.np/en">Lumbini Development Trust (LDT)</a>. But there are many cogs and wheels moving in Lumbini and sometimes it is difficult to synchronise. Softer issues such as the local communities’ ability to leverage the sites for their own sustainable development, and the quality of guides to interpret the sites have not received as much attention. It is important to come up with solutions because one cannot develop any particular course in Lumbini without referring to another, or else everything falls out of sync.Lumbini must consider developing its soft power so that people can have a much deeper experience with the site, and more visitors come. This includes a proper visitor management plan and a focus on why people come to Lumbini and how long they stay. <figure><img width="1740" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111124/637218279c7e80680e0baa29jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Lumbini photo. Photo: Kunda Dixit</figcaption></figure>The International Committee for Lumbini within the UN has been dormant, how can Nepal revive it?If there is an interest from the government, there are many partners who would like to see this happen. I believe that there also needs to be a reaction from the UN and UNESCO because we were formed for this.If the government say they need an international process, this is our raison d’être. We can call for the meeting of the member states, with the Nepal government as the host. The member states appreciate and value opportunities which allow them to come together at a site and address issues like the one Lumbini represents.What is your assessment of rebuilding of monuments after the 2015 earthquake?For us the main lesson was how key the involvement of the community is. This was the result of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/deconstructing-reconstruction/">community response</a>, interest and participation, directly influenced by the fact that these are not just relics or monuments, but rather part of a living culture and heritage, and part of their lives.Having seen what I have seen, I was impressed by the reconstruction. The amount of work, knowing all the different priorities that the cities, towns, municipalities and the government had, to see the effort that has been put into the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/restoring-a-piece-of-nepals-history/">restoration of cultural heritage</a> – it is really something.The big lesson here for next time is to put the community front and centre immediately. We need to listen to the community for their ideas on that and support them, not make decisions on behalf of the community.But could the reconstruction have been done differently, or better?It is a bit difficult for me to comment on that as I wasn’t here to see the process. But the things that reverberate the most from the process are generally positive.I would say perfection is the enemy of the good. I am sure it could have been better in some ways, but it could have been worse as well. And from what I see, there are no major flaws.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/deconstructing-reconstruction/">Deconstructing reconstruction</a>,  Alok Siddhi TuladharThe last time Kathmandu had a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/">major earthquake was in 1934</a>, so there was no preparation or plan, and people just did what they thought they should. And our natural instinct where we do things first is not always the best.But the important thing is, the process changed and lessons were learnt. It is very difficult to respond constantly with best practices in situations like this.The elephant in the room is the haphazard urbanisation around seven protected sites in Kathmandu Valley. Are we at risk of being removed from the World Heritage Sites list?It is not UNESCO but the World Heritage Committee with the member states of UNESCO who remove sites from the list, but only in very special circumstances. It is really a measure of last resort.There is no imminent <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1886#.YoGwedNBz0s">risk of Kathmandu being removed</a> from that list. But this is not to say that the risk is not there at all, but there are opportunities also for doing better in Kathmandu.What are some of UNESCO’s current concerns in Nepal? Everyone recognises that this is a difficult time. The government has to balance priorities and often situations do not allow for immediate investment in the heritage sector.But as with any other <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/saving-nepals-hiti-heritage/">rapidly developing urban centres</a> around the world, there is a very practical risk not just to the sites but also to Kathmandu’s urban architecture and the intangible cultural heritage.This is where the idea of creative cities comes in, and I think it is up to UNESCO to make an economic case for it.There is an international network of creative cities created in 2004-2005, where the cities basically said ‘We are going to use our creative industries, creative economies as a means to work for our sustainable development’. This really picked up after Agenda 2030, SDGs in 2015.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1886#.YoGwedNBz0s">Saving what's left</a>, Navin Singh KhadkaThis will be very timely for Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur because this designation as creative cities serves as a narrative for them to promote the creative industry and economies, and move forward in the development.This then attracts partners who want to support the development of Kathmandu, and starts to influence how investment is done. This puts the spotlight on the community and also gives the time, place and platform for them to collaborate.I don’t think it is practical for UNESCO to go around and yell louder about the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18013">importance of protecting culture and heritage</a>. Where UNESCO can best put its effort is encouraging the stakeholders to look at development from a different perspective. We as people can’t stop development, and we don’t want to stop development. But what is the kind of development we want?Read more: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18013#.YoGvWNNBz0s">Whose heritage is it anyways?</a> Marit Bakke

“Leverage Lumbini’s soft power”

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86629c7e80680e06784fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1778" height="1000"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>We use a magnetometer for the geophysical survey of Tilaurakot which allows it to ‘see’ bricks under the ground. Burnt brick walls under the surface are more magnetic, so we can excavate only the necessary areas.In the past, there was a belief that ‘all archaeology is destruction’ because we had to physically excavate the land, and in doing so we were actually destroying the site. The magnetometer is a better tool to quickly locate historical evidence without having to excavate anything.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhas-birthday-in-his-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kapilvastu-Tilaurakot</a> is the most well preserved archaeological site in South Asia, and is 2,700 years old. The eastern part lies unused and untouched by agriculture due to the area being naturally elevated, and quite densely forested in the past.There are still jackals, jungle cats, and wildlife here, making this a mini nature reserve. We need to preserve Tilaurakot’s archaeological and historical value, but also its environment. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kapilvastu</a> is just not an ancient city, it is a sacred region as well.The Eastern Gate of the site is where Siddhartha Gautam left his family at age 29 to seek enlightenment two-and-half millennia ago. It is one of five to six gates around the city, which was three towns and three small settlements within the site.We know that the city was abandoned, so the buildings are now very close to the surface. So are the ancient pathways that wind through the city. The increasing number of pilgrims had begun to wear away the archaeology on the surface, so we built a wooden platform over the ancient brick path. The planks serve not only to give visitors an idea of the grid plan of the city, but also to protect the site from wear.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86659c7e80680e067850jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1150" height="876"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The road over which the wooden planks now sit were 10m wide, with a long line of buildings on either side — shops on the front, and courtyard houses behind.Visitors and pilgrims expect ancient Kapilvastu to have been a grand city with high walls, and domes, turrets and marble towers. The historic reality, however, is that the floors and walls of these buildings are mud, the foundations are brick, and the roofs are thatch, much like today’s Tharu villages.However, we found that the palatial structure located at the highest point within the site, was fortified by 6m high walls made from rammed earth, inside which a forecourt led to a gate where we found evidence of huge set of bricks on either side for a guard post.When the Chinese pilgrims visited this region during the 1st century CE, they described it as a largely abandoned city where the walls were still strong. These structures are quadrangular, with open courtyards, and are normally interpreted as monastic. However, some courtyard buildings on the site were built later on top of the fortification wall.We also found a large square area rich in magnetism, which tells us that there was a water tank. This is striking, because there are no previously known examples of civic architecture or infrastructure in South Asia during the 3rd century BCE.When we first started excavating in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-buddha-was-born-in-lumbini/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kapilvastu</a>, what struck me the most was the material culture — the pottery, coins, terra cotta objects — which I thought would be remarkably different from excavations in Hastinapur, Taxila, and elsewhere.We have unearthed coins from the 3rd century CE from Ayodhya on the site. There is evidence of diplomatic and commercial links in the form of way-stations, fortified enclosures, and wells between 13-15km apart on the same alignment as the present route from Lumbini to Tilaurakot.We have this amazing mosaic of urban forms developing from Gandhara all the way down to Sri Lanka, which tells us that South Asia was part of a unified urban growth. This supports the existence of cultural corridors for the exchange of ideas, artists, craftspeople, goods, and faith. The notion that areas further out from the Ganges were slightly slower to develop is not the case.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86689c7e80680e067851jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1328" height="888"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The abandonment of this city marks a point in which it changed from deep conglomeration of communities within walls of a city to a more dispersed de-urbanisation. This corresponds to most settlements during the early historic period where city forms were lost, leading to feudalism.To try to bring Kapilvastu-Tilaurakot alive through geophysical surveys in the absence of large excavation sites is a significant challenge. Archaeological interpretation is moving away from that view of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6366#.YKzGMC2B0b0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kapilvastu</a> as a city of opulence to an understanding that in the early historic period, this was one of the most developed cities, but it was a place with timber fences and thatched roofs, and mud roads.It is always a privilege when you see Buddhist pilgrims surrounding an excavation trench, and witness their devotion. This gives us a responsibility to ensure that sites like this are protected and interpreted.Robin Coningham is a British archaeologist and academic, who led the excavation of the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini. He is the author of The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c6, 500BCE-200CE. From an interview with Kanak Mani Dixit in Sago Samaj tv magazine program.

Where Siddhartha Gautam walked

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cc9f99c7e80680e08bb3ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="5472" height="3648"/><figcaption>All photos: RAJENDRA SUWAL/WWF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>The region around Lumbini is an important wildlife habitat, but is facing an imminent threat because of increases in industrial pollution, urbanisation and mechanised farming.A <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666/">World Heritage Site</a> associated with Lord Buddha, Lumbini has a diversity of farm-dependent biodiversity and is designated as an important <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/farmlands-in-lumbini-area-iba-nepal">Bird Area</a> by Bird Life International. The fields and river channels provide an important habitat for many species and serve as a corridor for animal movement.The farms are studded with oxbow lakes formed by Tarai rivers such as Danob, Tinau, Kothi and Telar which overflow into floodplains during the monsoon, but are mostly dry rest of the year. These lakes are important wetland habitats for many species of birds, amphibians, turtles, snakes and mammals, such as the Blue Bull antelopes.Sarus Cranes, known as monogamous birds, hold a unique place among all other species in Lumbini, owing to their legendary connection with Lord Buddha when he was Prince Siddhartha of the Kingdom of Kapilvastu.Siddhartha Gautam is supposed to have rescued a wounded crane and saved it from his cousin Devdatta. Many historic images show the Buddha in the presence of the crane, and ornithologists believe this non-migratory species has been living in the Nepal Tarai for over two millennia. In a statement that becomes the aphorism for modern day conservation, King Suddodhan then declared that the bird belonged to the one who saved its life.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepals-flyway-for-migrating-cranes/">Sarus Crane</a> has become symbolic of an ancient culture that valued all forms of life and its deep connection to it. Also regarded as ‘Siwan ka Raja” meaning ‘Royals of the Wetlands’, the tallest of flying birds, Sarus Cranes hold a special relationship with the farmers of Lumbini as their presence in the paddy fields is believed to be indicative of healthy wetlands, a harbinger of good crops. The birds are protected by the community and have been named the mascot by the <a href="https://lumbinisanskritikmun.gov.np/">Lumbini Cultural Municipality</a>.Much like the Sarus Cranes, Kala Namak (black salt rice) holds unique allure for its association with Prince Siddhartha. Also known as ‘Buddha’s rice’, the crop holds a cultural significance to the people of Kapilvastu who consider it a holy gift. After his enlightenment, Buddha is said to have distributed black rice to his people as a gift and a mark of homage.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cc9fd9c7e80680e08bb3fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="125"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cc9fe9c7e80680e08bb40jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3648" height="2432">The fields where the black rice grows also serve as a foraging habitat for Sarus Cranes and their chicks in the post monsoon season. However, fast-growing hybrid rice varieties have almost completely replaced them in recent times, with only a few farmers continuing to grow the fabled paddy.Driven by this spiritual link, Lumbini has taken strides in protecting critical species and their farm habitats. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/proposed-change-to-lumbini-masterplan-threat-to-Sarus,4090">Lumbini Crane Sanctuary</a> was set up by <a href="https://www.savingcranes.org/">International Crane Foundation</a> in the early 90s, which doubles up as an outdoor nature education centre. The refuge was built to showcase model wetland habitats for nesting cranes.In 2010, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal joined the conservation effort by partnering with Lumbini Development Trust. The collaboration began with an initial goal of planting one million trees under the Green Lumbini Initiative. Over the years, WWF Nepal has expanded its scope of work and partnerships to conserve and protect <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/shooting-sarus/">Sarus Cranes</a> and their habitats.The <a href="http://lumbinidevtrust.gov.np/">Lumbini Development Trust</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/himalayan-ecosystem-is-important-for-sarus/">International Crane Foundation</a>, Lumbini Cultural Municipality and <a href="http://gyl.org.np/">local youths</a> are currently partners of the WWF in actively working to conserve Sarus Cranes and promote Kala Namak rice with tree planting, building levees to store rainwater and forming eco-clubs to generate awareness on crane conservation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cca019c7e80680e08bb41jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2863" height="1336"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There is a sense of urgency to this work because Lumbini’s wetlands are increasingly threatened by pollutants, land encroachment, proliferation of industries, siltation, invasive vegetation and pesticide and fertiliser use.Mechanical harvest of rice and wheat also deprive Sarus Cranes and other birds from their food source. New highways, transmission lines and mobile towers have also endanger the remaining Sarus Cranes and other large birds.Urban expansion, unmanaged effluent, sewage and garbage are polluting water sources, and affecting biodiversity in the wetlands. Globally, <a href="https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-US/freshwater">freshwater biodiversity decline</a> is happening at an alarming rate of 84% average since 1970.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cca059c7e80680e08bb42jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="737"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>However, there is still hope to reverse this loss, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lumbinis-unholy-mess/">protect Lumbini’s wetlands</a> and prevent the birds becoming extinct. The Nepal Government needs to make a stronger commitment to protect, restore and manage existing wetlands.It would be crucial to promote stronger community stewardship towards conservation of wetlands and Sarus Cranes, alongside promoting organic farming, reducing use of harmful pesticides and mobilising youth in the conservation efforts.As we embrace the theme of World Wetland Day 2021, we must pledge to protect and value water and wetlands. Sarus Cranes represent a lifetime of partnership, and these large, elegant, birds are our messengers for how we all need to work together to save them.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cca089c7e80680e08bb43jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="91"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepals-flyway-for-migrating-cranes/">R</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepals-flyway-for-migrating-cranes/">ajendra N Suwal</a> is the Head of Partnerships Development at WWF Nepal.

Protecting Lumbini’s rare cranes

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b703f9c7e80680e06006ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="570"/>On new year’s day, President Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/make-sure-you-visit-nepal-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Nepal Year 2020</a>, aimed at attracting <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-in-two-miilion-tourists,3551" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2 million tourists</a> this year, at a lavish show in Kathmandu’s main stadium with fireworks and a flypast of military helicopters.There was only one thing wrong with the event: it was in Kathmandu and not in the countries from which it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chinese-tourist-influx-to-nepal-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trying to attract visitors</a>. The money would have been better spent on targeted promotion in selected countries.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=38885&amp;preview_nonce=4d8ff09bce&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Long road back to Shangrila</a>, Mukesh PokhrelIt might have been an even better idea to spend the money <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/kathmandu-airport-is-nepal-in-a-microcosm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sprucing up Kathmandu airport</a>, fixing the roads, and cleaning up a once-beautiful Valley that has become an ulcer — before bothering to convince visitors to come.All seven provinces inaugurated the campaign with much fanfare. The parades were performed by Nepalis and the spectators were Nepalis. How does that help bring more tourists to Nepal?Well-intentioned it may be, but the entire Visit Nepal campaign has been mediocre and sloppy every step of the way — planned and executed by people without imagination or knowledge about the tourism industry.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chinese-tourist-influx-to-nepal-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese tourist influx to Nepal in 2020</a>, Josie Wang<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/make-sure-you-visit-nepal-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Make sure visit Nepal in 2020</a>, Anil ChitrakarThe travel industry is generally unenthusiastic, and it is understandable why:<ul><li>There has been insufficient preparation in the countries we should have prioritised for promotion</li> <li>Publicity and marketing should have started at least two years ago, not on January 1.</li> <li>The Ministry of Tourism has shown utter fecklessness by asking ambassadors to send senior ministers for the 1 January event in Kathmandu. (Why would anyone spoil a new year’s holiday and travel all the way at such short notice?)</li> <li><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/unusual-appointment-extraordinary-tasks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minister of Tourism Yogesh Bhattarai</a> travelled to Australia to launch the campaign in the middle of a national fire emergency.</li> <li>Bhattarai then announced that Nepali workers travelling abroad would mandatorily have to wear Visit Nepal caps and t-shirts. Everyone ignored this edict.</li> <li>Nepal Tourism Board lost its chief at the start of VNY 2020.</li> <li>There should be a revenue target, not a target of 2 million visitors.</li> <li>The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only aerial gateway to Nepal is a disgrace</a>. It seems purpose-built for maximum inconvenience, with an incomprehensible visa-on-arrival process and an excruciating queue at the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/metal-free-ass/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘metal free’ x-ray</a>.</li> <li>Nepal sells itself for cheap, but it is an expensive destination to get to mainly because of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/high-cost-lays-aviation-low-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high cost of aviation fuel</a> which airlines are compelled to pass on to passengers.</li></ul>The miracle is that despite everything we do to dissuade them, visitors still come to Nepal. The country has such high brand equity that even though we have done everything to wreck it with all the squalour and decrepitude in Kathmandu and our Byzantine bureaucracy, tourists still come.We have even destroyed the countryside with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/new-high-way-to-dolpo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">haphazard road-construction along popular trekking routes</a> —  treacherous passages that even the bravest fear to tread.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pokhara: Nepal's new aviation gateway</a>, Kunda DixitInstead of promoting Nepal within Nepal, the government should mark Visit Nepal 2020 by cleaning up Nepal in 2020. The trekking trails need to be preserved and cleared of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/a-plastic-republic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic garbage</a>, it has to be convenient and safe to get to the hinterland, and visitors should be encouraged to spend their money where it is needed the most — in the villages through which they hike.There is the idea that only Kathmandu, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/">Pokhara</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lumbini</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-many-tigers-in-nepal/">Chitwan</a> are Nepal’s tourist attractions. There is  fundamental ignorance among policymakers about what a tourist is looking for in Nepal — they do not come here to be extorted every step of the way with two-tier pricing for tickets for museums to domestic airlines.In the past, the Maoist insurgency, a decade of political instability with frequent shutdowns (hotel vans still carry ‘Tourist Only’ on windshields as a relic from that era), the earthquake and the Blockade could have been blamed for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/tourism-is-down-but-not-out-in-nepal,2262" target="_blank" rel="noopener">low visitor numbers</a>. We have no more excuses. Nepal now is a vibrant democracy with a strong government.Publicity within the country for Visit Nepal 2020 must be channeled to making people aware about cleanliness, maintaining infrastructure, reducing bureaucratic red tape, and streamlining procedures to make visitors’ stay as convenient as possible by treating them really as gods, not as wallets.Only then will tourism once again be a strong pillar of the economy. The industry that once contributed 22% to the national GDP now contributes only 4%. Tourism income can help Nepal redress it growing trade gap.Nepal’s location is ideal for tourism. We need to expand the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/keeping-nepal-airlines-airworthy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">country’s national airline</a>, spread its network and rebuild the Nepal brand.<h2>10 years ago this week</h2>The Nepali Times edition of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/484" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#484</a> from 8-14 January 2010 ten years ago was full of revelation of a fallout between Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai. Even the Ass made fun of it. But this paragraph from Prashant Jha’s column, Plain Speaking said it all:Nepal may still have been stuck in a bloody conflict but for Dr Baburam Bhattarai and his emphasis on democratic republicanism. The ongoing attempts to marginalise him within the Maoists reveal much about the balance of power and how counterproductive it could be for the peace and constitution-writing process.By snubbing Bhattarai and his ‘line’ again - as Prachanda did by depriving him of the deputy prime ministership in August 2008 and incorporating Kiran’s views at Kharipati two months later - the Maoists run the risk of undermining their achievements, repeating the mistakes of their 20th century communist counterparts, and failing.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b70429c7e80680e06006bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="324" height="500">...

THE NEPAL BRAND

<img width="1500" height="886" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a678d9c7e80680e0599e3jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>For<ol><li>Kathmandu airport is congested and saturated. It is now surrounded by the city and is not safe. Nepal urgently needs an alternative international airport.</li><li>Kathmandu is one-way-in, one-way-out for large jets. Planes have to circle for hours to land in Kathmandu, because poor visibility forces domestic flights to also line up for instrument approach. Nijgad would solve that problem and ease congestion.</li><li>Kathmandu airport is at 1,338m elevation. This forces load penalty on large jets, which cannot carry full passenger and fuel load at takeoff.</li><li>Steep terrain makes Kathmandu dangerous and unsuitable for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach. Nijgad is located in the plains 15-30km away from the Chure and Mahabharat ranges.</li><li>Nijgad lies along the proposed Himalaya 2 air route over Nepal, which will shorten flying distance between west and east Asia, and reduce congestion along north Indian air corridors. Having an airport on that route would improve safety.</li><li>Nijgad can be a prime ‘hub’ airport like Singapore, Dubai or Istanbul, which airlines can use for refuelling and stopovers. Nepal Airlines can pick up transit traffic, and thus prop up the country’s tourism.</li><li>International experts looked at Simara, Janakpur and other sites for a new international airport, and selected Nijgad because of its proximity to Kathmandu, terrain, distance to the Indian border and other factors.</li><li>Nijgad’s catchment area will include northern Bihar, and Indian nationals in that area will find it more convenient to take international flights from there.</li><li>Nijgad is located 30-40km from the Indian border, allowing planes to make approaches over Nepali territory.</li><li>The environment impact assessment (EIA) of Nijgad by the Department of Forests and Environment gave it a clean chit.</li><li>As a national pride project, Nijgad will transform Nepal’s economy in the coming decades, acting as a catalyst for employment and downstream services.</li><li>It is not true that 2.5 million trees will be cut for the airport. In the first phase, only 195,000 big trees and 575,000 small ones will be felled. For every tree cut, 25 more will be planted.</li><li>Nijgad is the most suitable site for an alternative airport because fewer people will be displaced, reducing the cost of compensation.</li><li>You cannot have an omelet without breaking eggs. You cannot have development without lopping off a few trees.</li><li>Tree-hugging activists sabotaged Arun III for a few butterflies, and now they want to sabotage Nijgad for a few elephants which can always find another way.</li></ol>Against<ol><li>The existing Kathmandu airport is already handling 7.3 million passengers per year. It can accommodate 10 million if properly managed and with simple upgrades. A three-phase, $240 million ADB-funded upgrade has been allowed to lapse to make Nijgad a fait accompli.</li><li>Extending existing taxiways to thresholds of RWY02 and 20 would streamline takeoffs and landings. Moving most short takeoff and landing (STOL) traffic to Ramechhap, or rehabilitating the old RWY34-16 for small planes, would reduce congestion and increase passenger capacity.</li><li>The proposed 300m extension of RWY02 would have solved that problem. Low fuel burn on new generation aircraft like the Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 would make long-haul flights possible.</li><li>Radar installations at Kathmandu and Bhattedanda have improved safety. Most international airlines flying into Kathmandu use the new RNAV approach, which is superior to ILS.</li><li>Himalaya 2 was first proposed in 2005, it is not yet operational. Even if it was, Nijgad would just be a waypoint on that air way. There are plenty of other airports within 15 minutes flying time in India for emergency landings.</li><li>The ‘hub’ model is now obsolete. International aviation has moved to the ‘point-to-point’ model because advances in technology allow longer-range planes. Besides, Nepal Airlines is not Emirates.</li><li>Nijgad is 80km from Kathmandu city centre. Even with the new expressway, passengers will incur additional travel time. Passengers catching a 8PM flight from Nijgad will have to leave Kathmandu latest at 3PM because of traffic.</li><li>But why would Indians want to go through Nepali customs and immigration?</li><li>Top of Descent (ToD) for planes flying at 36,000ft is 150km away from a destination. Nijgad would still require flights to coordinate with Indian air traffic control.</li><li>The EIA was a greenwash, and hurriedly copy-pasted from a hydropower project in Dolakha, according to a report in Kantipur.</li><li>Nijgad is not an airport project but a logging concession. A corrupt state that cannot even upgrade the Nagarkot road in 5 years has no right to take on a $6.5-billion project.</li><li>Nijgad is the last remaining native hardwood forest in the eastern Tarai. It is on the migratory route of wild elephants and is a critical corridor for other wildlife. This forest is unique and irreplaceable.</li><li>A valuable nature sanctuary will be destroyed, this has a cost. Simara airport 10km away can be expanded to accommodate 2 east-west runways without much logging.</li><li>It is not necessary to clear 80sqkm of forest and prevent 22,500 tons of carbon from being sequestered every year. There are alternatives.</li><li>The main argument against Nijgad is not environmental, although protecting wild elephants is important. It is an economic argument against a white elephant.</li></ol>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Does Nepal need a 4th international airport?</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/chaos-at-airport-due-to-runway-repair/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chaos at airport due to runway repair</a>, Sharad Ojha<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pokhara: Nepal’s new aviation gateway</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/sick-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sick airport</a>, Dipak Gyawali

15 points for and against Nijgad Airport

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a60809c7e80680e056e83jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>President Bidya Devi Bhandari concluded her four-day state visit to Burma on 19 October by inaugurating an exhibition on Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage Property, in Yangon’s iconic Shwedagon Pagoda. Nepali foreign minister Predeep Gyawali and Burma's Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko were also present at the event.The exhibition titled ‘Lumbini, Where I was Born’ brings glimpses of the Buddha’s birthplace to the Burmese audience and showcases Buddhist archaeological sites of importance.“It is a great honour to organise an exhibition in Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred site in Burma, holding relics of the four previous Buddhas of this era,” said Vice Chair Ven Metteyya Sakyaputta of the Lumbini Development Trust. “Given that three of the past four Buddhas were born in present day Nepal, as recorded by Emperor Asoka’s pillars, there perhaps could not be more ideal venue than this iconic gilded stupa area to showcase Lumbini and the surrounding sacred sites.”The exhibit particularly highlights the pivotal role of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U Thant</a>, the then Burmese Secretary General of the United Nations, in the development of Lumbini. When Thant first visited Lumbini in 1967, he was moved to tears and was determined to turn the nativity site into an international centre for peace.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-right-path/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right path</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U Thant, Kenzo Tange and the Buddha's birthplace</a>, Kunda DixitPlans were drawn, a design was developed and approved, and funds set up. But over the years the masterplan languished due to corruption, poor governance and conflict in Nepal. Now, Thant’s grand vision is finally coming true after 40 years.“Lumbini is not just the birthplace of the Buddha, it is the birthplace of far reaching universal ideas such as tolerance, compassion and peace. In a world ridden with conflict and disillusionment, the universality of the Buddha’s message is even more relevant today,” said Sumnina Udas, founding director of the Lumbini Museum.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a60839c7e80680e056e84jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a60869c7e80680e056e85jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a608a9c7e80680e056e86jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a608d9c7e80680e056e87jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a60919c7e80680e056e88jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a60959c7e80680e056e89jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a60999c7e80680e056e8ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a609c9c7e80680e056e8bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141156/636a609f9c7e80680e056e8cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The exhibition will run until 30th October. It is organised by the Lumbini Development Trust, Nepal as part of the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign and curated by the Lumbini Museum and UNESCO Chair from Durham University.Photos by Zwe Nyi Htet

Lumbini Museum exhibition in Burma

Born in Khandbari in eastern Nepal, Parashuram Pathak helped his family around the farm, sold what they grew in the market and lent a hand in the kitchen.&nbsp; After working as a chef in Dubai, San Francisco, Denmark, Australia, and on cruise ships, Pathak has now brought back what he has learnt to the Tusa Restaurant in Bhaktapur that opened on Nepali New Year on 13 April. Tusa uses fresh indigenous ingredients from various parts of Nepal, and fuses them with international methods to produce unique dishes. Pathak is a global Nepali, and is introducing global Nepali cuisine to his homeland. Pathak left an executive chef job to intern at three-Michelin-starred Noma in Denmark, named the best restaurant in the world five times. Noma runs on a philosophy of foraging to rediscover wild local ingredients, and Tusa’s mission is similarly noble: preparing dishes with Nepali ingredients using modern techniques and equipment. “We are taking Nepali food beyond dal-bhat and momo, we are taking it international,” Pathak said on the phone from Sydney. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-baker-rises-to-the-top-in-denmark">Denmark’s best baker is a Nepali</a>, Vishad Onta  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a" data-rendition-name="original" width="801" height="802" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photo: PARASHURAM PATHAK/FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  Pathak’s team in Nepal includes chefs Rupesh Bohara and Sagar Shrestha who have also worked extensively in Dubai and Australia, and share his vision. The three realised they shared the same dream, and over the past five years have travelled across Nepal to research their menu, collecting ingredients and ideas from homestays, food carts, and nature. The team then scouted for Nepal’s best architect, and zeroed in on Bhaktapur-based heritage conservationist Rabindra Puri who designed the Malla-era house for Tusa in the Nag Pokhari neighbourhood. Bohara and Shrestha have moved back to Nepal for good, and Pathak arrives in September. “I made dishes from all over the world, but when someone asked what Nepali food was like, I had no answer,” says Bohara, “I came back to find out.” &nbsp;“You can get citizenship, a green card, big houses and cars, but where is the self-satisfaction?” asks Shrestha, who has a red-and-blue chef’s knife with the sun and moon of the Nepali flag tattooed on his right forearm.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries/the-return-of-a-master-baker"> The return of a master baker</a>, Raju Pakhrin  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d" data-rendition-name="original" width="6000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photos: TUSA</figcaption> </figure>  Bohara and Shrestha passionately recount stories of their trips across Nepal, speaking of generous lodge owners who introduced them to local ingredients. Tusa can seat 28, and dining here is a sensory experience with a live kitchen. The chefs cook and place dishes on a large granite countertop with induction sections built in. Behind the counter is a grill on an indoor fire with pulley control to adjust the fire. Everything that can be made in Nepal — chairs and tables, ceramic dishes, the grill — is locally sourced. The executive kitchen/laboratory is downstairs. It is spacious, spotless, and contains appliances rarely seen in restaurants here: a sous vide machine that cooks vacuum-sealed packets at consistent temperatures, and a dehydrator for sisnu nettles. A fresh batch of deep purple kimbu (mulberry) muffins has just come out of the oven. Fridges have dry-aged fish and marigold kombucha. Fermentation seems to be the theme at Tusa, and Pathak explained: “Fermentation takes away the natural sugars in food, leaving behind a true, umami taste.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/vikings-khukri-passion">Viking's khukri passion</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89" data-rendition-name="original" width="5895" height="3930" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> </figure>  Tusa itself means ‘shoot’ in Nepali, and can be a dish of fermented bamboo shoots. The restaurant serves a tasting menu with six courses, plus surprises. It starts with a fermented potato and millet roti with charred green garlic and tomato chutney. The bread tastes like a mix of alu paratha and kodoko roti with a satisfying, mild flavour. The chefs do not show off, and overdo it. Dishes are tastefully simple and faithful, a theme that runs through the meal. The second course is a filet of fish charred on one side and placed in a broth. It is delicate and smokey, and does not mask the character of the fish.&nbsp; The next is Batuk Chukauni, a Magar dish with a lentil snack and a yoghurt-based potato achar. The batuk, made of lentil batter, is light and the chukauni has potatoes and peas. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/money-is-not-everything-but-you-need-money-for-everything">"Money is not everything, but you need money for everything"</a>, Rohit Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Batuk Chukauni. Photo: VISHAD ONTA</figcaption> </figure>  Next is a skewer of jackfruit with a tamarind and mustard glaze that has the texture of a slice of sausage and melts in the mouth. Then comes the first off-menu item: a steak of watermelon, glazed and grilled, tasting sweet, sour and smokey. After that a palate cleanser sorbet made with laligurans syrup adorned with a frozen candied rhododendron petal. Finally the main course: barbeque chicken and chyakla coarse corn grits. The chicken has been brined, marinated, cooked sous-vide and seared on the grill. The delicate consistency of the chicken stands out. Desert is a smooth, creamy cheesecake that uses the local juju-dhau yoghurt. And the last course is a moist, moss-green sisnu cake laced with mulberry jam and cream.&nbsp; There is nothing gimmicky about Tusa. It is the coming together of skilled Nepalis with international exposure who have mixed what they have learnt abroad with the flavours of home.&nbsp; The tasting menu is Rs3,500, and it may take some time before Nepalis develop a predilection for some of its items. The chefs are excited, vindicated, and relieved. Coming back to Nepal, uprooting successful careers abroad to take a chance on Nepal must not have been easy.&nbsp; Tusa had a soft launch on New Year’s day with Kathmandu-based diplomats. Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk was one of them, and wrote on a Facebook post: ‘Chefs who honed their skills in Australia and returned to Nepal to give back. We call it fine dining, they call it #cominghome.’ Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-baker-of-barpak">The baker of Barpak</a>, Tara Aryal Pandey

The return of the natives

For a year or two after the 25 April 2015 earthquake, the residents of Kathmandu were too terrified to return to their high-rise apartments. None of them collapsed in the 7.8 disaster, but many sustained serious structural damage. &nbsp;
Fast forward nine years, and they have all but forgotten that frightful day. Kathmandu is back to building substandard structures, even as land prices drive developers to build taller.&nbsp;
With no more space to spread horizontally, Kathmandu is going vertical. But structural engineers say most of the high rises do not take into account seismicity, soil condition, construction methods, quality of raw materials, fire hazard, and search and rescue in collapsed concrete structures.
“Much of our focus since the 2015 earthquake has been on building and construction, but not as much on where we are building,” warns Sangeeta Singh, Professor of Urban Planning and Deputy Director of Centre for Disaster Studies at the Institute of Engineering.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale
She adds: “Kathmandu is not really suited for high-rises. We have to first test the condition of the soil, but building permits are being issued without this fundamental step.”
Kathmandu Valley is a former lakebed with soft topsoil prone to liquefaction and excessive shaking, as seen during the 1934 megaquake. Many ruptures tore up the surface in 2015. &nbsp;
During an earthquake, the rock layers below Kathmandu ring like a bell and the vibrations on the surface take between 0.5 to 2 seconds for one oscillation. Buildings also vibrate, but at different frequencies depending on their height, construction material, and arrangement of their structural components.
At five floors, the vibration period of a building is 0.5 seconds, which is the same as that for Kathmandu Valley, and this could cause more damage, says structural engineer Surya Narayan Shrestha at the National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET).
“Building anything that is five storeys or higher in Kathmandu needs special design and structural considerations,” says Shrestha.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/shaking-things-up">Shaking things up</a>, Editorial
Technologies exist to reduce seismic risk in high-rises, and these are used in earthquake-prone cities like Tokyo, Los Angeles, Jakarta or Mexico City.&nbsp;
Base isolation, for example, separates the vibration of the land and the building, reducing damage from soil-building resonance. Base isolators move and stretch under pressure, absorbing much of an earthquake's impact by reducing swaying and shaking. &nbsp;
Seismic dampers change the pattern of vibration altogether, dissipating energy as vibrations move across a structure. But these are all expensive technologies, and none of the high-rises in Kathmandu use them.
However, Nepali engineers who can help with technology transfer are working in the field in Nepal and overseas. Kathmandu’s high-rises are already very expensive, and making them seismic-resistant would be an incremental cost.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">Learning from Jajarkot what we didn't after 2015</a>, Sushil Gyewali
The shape of high-rises also matters. Reinforced concrete buildings with asymmetric designs of the kind that are seen in newer structures in Kathmandu experience more torsion and shear during quakes. High-rises with regular geometry are stronger. &nbsp;&nbsp;
An even bigger concern is that of emergency evacuation and rescue in case of fire or earthquake. Kathmandu fire services do not have ladders that reach the higher floors of most new structures.
“High-rises mean more people and potentially higher casualties,” explains Shrestha. “We need immediate evacuation routes, fire escapes, emergency ladders, and fire trucks that can reach higher. Right now, safety features are voluntary and not mandatory.”
The street access, shelters, open spaces, and evacuation routes are integral to disaster preparedness and the safety of neighbourhoods and not just buildings. Most new high-rises in Kathmandu have narrow access roads.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rebuilding-resilience-7-years-later">Rebuilding resilience 7 years later</a>, Anil Pokhrel
Since most of the buildings that survived the 2015 disaster were reinforced concrete structures, it fed the misconception that they are safer. But Himalayan seismologists say that if the intensity and duration of the shaking had been just a little higher, many substandard concrete structures would have collapsed.&nbsp;
And that is the final gap: Nepal’s limited expertise and equipment for search and rescue inside collapsed concrete structures. Kathmandu’s high-rises need to be better prepared for the next Big One.
“Structural safety and design were at the front and the centre after the 2015 earthquake, we also revised some building codes but we are back to square one with contractor-driven construction, especially in peri-urban areas,” says Sangeeta Singh, who is also with the National Planning Commission. “We need to monitor construction as much as design.”&nbsp;
Shrestha at NSET agrees there have been improvements in building practices in the past nine years, but adds, “We have both learnt and unlearnt lessons from 2015. The awareness hasn’t yet translated into action on safety.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu">Lessons not learned from 2015</a>, Sonia Awale

The rise of high-rises

Midway along the stretch of the ancient trade route between Tibet and India lies the Kel Tol neighbourhood. The name is derived from the original Koligrām, and it is believed the Koli people, who were originally from Rāmagrām in present-day southern Nepal near the Indian border, settled here. The Koli were the maternal ancestors of none other than the Buddha. Kel Tol is famous for the Buddhist monastic complex of Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar, featuring the majestic two-tiered gilded temple of the white god Karunāmaya.&nbsp; This elaborately decorated courtyard is a bustling centre of the Vajrayāna sect of Buddhism, practised widely by the indigenous Newā people of Kathmandu Valley. Karunāmaya, also known as Ārya Avalokiteshwor, is defined in great detail in the 1st century CE Buddhist text Sadharmapundarikā where he liberates all sentient beings from suffering. He helps rid the eight external fears metaphorically equated with their equivalent internal states of mind: lions (pride), wild elephants (ignorance), fire (anger), snakes (jealousy), floods (attachment), imprisonment (miserliness), thieves (wrong views) and cannibals (doubt).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1338" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  In the Pancha Rakshyā Sutra, a Buddhist scripture from 200 CE, Ārya Avalokiteshwor was counted among the eight major deities. Followers of the Brāhminical god Shiva worship Ārya Avalokiteshwor as Seto Machhindranāth. For Shaivites, Machhindranāth is the Indian saint who founded the Nāth cult in the 10th century CE. He is the guru of saint Gorakhnāth. During the reign of Yakshya Malla (1428–1482 CE), a beautiful image of Ārya Avalokiteshwor was dug up by a farmer in present-day Jamal, which was then a cultivated area outside the city. The farmer, known as a Jamami (meaning the one from Jamal) took the image home for safekeeping. That night, Ārya Avalokiteshwor appeared in the farmer’s dream and told him that the proper place for him to reside is at the confluence of two rivers. The nearest confluence was at present-day Wongha (Indrachok) and the image was installed in the Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar complex in Kel Tol near Wongha. This made it easier for city residents to pay homage to Ārya Avalokiteshwor and spread compassion. Soon, the deity came to be revered highly as Jamaleshwor, the one found in Jamal. Eventually, the name got corrupted, as happens often in Nepāl Bhāsā, to Janabahā Dyo. The courtyard where his temple is located is now popularly known as Janabahā.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The gilded temple of Janabahā Dyo, first built in the early 16th century CE, is adorned with wooden and metal artefacts that symbolise 108 forms of Ārya Avalokiteshwor. It stands out as the most decorated temple of its kind in Kathmandu. Today, Janabahā is a living heritage site where many ancient customs and rituals are widely practised as per Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition. Devotees throng the Janabahā Dyo shrine for daily worship and to receive Karunāmaya’s blessings. Being the compassionate one, Ārya Avalokiteshwor goes around town every year in his tall wooden chariot to allow sick and physically disabled devotees to pay homage to him from the comfort of their homes. One could say it is a door-to-door visit by the Compassionate One.&nbsp; For the pragmatic minded, the chariot festival is an annual renewal of communal harmony, validation of our ancient mathematical supremacy and demonstration of the need to keep practical skills alive, including the craft of building earthquake resilient houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The Janabahā Dyo chariot is pulled from Jamal, where his image was found by the farmer, through the historic heart of Kathmandu in a gala parade every year. The procession, accompanied by folk music ensembles and revellers, starts on the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, and lasts up to a week (ending on Saturday this year). Hundreds of devotees pull the chariot along the streets as a way of expressing their gratitude to lord Karunāmaya for blessing them with compassion and well-being. Purna Ratna Vajrāchārya is an ordained priest who belongs to the clan responsible for taking care of Janabahā Dyo. He has been studying the design and architecture of the chariot for the past 40 years, and overseeing its construction for the past 15. He has learnt that the engineering principles of building the chariot are based on the mathematical system in which Buddhism is taught. For example, 365 pieces of wood are used in the chariot, each representing a day of the year. Each of the four wheels consist of 25 pieces of wood, totalling 100, representing completeness or fulfilment. The chariot is vertically divided into 13 sections, a parallel to the Buddhist concept of Trayodashi Bhuvana that describes the 13 steps that one must take to achieve the state of Nirvana.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563" data-rendition-name="original" width="1668" height="2500" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  &nbsp;Exactly nine types of wood are used, which is the sum of the four base elements that make up the universe (earth, water, fire and air) and the five human senses. The height and length of the chariot is 32 arm’s length (hāt in Sanskrit), 14.8m. The number 32 represents the maximum number of auspicious and physical qualities one could possess to be considered an outstanding human being.&nbsp; Says Vajrācharya, “Observing how the chariot is built helps one learn the fundamental pillars of the Buddha’s teachings, and find an easier path to Nirvana.” The structural design of the nearly 15m wooden chariot is not only awe-inspiring but also gravity-defying. It leverages the pliancy of the materials used in its construction -- flexible joints tied with cane soaked in water for several days. The precise proportions of the chariot ensure great manoeuverability in the narrow streets along the route of the chariot procession that include some 90° bends, without colliding into houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="3750" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  Driving and steering the chariot with brute muscle power of the mirthful crowd is a seemingly impossible task. But this has been achieved year after year, despite the fact that the devotees who tug wildly at the ropes lassoed to the two front wheels, are most likely in high-spirits (pun intended). Sanjay Manandhar, a US-based technology entrepreneur, recounts how his high school physics teacher from Canada asked his students to go observe the locals build the chariots of Karunāmaya if they were interested in becoming engineers in the future.&nbsp; “That made no sense to me then, but, after all these decades, I now see clearly how the structural design of the chariot, adopted early on by our ancestors is full of earthquake-resilient properties that need to be applied in building houses in an earthquake-prone zone like Nepal,” says Manandhar. A highlight of the chariot festival is that human goddess Kumari makes an appearance at the final destination in Lagan, usually on the third day. This is only one of the 13 times that people get to see the Kumari outside her temple abode.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  On the last day of the festival (Saturday), the image of lord Karunāmaya is carried on a palanquin by priests from Janabahā in a gala procession and brought back to his permanent residence at the temple in Kel Tol.&nbsp; The chariot festival is thought to have started during the reign of King Pratap Malla of Kantipur in the 17th century CE. For close to four centuries, the construction of the chariot and its operation has proven to be a phenomenal engineering feat, and the people’s faith in divinity means the tradition is alive.&nbsp; The essence of the colourful rituals and the religious beliefs of this ancient chariot festival is now all but lost. The logic, technology and practicality must be brought back to light, as they reflect the high civilisation and wisdom of our ancestors that we can leverage in modern times and into the future. &nbsp; Alok Tuladhar is a culture and heritage documentarian.

Kathmandu’s gravity-defying chariot festival

"I shut down my poultry farm as the villagers did not buy fresh chicken from me,” sums up a Dalit farmer from Arghakhanchi district why he had to leave for work.&nbsp;
Most people can sell fresh meat in their villages and make a good profit but Dalits still cannot because people will not buy from them due to caste stigma. Dalits have no choice but to sell their poultry to outside suppliers for lower profits.&nbsp;
“Other hoteliers found out my caste and used it to push me out of competition. They informed my customers of my caste and discouraged them from staying at my hotel,” a Dalit hotelier shares.&nbsp;
The hotel was close to a medical school and had earned a good reputation among hospital visitors, at least until they discovered his caste.
As ‘higher’ caste customers stopped coming, he moved his hotel to the East-West highway, where customers, in a rush, do not have time to worry about the caste of the owner.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-looks-at-alternative-investments">Nepal looks at alternative investments</a>, Siddhant Raj Pandey
“They will knock me out of the business if they know my caste,” says a Dalit who owns a pipe manufacturing business in Western Tarai. He has been in the business for several years. Due to fear of ostracisation from non-Dalits who dominate the industry, he has erased his caste name from all his documents and uses a non-Dalit surname.&nbsp;
These three incidents illustrate deeply rooted caste barriers blocking Dalits from entering and thriving in business even as they make up 14% of Nepal’s 29 million population.
Yet, due to Nepal’s hierarchical caste system, Dalits continue to be looked down upon as ‘untouchable’ and of ‘lower’ rank, and non-Dalits, as per caste norms, do not eat food and beverage items touched by them.&nbsp;
In a 2018 Tribhuvan University study, even seven years after anti-caste discrimination laws were passed, 34% of Hill Dalits and 28% of Madhesi Dalits reported routinely facing caste-based discrimination.&nbsp;
Caste-based barriers obstruct Dalits from freely participating and thriving in business, yielding at least three distinct types of market and non-market barriers.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/success-in-nepal-means-not-having-to-work">Success in Nepal means not having to work</a>, Anil Chitrakar
First, caste bias means ‘higher’ caste groups avoid buying goods and services from Dalits, except for menial labour. In their 2019 book Good Economics for Hard Times, Nobel laureates in economics Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo show that social norms such as caste and patriarchy, and not just price, shape business decisions.&nbsp;
In Nepal’s case, ‘upper’ caste customers examine not only the price and quality of what they are buying but also the social value of goods and services.&nbsp;
Second, companies use caste norms to sideline Dalits out of competition. Development economists confirm that firms often deploy caste and ethnic discrimination to remove their competitors from the playing field.&nbsp;
Third, Nepal’s Dalits do not have easy access to resources such as land, capital, and networks that are usually a precondition to enter and thrive in business. Impoverished by decades of exclusion and discrimination, Dalits do not have collateral for loans. They face social stigma and stereotypes and do not get access to idea-and-trust-based loans.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/invest-in-investment">Invest in investment</a>, Nepali Times
As a result, they are forced to get by with low capital and higher interest rates. Dalits also do not have strong business networks, nor do they have access to the social spaces where business decisions are made. They do not have a strong community support system, which could compensate for low capital and weak policy networks.&nbsp;
These caste barriers not only block the entry of Dalits into business but also create market failures. Just like the Dalit hotelier in Bhairawa who was pushed out of the market, discriminatory practices allow only a few castes to dominate, forcing customers to buy in a market not governed by price and quality but by non-market measures. Eventually, such caste-based business practices create conditions for cartels and monopolies, blocking the free market.&nbsp;
Caste-biased business practices also yield inefficient resource allocation. Caste-based preferences in recruitment mean businesses are forced to draw from smaller talent pools, and Dalits miss out on opportunities for human development. Resources such as land and capital do not move across social groups, ultimately leading to unequal income distribution and lower economic growth.&nbsp;
Despite the challenges, Nepal is committed to ending discrimination in employment and business. In 1974, Nepal ratified the ILO Convention 111–Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958. In 2002, the country enacted the Bonded Labour (Prohibition) Act, formally ending forced labour such as Kamaiya, Haliya and Haruwa-Charuwa. In 2020, Nepal Rastra Bank issued a guidance note to encourage loans to Dalits of up to one million rupees on concessional interest rates.&nbsp;
While the commitments on paper have been swift, they have not led to tangible results. In 2023, the ILO Experts’ Committee called for Nepal to implement Convention 111 to address discrimination against Dalits and to promote their access to productive resources such as land and capital.
Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside">Caste Aside</a>, Nepali Times
Ahead of its upcoming graduation to middle-income country status in 2026, Nepal has prioritised private sector-led development, hoping to increase investment from domestic and international investors. The Nepal Investment Summit this weekend is designed to attract investments.&nbsp;
While these are welcome moves, Nepal should not miss the opportunity to free itself from barriers holding back the Dalit community. By unlocking Dalits from discrimination, Nepal can add to its human capital, ensure fair income distribution, increase resource allocation efficiency, and augment economic growth.&nbsp;
We need research on how caste-based discrimination has reinforced market failures. The business development capacity of Dalits needs to be enhanced by creating better access to information and business networks. Nepal’s macro and micro-economic policies should combat visible and invisible caste-based business barriers.&nbsp;
Monetary policies can grant Dalits access to non-collateralised finance at concessional interest rates, and tax exemptions can create a level playing field. Finally, there could be a policy guarantee that the government, as one of the largest buyers, purchases goods and services from Dalits.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/dalit-lives-must-matter">Dalit lives must matter</a>, Shristi Karki

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