City
Patterns beneath Kathmandu’s historic squares
At Kasthamandap, the foundation plan has nine cells and another mandala beneath the Gorakhnath shrine. Durham’s fieldwork also recorded earlier structures at Hanuman Dhoka. At Taragaon Next, museum exhibitions draw on the Nepal Architecture Archive.
At a glance
A place worth remembering
A sacred plan in the foundations
Durham’s team recorded Kasthamandap’s foundations during excavations in 2015, after the earthquake. Cross-walls divide the base into nine cells, which the account reads as a mandala, with a second nine-celled mandala in the middle cell beneath the Gorakhnath shrine. The researchers say the plan was designed for structural resilience and also as a sacred depiction of the universe.[1]
Earlier building traces at Hanuman Dhoka
Durham’s team used ground-penetrating radar and targeted excavation to look beneath paved heritage squares. At Hanuman Dhoka it records earlier structures found next to and under Trailokiya Mohan Temple, and wall lines in the space separating Jagannath temple from Gopinath temple, and describes them as previously unknown subsurface heritage.[1]
An archive presented through changing exhibitions
Taragaon Next’s museum has nine galleries across three buildings and presents exhibition surveys of the Nepal Architecture Archive collection. A researcher chosen each year is invited to give the collection a new reading by curating a different exhibition.[2]
Good to know
A few clear answers before you explore.
How do Kasthamandap’s foundations form a mandala?
Cross-walls create nine cells, and the Durham account describes a second, nine-celled mandala in the middle cell beneath the Gorakhnath shrine.[1]
What do excavations reveal at Hanuman Dhoka?
Earlier structures were recorded around Trailokiya Mohan Temple, and wall lines were mapped in the area linking Jagannath and Gopinath.[1]
How does Taragaon Next use the Nepal Architecture Archive?
Each year the museum invites a chosen researcher to curate a different exhibition from its Nepal Architecture Archive collection, interpreting the material anew.[2]
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