HaP researcher Binita Magaiya presented a paper at the 2023 World Congress of Architects, which was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her paper examined various levels of community involvement in the reconstruction process of the iconic monument of Kasthamandap, which was destroyed in the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal.

About the presentation:

Kasthamandap is an iconic monument from which the city of Kathmandu derives its name and is located in Hanumandhoka Durbar Square World Heritage Zone. It collapsed to the ground in the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. After the mega earthquake hit Kathmandu and neighboring cities, the most affected were the monuments, mostly listed in the World Heritage Monument Zones. Once a cherished public structure, now into ruins, Kasthamandap attracted a dedicated community who advocated and faithfully restored it to its monumental glory. The state authorities divided the reconstruction works of national monuments into various funding nations. The most controversial was of Kasthamandap, which then led to large public outcry to protect the traditional building methods, materials and technologies, versus the modern. The indigenous knowledge, the supervision and restrictions, new academic understanding to the practiced oral traditions are explored in this paper. The overall sense of community and belongingness was heightened with massive activism against the prevalent lowest bidding system in heritage conservation, the retention of community pool, the assured integration of intangibles in tangible heritage making in this reconstruction project. This paper intends to bring out the community involvement in various stages of reconstruction of Kasthamandap, which was assured its true restoration value and purpose, also the nearest to the authentic restoration sought in modern times.