Monumental mistake

The neglect of our historical monuments and artefacts will ultimately lead to an identity crisis.

Nepal is home to countless historically and culturally significant heritages, including temples, stupas, palaces, monuments, hitis and other age-old structures. UNESCO has acknowledged Kathmandu Valley, Lumbini, Chitwan National Park and Sagarmatha National Park as the World Heritage Site, and the country is preparing to have Tilaurakot —the capital of the ancient Shakya dynasty—in the list. However, preserving these invaluable sites has been a challenge. Many of Kathmandu’s heritages were reduced to rubble when a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015. A decade on, the crumbled heritages of the valley, many of which are yet to be restored, lay bare the apathy of our authorities. Even as post-earthquake reconstruction efforts have been carried out, they remain largely limited to the valley.