BOOK REVIEW: Beyond the stone spout: The forgotten science of Hiti Pranali

Padmasundar Joshi’s book explores the engineering and history of the traditional water system while arguing for its preservation through policy rather than nostalgia.

As distinctive as the hiti system is, it is equally complex. In ‘Hiti Pranali’, Padmasundar Joshi argues that, rather than simply referring to it as a ‘hiti’, the term used during the Licchavi period was ‘Hiti Pranali’. He says that adding Pranali captures the entire system of Hitis, rather than just reducing it to a spout. It is because they are not isolated structures but crucial elements of Nepal’s water system that once was the lifeline to numerous settlements.