Dabali: An example of sustainable planning in traditional architecture in Kathmandu

Whenever there is a function, concert or meeting, a platform is built if required and is dismantled after completion of the work. But in old Newa settlements of the Kathmandu valley, such platforms are seen built permanently. It is called dabu or dabali in Nepal Bhasa, the community’s mother tongue.

These platforms are constructed in such a scientific manner that they are located in the middle of the settlements, where everyone can watch the programme that takes place on it. They stand as examples of sustainable planning in traditional architecture practised among the Newa people, the natives of Kathmandu.