भक्तपुर, नेपालको सम्पदाको (पुन)निर्माण
नेपालको इतिहासकालमा बिभिन्न स्थलाहरुमा बिनासकरी भूकम्पहरु आए; सबैभन्दा नयाँ गोरखा भूकम्प २०१५ हो। पछिल्लो ५ वर्षमा, भुकम्पपछिका कृयाकलापहरु ढिलो र कठिन प्रकारले हुदैछ किनभने नेपालको भौगोलिक-राजनैतिक परदृश्य, पारिस्थितिकी र आर्थिक स्थिति नाजुक अवस्थामा छ। नेपालको जीवन्त सांस्कृतिक सम्पदा यस कृयामा प्रमुख भूमिका खेल्दछ, पर्यटकीय व्यवसायलाई मात्र नभई राष्ट्रिय र क्षेत्रीय मान्यताका लागि पनि। यहाँको काठमाडौं उपत्यका UNESCO विश्व सम्पदा क्षेत्रले अन्तर-राष्ट्रिय ध्यान पाएको छ। यो सम्पदा क्षेत्र हिन्दु र बौद्ध धर्मका विभिन्न तिर्थ स्थलहरु र मन्दिर परिषरहरुको संयोजन हो।(UNESCO WHC, 2007, 2017)
मेरो डक्टोरेट अनुसन्धानले भक्तपुर सहरको भुकम्पपछिका कृयाकलापहरुलाई हेर्दछ, जुन काठमाडौं उपत्यकाभन्दा थोरै किलोमिटर बाहिर पर्दछ। यो निबन्धमा मैले भक्तपुरको बाह्य पुनर्निमाण प्रकृया आधुनिक र सम्पदा प्रकृयाभन्दा अलग्ग छ भनी वर्णन गरेकि छु। किन्तु, पहिल्यै निर्माण भैसकेको सम्पदाको पुनर्निमाण गर्न विभिन्न विचारधारा र क्षेत्रहरु मार्फत् निर्धारण गरिन्छ। मैले यी सातवटा सम्पदा क्षेत्रमध्ये एउटा सम्पदा क्षेत्रको अनुसन्धान गरेकि छु- भक्तपुर दरबार क्षेत्र। दरबार क्षेत्र आफैमा निर्मित र खुल्ला स्थलको संयोजन हो, जहाँ ठुल्ठुला दरबारे परिषरहरु, मन्दिरहरु, शिखर शैलीका मन्दिरहरु, ढुङ्गे-धाराहरु, र पाटी-पौवाहरु छन्। मुख्य पर्यटकीय स्थल हुनको साथ-साथै दरवार क्षेत्र नागरिक र प्रशासनिक केन्द्रविन्दु हो, र यहाँका मानिसहरुको दैनिक व्यापार, अवकाश र धार्मिक जीवनको मुख्य क्षेत्र पनि हो।
Nepal’s history is punctuated with a series of devastating earthquakes; the most recent being the Gorkha Earthquake of 2015. In the past five years, post-disaster recovery has been slow and arduous because of Nepal’s geo-political landscape, ecology and economy. Nepal’s vibrant cultural heritage is central to the process of recovery, not only for its contributions to the tourism industry but also as a matter of national and regional identity. There has been sustained international focus on the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site, a series of seven ensembles of Hindu and Buddhist religious places and palatial complexes (UNESCO WHC, 2007, 2017).
My doctoral research looks at post-disaster reconstruction of the built heritage in the city of Bhaktapur located a few kilometres outside the capital Kathmandu. In this essay, I argue that the physical reconstruction of Bhaktapur’s built heritage goes beyond an exercise in modernity and heritage practice. Instead, reconstruction of the built heritage enacts multiple intents and agencies through the deployment of different forms of expertise and labour. I focus on one of the seven ensembles of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site—the Durbar Square—in Bhaktapur. The square itself is a series of built and open spaces in the centre of the historic core of city, with large palace buildings, tiered temples, shikhara (spire) style temples, water-bodies, platforms and rest-houses. Apart from being the central tourist attraction of the city, the Durbar Square functions as Bhaktapur’s civic and administrative core, and is at the heart of everyday commerce, leisure and religious life of most of its residents.
भक्तपुरका १३०वटा भन्दा बढी सम्पदा भवनहरु पुनर्निमाणका विभिन्न अवस्थामा छन्। यस्ता ठुला क्रियाकलापहरु भक्तपुर नगरपालिका र स्थानिय उपभोक्ता समितिबाट गठन गरिन्छ, जसले प्रत्येक पुनर्निमाण परियोजनालाई कार्यान्वयन र व्यवस्थापन गर्दछ। भक्तपुरमा पुनर्निर्माण कार्य जहाँपनि उत्सुकताबिहीन हुँदैछ। त्यसैले होला, थोरै भत्किएको वात्सला दुर्गा मन्दिरको पुनर्निर्माण कार्यले स्थानियभन्दा पर्यटकहरुको ध्यान आकर्षित गर्छ, जुन सन् २०१८ देखी पुनर्निर्मित हुँदैछ। यो मन्दिर दरबार क्षेत्रमा भएको वात्सला देवीको मन्दिरहरु मध्ये एक हो, एक प्रकारको हिन्दु देवी दुर्गा (स्लसर, १९८२)। पर्यटकहरु घर बनाउने र शिल्पकारहरुको फोटो खिच्छन्, जब स्थानीय मानिसहरु बनाउँदै गरेको ठाँउमा विचार गरी हेर्छन् वा सधैँझै मन्दिर दर्षण गर्दा भगवान्लाई ढोग्छन्।
वात्सला दुर्गा मन्दिर पछिल्लो सताब्दीमा मात्र पुनर्निर्माण भैसक्यो, पहिलो चोटी थोरै भत्किएको १९३४को नेपाल-विहार भुकम्प सङ्गै। त्यो समयमा यसको मर्मत नयाँ संविधान गठन भए-लगतै पुरातत्व विभागले त्यसबेलाको नेपाल सरकार अनुसार १९५० को दशकमा भएको थियो। त्यसको दुई दशक पछाडी, UNESCO(स्यानडे, १९७८) का सम्पदा विशेषग्यहरुको अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समूहले पछिल्ला पुनर्निर्माणहरु अपूरो भएको भन्दै मन्दिरको व्यापक पुनर्निर्माण गरियो, सिमेन्ट र अन्य रासायनिक वस्तुहरुको पनि प्रयोग गरियो ताकि मन्दिर बलियो र चुहावट-बिहीन होस्। यो प्रक्रियाले परम्परागत माटाका मिस्रणबाट छुट्कारा दिलायो। त्यतिनै बेला, यो मन्दिर आधिकारिक रुपमा सम्पदा स्मारक घोषित गरियो, र वास्तुकला र शिल्पकलाको अद्वितिय नमुनाको रुपमा वर्णन गरियो। २०१५ को भुकम्पीय क्षति लगत्तै वर्तमान अवस्थाको पुनर्निर्माणमा पनि मन्दिरको मजबुतीमा धेरै ध्यान दिइएको पाइन्छ, हरेक कुनामा काठको दलिनको प्रयोगले। १९३४ देखि नै यो मन्दिरको पुनर्निर्माण कार्य आधुनिकीकरणको नमुना हो, जहाँ हरेक प्राविधिक हस्तक्षेपमा मन्दिरको सम्पदाको मूल्यता बाढेको हुन्छ (बाइर्ने, २०१४), जसले यसको बाह्य अवस्था, सौन्दर्य र सामग्रीमा ध्यान राख्छ।
Over 130 listed heritage buildings are in various stages of reconstruction in Bhaktapur. This massive endeavour has been primarily undertaken by the Bhaktapur Municipality and is led by local consumer committees that oversee the implementation and management of individual reconstruction projects. Reconstruction has become a ubiquitous, almost mundane part of city life. This is perhaps why the partially fenced off Vatsala Durga Temple, one of the heritage landmarks undergoing reconstruction since 2018 that I studied, draws far more attention from tourists than residents going about their lives. This temple is one of three temples in the Durbar Square to be dedicated to Vatsala Devi, a form of the Hindu goddess Durga (Slusser, 1982). Tourists photograph the masons and stone carvers at work, navigating the maze of scaffolding, while most locals offer a perfunctory nod or a brief prayer to the partially reassembled temple on their daily rounds of the Durbar Square.
The Vatsala Durga Temple has been rebuilt three times in the last century alone, first following its partial collapse in the Great Nepal-Bihar Earthquake of 1934. At the time, its repair was undertaken by the newly constituted Department of Archaeology by the presiding Government of Nepal in the 1950s. Almost two decades later, an international team of heritage experts from UNESCO (Sanday, 1978) deemed its past repairs insufficient and carried out extensive restoration of the temple, using cement and chemical sealants to ensure that the temple was stronger and waterproof, replacing the traditional clay-based mortars. Around the same time, the temple was officially listed as a heritage monument, described as a unique example of architecture and craftsmanship in Nepal. Current plans for reconstruction, following its collapse in 2015 have focused once again on strengthening the temple, by the addition of concealed timber reinforcements to each of the corners. Each plan since 1934 for this temple’s reconstruction has been an exercise in modernity, where each technical intervention has assigned heritage status (Byrne, 2014) to the temple, focusing increasingly on its physical form, aesthetics and materials.
२०१५ को भूकम्प पश्चात् स्वयंसेवकको समूहद्वारा ढुङ्गे वस्तुहरु र मन्दिरका मूर्तिहरुलाई बचाउने र ठिक ठाँउमा राख्ने काम भयो। भगवानहरुलाई ठिक ठाँउमा राख्ने काम भएलग्गत्तै ढुङ्गाका दलिन र स्तम्भहरु यत्तिकै छोडियो। सोही वर्ष अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समूहका पुरातत्वविद्ले अरु सामग्रीहरु पनि बचाए ताकि मन्दिरको इतिहास पत्ता लगाउन सकून। त्यो पत्ता लगाएको सामग्री पुरातत्व विभागलाई हस्तान्तरण गरियो। स-साना थाहा नभएका सामानहरु निर्माण सामग्रीमै मिलावट गरियो वा फेरि अर्कै सामग्रीमा परिनत गरियो। यो काम विशेषत स्थानीय शिल्पकार कान्छा रन्जितकार र उनको समूहले हेर्छन्। रन्जितकार उमेरले ७० नाघिसके र उनको निर्माण कार्यमा ठुलो अनुभव छ, विशेषत भक्तपुर भित्र। उनको ढुङ्गा र ईट्टाका भवनमा अनुभव छ।
In the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake a team of local volunteers salvaged the stone elements and deities of the temple and stored them safely. While larger stone pieces, such as column shafts and beams were left in place, the deities were shifted to the nearby palace courtyard. More material was salvaged the following year, by a team of international archaeologists attempting to trace the material history of the temple. This material was handed over to the Department of Archaeology. Smaller unrecognisable pieces were ground back into dust for mortars or reshaped to be reused in different formats; this work has largely been undertaken on-site by a local craftsman Kaancha Ranjitkar and his team of workers. Ranjitkar is over seventy and has a long career in construction, mostly within Bhaktapur working on both stone and masonry buildings.
स्मारकको वस्तुगत मजबुतीकरणको रिपोर्टहरु भक्तपुर ख्वप कलेज अफ् ईन्जिनियरिङ्गका ईन्जिनियरका समुहले नगरपालिकाको समन्वयमा तयार पारे। रन्जितकार सम्झिन्छन्, एउटा नगरपालिकाको मानिसले यी रिपोर्ट र तथ्याङ्कहरु देखाएको, तर उनी ८ फिट लामो पोस्टर प्रयोग गर्न रुचाउछन्। उपभोक्ता समितिले पुनर्निर्माण कार्य हेर्न साईट-सुपरर्भाइजर राखेका छन् र उनीहरु बेलाबेला भेटी प्रत्येक पाईलामा के गर्ने भनी छलफल गर्दछन्। तर धेरैजसो अवस्थामा बनाउने र निर्देषण दिने मानिस छुट्टाछुट्टै काम गर्छन्। एउटा पुजारीलाई पुनर्निर्माण कार्य थालनीको मिति र पुनर्निर्माण कार्य गर्नुभन्दा पूर्व गरिने पूजा गर्न बोलाइयो। फल स्वरुप, यस पुनर्निर्माणले पछिल्ला हस्तक्षेपले जस्तै जिउफ बेलीले भनेजस्तै ‘अर्थको पलिम्प्सेस्ट’ उत्पादन गर्नेछ। उनका अनुसार, यस्ता पलिम्प्सेस्टलाई ‘ कुनै वस्तुको अर्थको पूर्ति—- विभिन्न प्रयोगको फलस्वरुप, प्रयोग र सघंको सन्दर्भहरु— निर्माण कालदेखि वर्तमान कालसम्मको अवस्था’ (पेज-२०८)। वात्सला दुर्गा मन्दिर, यसका देवीदेवताहरु, यसका खण्ड र पुरातत्वहरु, विभिन्न पुनर्निर्माणहरुबाट उब्जिएका अर्थहरुबाट, यसको वात्सला दुर्गा मन्दिर हुँदाको जीवन, यसको सम्पदा र पर्यटकीय महत्व हुँदाको जीवन र यसको दुई विनाशकारी भुकम्प पछीको लाभ र लचकको प्रतीक भनी पत्ता लगाउन सकिन्छ।
अहिलेको खुल्ला अवस्थामा, यस मन्दिरले नयाँ अर्थ र महत्वहरु दर्शाउँछ, एउटा सम्पदाको रुपमा, एउटा पवित्र स्थलको रुपमा, र एउटा निर्माण स्थलको रुपमा। उपभोक्ता समितिका सदस्यहरु, नगरपालिकाका कर्मचारीहरु, शिल्पकार तथा कामदारहरु मन्दिरको भित्री र बाहिरी रुपबाट अभारग्रस्त छन्, यो थाहा पाएर की यसमा क्स्यमा-पूजा हुनेछ। उनीहरुका लागि मन्दिर एक काम गर्ने थलो हो। स्थानीय बासिन्दालाई यो लाभ र गर्वको चिन्हो हो। दर्शन गर्नेको लागि यो मन्दिरनै रहन्छ, चाहे खुल्ला होस् वा मन्दिरकै आक्रितिमा होस्। पर्यटकका लागि यो प्रत्यक्स्य प्रदर्शन हो, भक्तपुरको पुरातात्विक समपदाको रुपमा र भुकम्प एक ऐतिहासिक घटनाको प्रत्यक्स्य सम्झनाको रुपमा।
Reports on structural strengthening were made by a team of engineers from Bhaktapur’s Khwopa College of Engineering working in tandem with the Municipality. Ranjitkar recalls someone from the Municipality showing him these reports and drawings among other documentations of the temple, but he has not kept any of these, preferring instead to use the 8 feet poster of the temple as his reference. The user committee have employed a site supervisor to monitor the reconstruction, and from time to time they meet to make decisions about material and labour for each stage. Often these decisions and the decisions of the people working on reconstruction are independent of each other. A priest was invited to pick an auspicious date for beginning reconstruction and carry out the consecration of the ground. In effect, this reconstruction, like past interventions will produce what archaeologist Geoff Bailey (2007) describes as a ‘palimpsest of meaning’. According to him, this type of palimpsest can be framed as a ‘succession of meanings acquired by particular objects… as a result of the different uses, contexts of use and associations…from the original moment of manufacture to their current resting place’ (p. 208). The Vatsala Durga Temple, its deities, its fragments and its archaeology, through multiple reconstructions have assimilated a series of meanings, from its life as a temple to goddess Vatsala, to its life as framed by heritage and tourism in Bhaktapur and its recurring afterlife following two catastrophic earthquakes symbolising recovery and resilience.
In its current state of disassembly, the temple continues to be assigned new meanings and values, as heritage, as sacred space and as a construction site. The consumer committee members, municipality officials, engineers, craftspersons and labourers regularly navigate the temple’s exteriors and interiors unencumbered, knowing that the temple will undergo re-consecration known as kshama puja once reconstruction is complete. For them the temple is a place of work. For many residents, it is a tangible sign of recovery and a matter of local pride. For worshippers, it continues to remain a temple, the fact that it is only partly standing does not feature as an encumbrance to daily worship. For tourists it is ongoing spectacle, both emblematic of the architectural heritage of Bhaktapur and a visible reminder of the earthquake as a historical event.
References
Bailey, G. (2007). Time perspectives, palimpsests and the archaeology of time. Journal of anthropological archaeology, 26(2), 198-223.
Byrne, D. (2014). Counterheritage: Critical Perspectives on Heritage Conservation in Asia. New York, NY Routledge.
Sanday, J. (1978). Building Conservation in Nepal: A Handbook of Principles and Techniques: Report (FMR/CC/CH/78/247). Paris: UNDP & UNESCO
Slusser, M. S. (1982). Nepal Mandala: A cultural study of the Kathmandu Valley (1 ed. Vol. I). Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press.
UNESCO WHC. (2007). Decision: 31 COM 7A.23, Kathmandu Valley (Nepal) (C 121 bis). Retrieved from Paris: https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/1289/
UNESCO WHC. (2017). Mission Report- Kathmandu Valley (Nepal) (C 121bis). Retrieved from Paris: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/121/documents/
Featured Image
चित्र १- भक्तपुर दरबार क्षेत्र, जनवरी २०२०.
Bhaktapur Durbar Square, January 2020. Photo by author.
Disclaimer: Translated into Nepali by Samriddhi Prajapati. Issues journal shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies or errors, both direct and indirect, in the translation. If any questions arise concerning the accuracy of the information presented by the translated version, please refer to the English content of the same.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51142/issues-journal-2-1-4
