Nepal has eight World Heritage sites and has won two Heritage Awards. One for the Medieval City of Bhaktapur and the other for The Dwarika's Hotel. The magnificence of The Dwarika's is its buildings of intricate carved wood and terracotta work that must have taken 10 million hours of the best craftsmen in Nepal. Every brick is handmade and every piece of wood work a centuries old original. But The Dwarika's is also about intimate luxury and the spirit and hospitality of the Nepali people. The spirit of a bygone era still echoes within its courtyards where a terracotta pillar: a first of its kind, stands proud, an example of superb craftsmanship. Dwarika Das Shrestha, the founder of The Dwarika's Hotel whose spirit and passion laid out the master plan of this unique place and who gave the best part of his life to build it, leading hundreds of the best builders and craftsmen.
Dwarika's Hotel is a unique place in South Asia. It is a living example that tourism need not destroy heritage and the environment. On the contrary, it has demonstrated that a proper blending of cultural restoration and tourism leads to the preservation of historical artifacts and contributes to the growth of skills and culture that would otherwise have eroded from the crass commercialism of today. It has shown that heritage can be preserved and be used for further preservation works. In fact, it could be the model to demonstrate what must be done to preserve the look of Kathmandu Valley - a stepping stone towards the larger and more gigantic task of rehabilitating the uniqueness and beauty of Kathmandu currently experiencing severe environmental stress of uncontrolled modernization.
In 1952, the late Dwarika Das Shrestha was out jogging when he came upon some carpenters sawing off the carved portion of an intricately engraved wooden pillar. It had been part of an old building which had been torn down to make room for a modern structure. Amidst the rubble, lay the bits and pieces of exquisitely carved woodwork several centuries old, ready to be carted off as firewood as the carpenters were merely trying to salvage reusable wood.
As he stood amidst the ruins, Dwarika Das Shrestha experienced all the anguish that a sensitive soul feels when witnessing the destruction of the sublime and the beautiful by wanton and crass commercialism of modern times. He was confronted with the visible signs of destruction of an ancient culture which still lived in him as part of his heritage. Kathmandu's Newari art and traditions have a rich legacy of exquisite wood carvings, distinctive temples, sculpture, bronze works, terra-cotta work and the unique lifestyle of its people itself. Seeing the beautiful carvings destroyed, he could not control himself. Out of sheer impulse, he gave the carpenters the new lumber that they required and took the old ruined carved pillar.
Nepal has eight World Heritage sites and has won two Heritage Awards. One for the Medieval City of Bhaktapur and the other for The Dwarika's Hotel. The magnificence of The Dwarika's is its buildings of intricate carved wood and terracotta work that must have taken 10 million hours of the best craftsmen in Nepal. Every brick is handmade and every piece of wood work a centuries old original. But The Dwarika's is also about intimate luxury and the spirit and hospitality of the Nepali people. The spirit of a bygone era still echoes within its courtyards where a terracotta pillar: a first of its kind, stands proud, an example of superb craftsmanship. Dwarika Das Shrestha, the founder of The Dwarika's Hotel whose spirit and passion laid out the master plan of this unique place and who gave the best part of his life to build it, leading hundreds of the best builders and craftsmen.
Dwarika's Hotel is a unique place in South Asia. It is a living example that tourism need not destroy heritage and the environment. On the contrary, it has demonstrated that a proper blending of cultural restoration and tourism leads to the preservation of historical artifacts and contributes to the growth of skills and culture that would otherwise have eroded from the crass commercialism of today. It has shown that heritage can be preserved and be used for further preservation works. In fact, it could be the model to demonstrate what must be done to preserve the look of Kathmandu Valley - a stepping stone towards the larger and more gigantic task of rehabilitating the uniqueness and beauty of Kathmandu currently experiencing severe environmental stress of uncontrolled modernization.
In 1952, the late Dwarika Das Shrestha was out jogging when he came upon some carpenters sawing off the carved portion of an intricately engraved wooden pillar. It had been part of an old building which had been torn down to make room for a modern structure. Amidst the rubble, lay the bits and pieces of exquisitely carved woodwork several centuries old, ready to be carted off as firewood as the carpenters were merely trying to salvage reusable wood.
As he stood amidst the ruins, Dwarika Das Shrestha experienced all the anguish that a sensitive soul feels when witnessing the destruction of the sublime and the beautiful by wanton and crass commercialism of modern times. He was confronted with the visible signs of destruction of an ancient culture which still lived in him as part of his heritage. Kathmandu's Newari art and traditions have a rich legacy of exquisite wood carvings, distinctive temples, sculpture, bronze works, terra-cotta work and the unique lifestyle of its people itself. Seeing the beautiful carvings destroyed, he could not control himself. Out of sheer impulse, he gave the carpenters the new lumber that they required and took the old ruined carved pillar.
This impulse, born from the inner anguish of his spirit, became progressively a hobby, a passion and a lifetime work. As soon as he heard that an ancient building was going to be torn down to make way for a modern structure, he would rush to the spot and buy as much of the ancient wood carvings as he could before they were sold as firewood or lost in other ways for ever. If he was able to buy only a part of an artistic work because other pieces had been lost or he did not have enough money, he would still do so and try to recover the missing parts later. Often he would discover their historic significance in the process. In one instance, he was able to trace and acquire a missing piece after twenty-five years.
As his collection grew, Dwarika Das Shrestha was faced with the problem of storing these bulky works of art which were scattered all over his garden in makeshift sheds. It was then he decided to construct a building in the old Newari style of Kathmandu using the carved doors and windows he had rescued from destruction. The edifice which was built to give the ancient works of art a new life is now one among several buildings of Dwarika's Village Hotel. These buildings contain some of the best woodworks of olden times restored to life and made to function for a modern age within the traditional architectural setting.
In the days to come, Dwarika's will create a foundation to take up the challenge of expanding its architectural heritage revival endeavor and will try its best to identify the priority private owned heritage and restore them with active participation of the owners. The terra-cotta designed bricks introduced to replace the expensive wooden artifacts will be brought for use extensively. This will motivate local people to use local materials and craftsmanship at much lower cost and make traditional building styles more accessible to the common man.
The training of young people into skills of carving will be gradually institutionalized to produce more and more young skilled craftsman who will have a inner feeling of our traditional heritage as they go out to work professionally. Another aspect of our foundation will be to hire school teachers and train them about the importance of architectural and cultural heritage and environment so that they could return to their schools to create awareness among the young students. Another aspect which the foundation will work on is to identify and restore architectural heritage of privately owned houses and create them into bed and breakfast guest houses. This way the owners will be encouraged to keep up the restoration work through the income generated from the bed and breakfast and the heritage will live on. Dwarika's hopes to be able to give a valuable contribution in the preservation and conservation of the architectural and the cultural heritage of Nepal which it sees as part of the World Heritage, as well as be an example for others to follow.This impulse, born from the inner anguish of his spirit, became progressively a hobby, a passion and a lifetime work. As soon as he heard that an ancient building was going to be torn down to make way for a modern structure, he would rush to the spot and buy as much of the ancient wood carvings as he could before they were sold as firewood or lost in other ways for ever. If he was able to buy only a part of an artistic work because other pieces had been lost or he did not have enough money, he would still do so and try to recover the missing parts later. Often he would discover their historic significance in the process. In one instance, he was able to trace and acquire a missing piece after twenty-five years.
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Nepal has eight World Heritage sites and has won two Heritage Awards. One for the Medieval City of Bhaktapur and the other for The Dwarika's Hotel. The magnificence of The Dwarika's is its buildings of intricate carved wood and terracotta work that must have taken 10 million hours of the best craftsmen in Nepal. Every brick is handmade and every piece of wood work a centuries old original. But The Dwarika's is also about intimate luxury and the spirit and hospitality of the Nepali people. The spirit of a bygone era still echoes within its courtyards where a terracotta pillar: a first of its kind, stands proud, an example of superb craftsmanship. Dwarika Das Shrestha, the founder of The Dwarika's Hotel whose spirit and passion laid out the master plan of this unique place and who gave the best part of his life to build it, leading hundreds of the best builders and craftsmen.
Nepal has eight World Heritage sites and has won two Heritage Awards. One for the Medieval City of Bhaktapur and the other for The Dwarika's Hotel. The magnificence of The Dwarika's is its buildings of intricate carved wood and terracotta work that must have taken 10 million hours of the best craftsmen in Nepal. Every brick is handmade and every piece of wood work a centuries old original. But The Dwarika's is also about intimate luxury and the spirit and hospitality of the Nepali people. The spirit of a bygone era still echoes within its courtyards where a terracotta pillar: a first of its kind, stands proud, an example of superb craftsmanship. Dwarika Das Shrestha, the founder of The Dwarika's Hotel whose spirit and passion laid out the master plan of this unique place and who gave the best part of his life to build it, leading hundreds of the best builders and craftsmen.
As his collection grew, Dwarika Das Shrestha was faced with the problem of storing these bulky works of art which were scattered all over his garden in makeshift sheds. It was then he decided to construct a building in the old Newari style of Kathmandu using the carved doors and windows he had rescued from destruction. The edifice which was built to give the ancient works of art a new life is now one among several buildings of Dwarika's Village Hotel. These buildings contain some of the best woodworks of olden times restored to life and made to function for a modern age within the traditional architectural setting.