Nepalese Wood Carving: The Roof Struts of Patan Darbar Square 1565 to 1735

In April 2015 an earthquake caused the considerable damage to the temples and palace on the Darbar Square in Patan, one of the three royal cities of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Among these were the Carnarayana (1565), Visvesvara (1627), Bhaidegah (1679), Bhimasena (1681), and Harisankhara(1709) temples, which are of paramount importance for the architectural history of the Newars, who shaped the urban culture of the valley. The Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, under whose stewardship the rebuilding, repair, and restoration took place from 2015 to 2022, took advantage of the unique opportunity to document 380 wooden roof struts. The struts were either recovered from the debris or photographed in situ from scaffolding. The large-scale images allow us to discover the carved details of the struts for the first time. The narrative scenes within the foliage at the top of the struts and the stories of the Mahabharata and the Puranas, featuring the deeds and adventures of Tarakaksasura, Bhimasena, and Sivasarma at the bottom, can now fully be viewed, understood and appreciated.