Joint Survey on Preservation and Utilization of a Historic House in Kirtipur, Nepal, part 3
Aiming for the conservation of a historic house that faces the historic square in Old Kirtipur, a joint survey between Kirtipur Municipality and Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has been underway since 2023. During the dispatch of one staff member from TOBUNKEN from December 20 to 27, 2024, a workshop titled “Conservation of Historic Settlement in Kirtipur” was co-organized by the municipality and TOBUNKEN and held on December 26 to promote a common understanding for the preservation and utilization of the target house.
The workshop consisted of two sessions. In the morning session, a lecture regarding the “good practices of the preservation and utilization of a historic house in Nepal” was presented by staff from Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT), and the results of a survey of the target house were reported by the TOBUNKEN staff member and Nepalese experts of the research team. More than 50 participants attended the workshop, including the Kirtipur mayor, deputy mayor, ward chairperson, and the house owners and their family members. Both, local government and house owners’ sides expressed positive opinions towards the preservation and utilization of the house. In the afternoon session, 16 members from the owners’ family joined a brainstorming session to discuss various topics regarding their house, such as memories, emotions, the future surrounding the building, where they have spent long periods of their lifetimes over many generations, past and presents.
Although there is still long way to go before concluding the decisions on the actual implementation of the preservation, the workshop brought an opportunity to share the value of the historic house through dialogue, and seemed to push the related stakeholders to move one step forward to its preservation.
Additionally, a quick survey on the historic settlement of Khokana, which is on the World heritage tentative list, was also made during this mission. While most of the historic houses in the settlement were rebuilt after the Gorkha earthquake in 2015, a few historic houses remained in the central area that are said to have been built in 19th century. We had been consulted by locals regarding their preservation; however, unfortunately, one of the historic houses had collapsed during the previous September due to damage brought by heavy rain. Although it was a consolation that no-one was injured in the collapse, it is regrettable that such a valuable building, which had watched over Khokana for more than 100 years, was lost forever, and necessary support was not able to reach them when they were in need.