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PATAN MUSEUM
The Transformation of a Royal Palace

Chapter 4: Preservation, Restoration, Reconstruction

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Earthquake 1934
Damaged roof of Keshav Narayan Chowk;
 Degutale Temple completely destroyed

The conservation of the palace compound had three aims: to repair all damage, while at the same time preserving the building from the future hazards of decay and destruction; to restore its historic design as far as possible; and to keep to a minimum all the changes and additions which were necessary for the building's new function as a museum.

Earthquakes and Water
On the technical side, most of the damage to historical buildings in Nepal results from water and earthquakes. Frequent and often devastating earthquakes have taken their toll here and this was also the case at Patan Darbar in 1934. Since modern conservation techniques were introduced in Nepal, it has become standard practice to reinforce historic masonry buildings with the help of hidden ring beams or concrete slabs, in order to protect them against seismic risks. This established practice was also followed in Patan.

The damage caused by water, whether in the form of rain seeping through leaking roofs and terraces or ground moisture rising in the masonry walls, is less catastrophic, but still constitutes a permanent risk of deterioration for structural.materials like timber and brick. To safeguard against this, appropriate modern techniques have been introduced, such as damp-proof barriers between foundations and walls, or the introduction of water repellent membranes under the traditional clay-and-tile roofs.

These technical aspects aside, it proved to be more difficult to deal with some of the theoretical aspects of conservation, particularly when it came down to the question of how much can be done with an old building: how far can one intervene without changing its historic fabric and so-called authenticity?

Authenticies and Conjecture
Since the palace's outward appearance had undergone considerable visual changes in recent times, one of the project's aims was to restore the principal elevation and the main courtyard to their original and historic design of 1734.

Restoration proved difficult in the case of the four facades of the main courtyard, because no drawings or photographs existed; also because restoration "should stop at the point where conjecture begins", which  is one of the tenets of the Charter of Venice that has determined international conservation principles since 1964. However, the Charter’s eurocentric position has since been challenged from the Asian standpoint.

More than thirty years ago, before there was a Department of Archaeology in Nepal, the Department of Road Construction was entrusted with the task of repairing the building and adapting it to function as a large school. It was at that time that the open balcony running around the whole courtyard received a vertical wooden safety grill from floor to roof height, the exposed bricks of the walls were covered in cement plaster with a false 'brick' rendering and the roofs were laid with modern factory tiles. All these changes had some practical value, yet were of little aesthetic or historical value.

It was not a hard decision to remove the layer of concrete plaster from the walls to reveal the old brick face underneath, or to replace the large industrial tiles with handmade traditional ones, which are easily available from demolition sites in Patan. However, with regard to the design of the balcony and to some of the more recently introduced doors and windows, one had to find out what was 'historically correct', by comparing similar structures from the same period–that is “by conjecture”. Since master craftsmen, long trained in this and other conservation projects, could reproduce the historical designs and adornments without difficulty, the front portion and the main courtyard of the palace now look very much like the way they did some 200 years ago, even if some of the elements and materials are no longer old and authentic.

The “contemporary stamp” of our time
It should be noted that no-one (whether locals or foreign experts) ever took issue with this conjectural approach, or seriously criticized it, even though international conservation guidelines (e.g. the Charter of Venice), and their ideological foundation in the theories of modern (i.e. western) architecture, unanimously condemn what is called "the falsification of historic evidence": no traditional design is allowed, if it cannot be proved to be authentic; each indispensable new component "must be distinct from the architectural composition and must bear a contemporary stamp". Applied thirty years later and in view of contemporary building in Nepal, this dogmatic rule may well have justified a balcony of aluminum and glass panels, and a galvanized tin roof.

Ironically enough, when this doctrine was actually complied with (in the case of the historically less important rear elevation, which dates from the 1930s), the intention was misunderstood by some, who considered it inappropriate to introduce clearly visible steel beams or roof trusses into such a historical setting. This proves that heritage conservation can become an ideological battlefield of beliefs and doctrines even in Nepal and the practitioners of this art are often attacked by the public and by other experts for being either too radical or far too conservative.

Adaptive Changes
Physical changes were necessary inside the historical building in order to adapt it to its new function as a museum. By changing and adding staircases, a more efficient circulation of visitors was achieved; non-bearing partition walls were removed, traditional mud floors were replaced with handmade terracotta tiles, and lime plaster was used on the walls instead of the old mud plaster, which is beautiful but too soft for the wear and tear of a museum.

West Wing

Keshav Narayan Chowk, principal elevation 1997

After the earthquake of 1934 (see pages 30 and 31) the two tower pavilions, and the top floor gallery in between them, had been repaired with little regard to their previous detail. During the second phase of the project (1986-1987), they were reconstructed to their original shape with the aid of pre-earthquake photographs.

The bell in the tower pavilion to the right, and the gilded figure of Hanuman on the ridge, were found and re-installed after more than 50 years. The roofs were rebuilt with their originally wide eaves, and the factory produced roof tiles were replaced with the traditional hand crafted (jhingati) tiles embedded in clay.

The gilt bronze image of Hanuman on the ridge was a gift of the Bhaktapur King Bhupatindra Malla. According to local legend, it was a malicious gift in disguise, actually being an icon of Saturn who is believed to be a source of bad fortune. The statue is held upright with a bar of bad quality iron – and iron indeed represents the planet Saturn. 

The chronicles of the time corroborate Bhupatindra’s evil designs on Patan with another scheme related to the palace. In times when drought and disaster prevailed, the bell of the Southern tower pavilion used to be rung incessantly in a ritual of propitiation, performed on the open terrace nearby until the rains would fall again. In order to defeat this purpose, but under the pretext of protecting the palace, Bhupatindra Malla had not only covered the terrace with a roof (and with “Hanuman” on its ridge) but he also had the bell walled up so it could not ring anymore.

 

The decorative crafts of Nepal at their artistic peak in the late 17th century (Left Above) Carved Pillars of the courtyard arcade; (Right Above) Details of the gilt repousse sheathing of the Golden Door.
 

East Wing

Reconstruction - an eclectic compromise

After its collapse in the earthquake of 1934, the East wing had been rebuilt hastily – and with little concern for  its historic design. By 1990, it was in such a poor and unsafe condition that its demolition and complete reconstruction became necessary. This resulted in the challenge to create a totally new interior on all three of its floors, with a modern steel frame roof structure visible from inside, while reconstructing the traditional shape and tile cover of the roof, as well as the historical Malla period elevation facing the courtyard.

The 1989 photograph (above) shows the vertical grills of the balcony as well as the central window and the small door below as obviously nor original ones and alien to the historic ensemble. The reconstruction of the balcony took up the typical slanting design of similar balconies of the period (see next page), while the window and door were replaced with authentic masterpieces of 18th century Nepalese wood-craft. The door itself (right) may have been in this position originally, but had been used for an interior partition after the earthquake.
East wing elevation (as seen from the courtyard) before and after reconstruction  East wing courtyard elevation before and after reconstruction

The roof cover of larger modern tiles was replaced with the traditional handmade roof tiles which are laid in a clay The roof cover of larger modern tiles was replaced with the traditional handmade roof tiles which are laid in a clay bed with an additional waterproofing membrane beneath. The roof overhang was increased to its original depth allowing rainwater to fall into the traditional surface drains (nali) of the courtyard rather than on to the plinth.  

A continuous balcony under the eaves was restored according to historical patterns. The pillars of the such balconies are inclined like roof struts and contrast the modern vertical members which were added after the 1934 earthquake.

East wing elevation (as seen from the garden), before and after reconstruction; 

This elevation, facing the gardens, was added to the East Wing after its collapse in the 1934 earthquake, and designed in the "Rana style" still prevalent at the time. Basic features of its neo-classical character have been retained in the 1990 reconstruction: the simple A-b-A rhythm of alternating large and small windows and doors, as well as the main materials of exposed brick, and of white cornices, pilasters and plaster surrounds.

However, changes were necessary for functional reasons. This encouraged the use of new design elements which bear the unmistakable "stamp of our time".

The external stairs leading to the first floor were shifted to the left-hand corner of the building, and a new arcade (Dalan), together with a double-storey bay window above it, now give access and light to the main staircase behind. The galleries on the second floor required the closing of windows against glaring light from outside. A few of the windows were replaced by alcoves protruding from the facade - for the display of exhibits inside. These are well lit by reflected daylight through invisible lateral slits.

East wing elevation (as seen from the garden), before and after reconstruction; 
Left: The reconstructed east wing to the left and the restored North-East wing in the back

Necessary for convenient visitor circulation within the museum, the spacious new stairwell in the East wing also serves to exhibit some ancient wooden roof struts - the remnants of temples destroyed in previous earthquakes. They are so tall that they would not fit the normal gallery height, and anyhow cannot be seen at such a close range anywhere else.

The peculiar angle and design of the hand-bars is inspired by the typical stairs of important buildings in Tibet. They are meant to be a subtle homage to the artistic and religious relations between the two countries, as amply shown in the Buddhist galleries to which the stairs lead.

Bream, Bracket and Pillar

Typical design motifs from the Malla period (example on the right) have inspired two modern interpretations at the Patan Museum: in timber for the garden pavilions (left); in steel sections and timber for the East Wing arcade (centre).

The beam: in contrast to brackets and pillars, the horizontal beams above are traditionally not adorned. They were also left plain for the two modern adaptations.

Left:  East wing arcade: beams, brackets and pillar cross section crafted from industrial steel members; Right: One door on the ground floor was closed by a semi-cylindrical niche which displays the stone pinnacle of a previous temple.

The bracket: this type of historical bracket (with its peculiar "rolls") can be seen on some of the oldest buildings in Kathmandu Valley. Its archetypical motifs are interpreted in simplified modern shape.

The pillar: the historical pillar design is based on a combination of square, round, and octagonal cross-sections. The two modern interpretations play with the same geometrical forms. The transformation from circle to square in the central example is in quotation of the Austrian sculptor Walter Pichler.

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