Nepal’s Cultural Heritage Becomes Its Scrap as Human Crisis Takes Priority After Earthquake

Nepal has been devastated in so many ways by this disaster. Hopefully people will be able to rebuilt it all back better than before. Although it should be noted that quake experts are warning that this 7.8 quake was too small to relieve much seismic tension, and that much bigger quakes are yet to come. It seems hard to imagine how even the highest quality ultra-modern buildings built to the strictest standards would be able to survive a 9.0 earthquake. It may be better for Nepalese to move down to the plains, or else learn how to live in tents.

Sell the temple dust to visiting hippies. All proceeds can go to acquire building materiel materiel, food and bottled water to sustain workers.

Cultural heritage is something only rich people care about.
Frankly no one cares about a temple to a dead god or a palace of King.
Poor people are trying to survive.

Future carvers and sculptors will be able to replace the things lost in the collapse of temples. Look at the photos, people digging with their hands thru rubble because there are few shovels or ladders or anything else available . The Tibetans rebuilt many temples after destruction by Chinese, with beautiful works of sacred art. And the bricks they carry away, perhaps to be used to rebuild a home.

Can we please let the values and priorities of the people of Nepal prevail?

"In Nepal, 'people don’t necessarily place a great deal of value on a piece of wood just because it’s old...'"

The Nepalese care about their heritage so why not write about it being in jeopardy. It's utterly tragic what's happened to this wonderful country. I think the message of the piece is that archaeological items will be stolen from the people of Nepal because nobody's trying to stop it. Somebody should because Nepal doesn't deserve to be ripped off.

What a rubbish article. Are they to rebuild the structures with the fallen bricks only so they can crumble in the next quake?
The saddest thing about the whole affair is folks knew the region was due for another seismic event, and that the buildings had no chance of surviving an event of a certain magnitude. Whatever construction occurs should be sufficient for building codes for new structures in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo. You know, the places where the question about earthquakes isn't if, but when. And if a certain charm is lost, there's nothing charming about hordes of dead people and crumbled architecture lying in a pile of rubble. The poor Westerners, who might lose out on their ability to bid for a cultural artifact for thousands, which if it belongs anywhere, it's surely Nepal, whether repurposed for another use or on display in a museum. (Hint: send the money you might have spent on the artifact to a reputable charity working to tame the chaos in Katmandu.)

Wow, this is seriously poor taste; bemoaning the loss of a carved beam tossed carelessly to the side while digging for bodies.

Re:"As Human Criswis Takes Priority After Nepal Quake, a Nation's Treasures
Become Its Scrap," news report, April 28, 2015.
Let Nepal's national treasures that the recent calamitous earthquake turned into scrap go, but let's do all we can to prevent thieves from stealing
emblems of priceless value that remind the people of that beautiful country
of their Hindu and Buddhist past. The thieves are having a field day today in Nepal in the chaos unleashed by the earthquake. All major airlines, customs,
and immigration offices, especially in the west, should be on the lookout for travelers from Nepal so that at least some of the thieves can be caught and the stolen treasures restored to the grieving people. Interpol should redouble its efforts to capture the thieves smuggling what's dear to not only to the citizens of Nepal but also to visitors to Nepal from abroad in the future.

"If you worked as an auction house expert, you would note certain things about the beam: It was intricately carved with the image of two deities and possibly dated to the 17th century — the kind of piece that could sell for many thousands of dollars in the West."

Can we get our priorities straight? People first, stuff second. Without people, there can be no stuff. With people, they can rebuild the things which are of value, to them. Not to some auction house on another continent.

Any time you want to see what the world of stuff without people looks like, go to the Museum of Natural History in NYC, then to its Hall of American Indians, Pacific Northwest wing. Gaze up through the half-light at the veritable forest of totem poles, each taken from a village, a village of people, none of which still exists. Remind yourself of what is important, and what is not.

Just because there's an article focusing on the demolition and despoliation of Katmandu's heritage and history doesn't mean no one cares about people. Should an asteroid slam into the Adriatic and the resulting tsunami destroy Venice, Italy, and the Times report on the passing of an irreplaceable cultural treasure, many commenters will doubtless pen some version of the following: "What is this insensitive garbage about buildings? People were drowned!"

Of course the loss of life is regrettable and obviously takes precedent over inanimate things, but that doesn't mean our collective human heritage is unworthy of grief, salvation, and newspapers' attention. The earthquake's leveling of many of Katmandu's ancient, hallowed temples is as newsworthy as the intentional destruction of Syria's cultural heritage.

I'm not sure I understand most of the people making comments. No place in the article does it say that the carved railings and brass gods are more important than the people of Katmandu. I am a person who loves history, old buildings and small antiques, but I have never put any of these ahead of fellow humans. The authors are simply pointing out the heartbreak of seeing beautiful works of art used as crowbars and ladders. That they are being used as such is proof in itself that life is the most important thing to save. Why must some people always look for something to criticize?

It's very sad that an article that could have been written and published at least one year after this gigantic human tragedy, is published now, which doesn't make any sense.

Gods are meant for whose sake, they are meant to protect people, at least the followers believe that way. When people are suffering like hell, why bother about the heritage buildings or temples for that matter.

Even God blesses those, who indulge in the service of people with the utmost sincerity and dedication. That's why it's called " Manava Seva ye Madhava Seva " in Telugu. It means serving humans is serving God.

The task at hand now is to bury the dead and mourn. But eventually, the rubble will need to be carted away, the streets repaired and yes, the historic temples rebuilt. I'm sure they have been rebuilt numerous times over the centuries. That cycle will continue. We tend to look at things in the short term but monuments like these exist in the long term. Hopefully when they are rebuilt they will be stronger than before. New artisans will carve new beams. It will not happen soon, but I am certain it will happen in the decades to come. It may even help to unify the country that is suffering so much from political divisions and dysfunction.

Maybe the Clinton Foundation will take some of their unspent hundred million or so and help the Nepalese…after all, helping restore Nepal and saving lives would be a humanitarian gift to the world. And think about the good street cred gained by such a generous contribution. Oh, right. The victims of the earthquake have no power, money, influence, and haven't given any of the FOB (friends of Bill) any gifts (land, diamonds, uranium, water) that could be profited from.

The world has enjoyed 'economic growth' since the beginning of modernity ... Johannes Gutenberg - 1440. There has been ready- and increasing access to material resources since that time => Modernity is the 'progress narrative'.

Since the new millennium, increased efforts directed toward obtaining material resources returns less. The consequence = diminished business activity, the end of economic growth. We have become victims of our own success, our material turns out to have done us little good because using it = wasting it. Our oil and other non-renewable material resources cannot be 'used' a second time.

Economic growth has allowed us to rebuild- and recover after disasters: earthquakes, storms, fires and war. Now ... no growth means recovery after disaster requires greater ruin in some other place so as to free up material resources. For US to grow, Syria must become a wasteland. To rebuild Nepal (Yemen, Somalia) some other country must fail.

Keep this in mind as the government in Washington promotes more wars, as developers insist on building at sea level or in earthquake zones, as more and more places are damaged by our impulsiveness. For centuries we have been able to ignore consequences knowing that the losses of a 30-Years War or a San Francisco earthquake could be replaced ... not any more.

Look to the ruined places in the world right now. There are many. See if any of them are 'recovering'.

I have read that earthquakes of similar magnitude have recurred in Nepal every 75 years or so throughout recorded history. How could all these "ancient monuments" have survived, only to be destroyed in the latest disaster? Isn't it likely that they have been rebuilt each time?

The New York Times is faulting members of a VOLUNTEER search and rescue
team for using a beam as a stepladder ,while they were donating their time and effort in a humanitarian effort, frantically searching for survivors and bodies?

Presumably,a Step Ladder was not available.

Should they have abandoned their search and rescue mission of HUMANS,
out of consideration for the beam?

“If you worked as an auction house expert,you note certain thing
about the beam:it was intricately carved with the image of two deities ,possibly dating back to the 17th century-the kind of piece that could fetch
many thousands of dollars in the west.”

Did the person who made this observation rush to find a stepladder to give to the volunteer search and rescue team that could be substituted for the beam as they searched for bodies?Did he aid the volunteers in any way?
Did he retrieve the beam from the “ square traversed by people,expose to rain”?!

No. He did nothing to help those who were selflessly giving of themselves,
placing themselves in harms way ,with showers of bricks crashing down,
which were as likely to hit them as the precious beam,in order to help others,as he criticizes volunteer search and rescue volunteers.

What ,if anything,has the author of this article done to aid the people of Nepal?

Thousands of people had been killed. Humans are more important than ancient artifacts,regardless of how much they might fetch at auction.

In addition to the deaths of thousands of people, the injured, and the displaced, who must await international aid in order to secure water, food, and shelter, the destruction of Nepal's cultural heritage is likewise devastating.

In autumn 2009, I spent nearly three weeks in Nepal, spending time in Kathmandu, hiking the Everest Base Camp trek in the Himalaya, and visiting Chitwan. The other night, I looked through my photos again. How very sad. The centuries' old squares in the capital, I see here, are destroyed.

Nepal needs our help. It is a beautiful country. Reconstruction will take years. But I encourage readers to consider visiting Nepal in the future. As a traveler, you will find the experience deeply rewarding; and the people there will benefit from your stay. For now, if you can, donate to relief agencies.

don't lose sight of the fact that this is a drastically overpopulated valley, and the overpopulated has meant construction of cheap shelters on precarious slopes that would never withstand an earthquake and resulting avalanches.

on the one hand, the earthquake destroyed religious buildings. sorry to offend, but i have little interest in religious buildings. on the other hand, the earthquake killed thousands of surplus people. i deeply regret the misery to survivors that will cause. but the survivors will just go back to overpopulating.

look through the proper frame: this is an *environmental* catastrophe that will always disproportionately afflict overpopulated and shoddily housed human concentrations. earthquakes, tsunamis, coastal flooding, droughts, food shortages, depleted aquifers, plagues and pandemics ... this is just one instance in a long parade of past and future catastrophes to human life and cultural treasure.

The true treasure in Nepal is the people. I have had the privilege of spending time there and working with The Mountain Fund (a stellar place to donate by the way) and the Women's Foundation of Nepal. If we really want to help we would bring jobs/industry to Nepal, so that the people, not the corrupt so-called government, can begin to live secure, sustainable lives. In a country filled with water, it is hard to find potable water. In a place where there should be ample electricity, it is spotty at best. Basic infrastructure is lacking. I, too, will mourn the beautiful historic sites in Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. But I hope this tragedy brings awareness to a failed, third world country where the leading cause of death for women between the ages of 18 and 40 is suicide. That to me is a catastrophe.

What the world has always needed was less bombs and more brotherhood.

I think some readers have missed the point of this article. The reporters aren't downplaying the human crisis, they are simply calling attention to the cultural losses. The destruction of a temple or stupa, the tossing aside of a carved wooden beam or the theft of a small bell, or the ruin of any other such object or structure may not mean anything to a Westerner steeped in the Judeo-Christian tradition, but to devout Buddhists these losses are huge. They are an integral part of their heritage. Equate the cultural losses in Kathmandu with those in Europe during WW2 ... or the current and ongoing threats to the sites in Jerusalem ... or the reaction if St. Peter's was blown up. The loss of human life is appalling, but there's more to Nepal's loss than lives.

All (composite) things are just an expression of impermanence. Even one's friends, relations and enemies. Yet the residual karma reverberates. So, may Nepal rise phoenix-like.

It is important to understand that in spite of all the magical illusion of the place, it was not shangri la. Far from it. So this is an opportunity to build from the ground up. And it doesn't cost much. A tragedy can unite or it can destroy. The choice rests in human's hands

Despite the mutually colliding Indian plate and Tibetan plates is bringing big natural calamity approximately every 100 yrs in Nepal, these
6-7th centuries Scripture, temples and many monuments were still there. There are still many that survived this big earthquake also.
This proves how important and well built these historical items were.
But Nepalese government never did enough effort to save these world class heritage. The result is in front of us.
Besides this, Nepal has another glory. It is a holy shrine for every Buddhist (Buddha was born in Nepal) and Hindus. It had more temples than home.
This way there used to live more god than people.
I get similar kinds of feeling every time I visit there. It is like 'if you taste it, you will know it''.

"...the kind of piece that could sell for many thousands of dollars in the West."

This phrase reeks of the way Westerners have exploited 'exotic' places, and to think the author's were considering some auction house price tag on a piece of wood before discussing the human cost of this tragedy is disappointing.

Nepal will be in dire straits now in that its main source of income, tourism, has come to a screeching halt - too dangerous and totally destroyed in terms of communication, transportation, hotels, food, public health, etc. Giving money to NGOs would be a mistake in that such organizations are corrupt and do not understand the real local/regional needs of developing countries. Perhaps India could be of help.

This article looks at the tragedy from a decidedly Western perspective.

The Eastern perspective (which is more appropriate since Nepal is a mostly Hindu and Buddhist country) understands that this is the natural cycle of birth, death, and renewal.

Let's focus on the suffering of people, not things.

Really we're worried about old beams? How about starving and injured people? If you builld with wood, even without earthquakes, at one point it's going to rot away. It's what nature is all about. The hand-wringing about old buildings is misplaced, they can be rebuilt if necessary. It's the people who suffer and need to be attended to.

Until there are real leaders in leadership positions, instead of bought-and-paid-for, sycophantic failures in leadership positions, human crises will continue to increase around the world. The chaos, corruption, dysfunction, patronage, nepotism, cronyism, incompetence, etc., that has existed for a very long time, will keep getting worse, and what are considered serious problems now will seem like solutions in the future. The public must get actively involved with their countries, and elect real leaders based on proven positive results that benefit ALL people, not letting lying and manipulative PR influence them, instead of doing nothing and continuing to let failures and their puppeteers remain in control.

Lack of US leadership, again, rearing it's ugly head.

If you are worried about where your money goes when donating to such a big disaster, you should directly contact NGOs working on the field. It might be that the infrastructures are destroyed but internet is still ongoing. Contact with them directly on social networks. If you are not 100% convinced you can always use a crowdfunding website where they asure you you will get a report of your donation, without this report is very hard to know where the money goes, and we all want to improve and provide emergence relief for the victims as soon as possible.https://www.w4.org/…/emergency-relief-for-victims-earthqua…/

Pieces of wood are pieces of wood. Things getting destroyed are the nature of catastrophes. I am a lot more worried about the Nepali people who are in dire straits out in the villages and indeed in the cities. I have stood in Basantapur Durbar Square in Katmandu. Part of its beauty was its intimate, accessible scale and fact that it was an integral part of the city. I will look nostalgically at pictures of it, the collapsed grand stupas and other lost culturally and artistically significant structures. But I will mourn the lost people and grieve for those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods.

Completely unAmerican to place a higher value on the life/well-being of a fellow sentient being over the $$$$ value of personal profit. More than 5,000 dead so far, hope for survivors waning and tens of thousands of people living in tents with clean water running low and the NY Times notes the "value" of the pieces being used to aid in the rescue; should the Nepalese follow the path we do in the USA and pull a Katrina or a Sandy leaving poor people in the streets to fend for themselves. The American Way would have the Nepalese save the "kind of pieces that could sell for many thousands of dollars in the West" equating financial profit -- regardless of how gained, on par with god.

When the world places as much value, represented by lines of print, in the damage to old buildings and temples, as they do in the human damage resulting from natural disasters; then we have lost rational perspective. A brick, a body, a tile, a terrified child, are not the same. The loss of a home providing shelter, the loss of a wage earner, the loss of a teacher; these are disasters. The Earth moves, pity the child.

Unfortunately, Nepal experiences earthquakes like this every 75-80 years or so which means that statistically, historical, cultural and religious sites and buildings are going to be damaged throughout the course of time. Hopefully what can be rebuilt or restored will be, perhaps with more concern for future quakes, but when the Indian Plate crashed into Asia many millions of years ago, the fate of many of these sites was sealed.