1. Bhaktapur: Durbar & Taumadhi Square
Tribute and Celebration of Nepal — Photography by Gary Braasch — Sales to benefit earthquake recovery.
The photographs in these four portfolios were made in Bhaktapur, Nepal, in March and November 2012. They are offered now as a tribute and celebration of the spirit of the Nepalese after the damaging earthquake in April 2015.
Viewers are invited to purchase prints or license rights for publication — our net proceeds will be donated to offer the most direct aid based on advice from our friends in the Bhaktapur area.
The toll in lives from the earthquake is now 8,675 people. In Bhaktapur, an ancient city and World Heritage Site, reportedly about 267 people were lost and perhaps a quarter of its old brick and tile buildings destroyed. A number of temples fell in the quake, but most of the sacred architecture survived.
The final set of images is from the oldest temple in Nepal, Changu Narayan, a few kilometers north of Bhaktapur. The temple stands, although damaged and temporarily shored up with timbers. Sadly great damage was inflicted on the buildings of the temple grounds, including the home of the Living Traditions Museum which had installed its Nepalese art and culture treasures there only in the past three years. Founder and curator Judith Chase, who has lived and worked in Nepal for over 35 years, photographing, documenting and collecting village culture, reported that most of the collection was saved from the crumbled brick buildings.
We thank Judith and her husband Jim Danisch (links provide direct connection with their museum and organic farming community work in earthquake recovery); and the staff of the Shiva Guest House, where we stayed in Bhaktapur. We thank the Karuna Foundation - U.S. who funded our trips to the Himalaya region in support of their work for compassionate climate adaptation.
1 Bhaktapur: Durbar & Taumadhi Sq.
2 Bhaktapur: Views in the Streets
