A recent work visit to Kathmandu in July 2023 provided brief opportunities to visit the old Durbar (Royal) Squares in Kathmandu and Patan. Both had suffered serious damage in the 2015 earthquakes, which killed nearly 9,000 people and injured a further 22,000, with some 750,000 houses being damaged or destroyed. While much restoration work still remains to be done throughout the country, it is impressive to witness the extent of the restoration of these important historical monuments and museums. We were so grateful to Nayan Pokhrel for taking us to places we would never have found without him, and for unravelling the complex layers of cultural history that lay behind their original construction. I hope that the images below convey something of the beauty and splendour of these wonderful places and their surrounding streets.

Under the dark clouds of the monsoon rains…