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Down History's Narrow Lanes: Sketches and Myths of the Kathmandu Valley : Kathmandu as it was Then
The long-awaited new edition brings back to us Doig's exquisite line drawings of Kathmandu Valley temples, bahals and stupas (carried in weekly installments in this paper from 2000-2005 under the banner 'Saving Faith'). And it's not just the drawings, the language also has fairy-tale quality to it with chapter titles like: 'The Gate of the Vermilion God', 'Where Serpents Breathe Fire', 'The City Vishnu May Have Built', 'The Jewelled Gift of the Snake God', The Gorge of the Flaming Sword'.
Source-
Nepali Times
SONIA AWALE
FROM ISSUE #461 (24 JULY 2009 - 30 JULY 2009)
Source-
Nepali Times
SONIA AWALE
FROM ISSUE #461 (24 JULY 2009 - 30 JULY 2009)
246 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 25, 2019
It is such a pleasure to read the myths surrounding the palaces, labyrinths, monuments and temples of Nepal. The tales and interpretations about these architectural marvels make us keener observers and takes the enchantment to a totally different level. This is a book that I keep going back to every so often.
Some of the stories that I loved the most are about the Pujari Math in Bhaktapur - made for the visiting South Indian priests who arrived on white flying horses, Goddess Ajima of Kolkata and Goddess Taleju of Karnataka who made Nepal their home, an unsettling temple completed by JB Rana after having cremated the victims of the Kot massacre en masse at that very spot, the only yetis of Nepal probably being sculptures on a temple stairway in Bhaktapur… Thanks to the book, I’m loving each Durbar square more than the other. As I watch some of these temples undergo renovation due to damages sustained in the 2015 earthquake, I worry if they can still contain the enchantment Doig describes in the book.
Some of the stories that I loved the most are about the Pujari Math in Bhaktapur - made for the visiting South Indian priests who arrived on white flying horses, Goddess Ajima of Kolkata and Goddess Taleju of Karnataka who made Nepal their home, an unsettling temple completed by JB Rana after having cremated the victims of the Kot massacre en masse at that very spot, the only yetis of Nepal probably being sculptures on a temple stairway in Bhaktapur… Thanks to the book, I’m loving each Durbar square more than the other. As I watch some of these temples undergo renovation due to damages sustained in the 2015 earthquake, I worry if they can still contain the enchantment Doig describes in the book.
December 10, 2021
refreshing, beautiful, engaging and inspiring. perfect for anyone who wishes to know the mythical side of the Kathmandu Valley where fact meets fiction in a subtle fire.
i recently spoke to an artist who said it's important to be seen by others and to be told how special all the things we hold are – just so we learn to appreciate ourselves and our world, and work to preserve it, develop it, and go on to do great things with/for it. i believe this even more now.
i recently spoke to an artist who said it's important to be seen by others and to be told how special all the things we hold are – just so we learn to appreciate ourselves and our world, and work to preserve it, develop it, and go on to do great things with/for it. i believe this even more now.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews