Since ancient times, Nepal has stood at the intersection of important trade routes, age-old religions and rich cultures.
The ancient Swayambhu Budhhist complex. (Manish Sakya/500px)
Swayambhunath is one of Nepal’s oldest religious sites and is one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world. (Erik Torner/flickr)
Swayambhunath is also known as the “Monkey Temple” with its families of holy monkeys residing there.
Swayambhunat consists of a stupa and several temples and shrines. (Dhilung Kirat/flickr)
Swayambhunath after the Nepal earthquake of April 25, 2015. (Ninanjan Shrestha)
A monk carrying chairs walks out from the damaged monastery at Swoyambhunath Stupa, a UNESCO world heritage site. (Navesh Chitrakar)
Bordered by India and Tibet, Nepal’s steep peaks and hilly terrain are also positioned at the intersection of two of the earth’s massive tectonic plates, whose momentum from their pre-historic collision continues to push up the storied Himalayan range about 6.1cm each year.
The friction of this unholy tectonic marriage makes Nepal a hotbed for calamitous earthquakes. Its first recorded quake leveled temples and towns in the year 1255.
The city of Patan was founded in the 3rd Century. This was its Durbar Square, which means “noble courts” and is central to community life in Nepal. (Samir Pradhananga/500px)
Patan’s Durbar Square after the April 25, 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
Kathmandu’s Durbar Square is the center for temples and palaces in the capital. (David Ruiz Luna/500px)
Morning in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. (Andre Kartie/500px)
Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgau inspecting the damage at Durbar Square after the April 25, 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
The post-earthquake remains of Basantapur Tower at the royal palace in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square.
Since then, disastrous earthquakes have occurred at an average rate of every century. The last major earthquake of 1934 took some 12,000 lives with its 8.0 magnitude.
Then came April 25, 2015 and what local media are calling the “Great Quake”. Lost in the rubble are over 7,000 lives, an economy that was already struggling and centuries-old structures now forever lost to the physics of our planet.
The Boudhanath Stupa is the largest and holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. (mtanzi/500px)
Boudhanath, Nepal (Harsh Chaudhary/500px)
Tibetan monks at Boudhanath, Nepal. (mtanzi/500px)
The Boudhanath Stupa after the April 25, 2015 earthquake.
With about 10% of its economy relying on tourism, Nepal is home to the fabled birthplace of Buddha, the origins of the Hindu sage Ne, seven UNESCO World Heritage sites and the tallest summits on Earth.
An ancient Hindu pillar at Pashupatinath, Nepal. (Karush Pradhan)
The Pashupatinath Hindu religious complex after the April, 25, 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
The Vatsala temple in Bhaktapur’s Durbar Square. (Ridwanul Kabir/flickr)
What is left of the Vatsala temple in Bhaktapur after the April 25, 2015 earthquake.
The damage from last month’s quake is “extensive and irreversible”, according to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. Yet, with its earth-shattering geology, Nepal is no stranger to rebuilding from its ashes.
The 200-step tall Dharahara tower, built by Nepal’s first prime minister in 1832, has been restored twice – once after the quake of 1833 and again after 1934.
Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu, Nepal after the “Great Quake” of April, 25, 2015.
But other monuments are simply impossible to reconstruct, with their ornate details and intangible feeling of living history, having borne witness to countless pilgrims and bloodlines over centuries – hordes of lifetimes punctuated by seismic shocks.
A temple in Bakhtapur’s Durbar Square in Nepal. (Edwin Leung/500px)
The remains of the Bakhtapur temple after the April 25, 2015 Nepal earthquake. (Menahem Kahana)
The Changu Narayana temple is considered to be Nepal’s oldest, existing as early as 325. (Claus Allweil/500px)
The Changu Narayan Temple after the April 25, 2015 earthquake (Nicolas Asfouri)
