Nepalese Architecture
Illustrations and maps
illustrations
$145.00
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The present work is a welcome addition to the slender list of books on Nepal, which was a closed country until 1951. The book is the result of the keen observation of a seasoned archaeologist and art-historian and the combination of the study of literary and inscriptional sources which are plentiful in Nepal. Dr. Banerjee has sought to encompass the entire miscellany of architecture as much as would have been possible within the scope of a single volume. The study has brought to light interesting results on the dates and details of the constructions of and periodicals repairs to all categories of the ensemble of Nepalese Architecture comprising the (i) dhungedharas, (ii) powahs, (iii) patis, (iv) temples, (v) monasteries,(vi) stupas or chaityas, (vii) common man’s houses, (viii) royal palaces, etc. The inscriptions also mention the names of the texts on architecture followed by the ancient builders as also the processes and various stages of constriction, names of architectural parts, processes of repairs, etc. Among the multitudinous miscellany, the so-called Nepalese ‘pagodas’ with a serrated profile standing on a raised platform, itself the result of a series of receding tiers of plinths, stand out from the rest and have been dealt with comprehensively as a phenomenon in the whole of South and South east Asia.
