The valley of Kathmandu where thousands of religious art in stone, metal, wood, terra-cotta and paintings are found not only in Hindu and Buddhist shrines and temples but also scattered in streets, lanes and open places, is literally a huge open museum. The antiquity of the art of this valley goes back to over two thousand years for, hordes of ancient sculptures dating back to the early Christian era, were recently discovered as evidence in the very heart of Kathmandu city. Lying on the southern slope of the Himalaya, the valley of Kathmandu has been the seat of Nepalese art and culture since ancient times.
The Kingdom of Nepal remained geographically isolated for centuries but when the country was opened to the outside world in the fifties, Nepalese art became very well known and appreciated throughout the world, however, the negative side was the loss of our cultural heritage as priceless art objects were smuggled out of the country illegally. In view of the above facts, the author of this book, Mr. Lain Singh Bangdel, who is a noted painter and one of the leading authorities in Nepalese art and also the former Chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy, has undertaken a project under the aegis of the Academy about ten years ago on the Inventory of stone sculptures of the Kathmandu valley for the preservation of cultural heritage of Nepal. Although a complicated and first of its kind of project in Nepal, the author has painstakingly visited every locality prying into each street, by-lane and corner, studying and photographing the images. This book will be indeed one of the solid contributions of the author in the field of cultural history of Nepal. The Royal Nepal Academy has published a number of important books not only on the creative works by noted writers and poets but also books on the history of Nepalese literature, language, philosophy, anthropology, culture, music, grammar, dictionaries etc. however, this book will be a new significant contribution of the author. I hope this book will inspire our own people to preserve our rich cultural heritage, at the same time help those scholars interested in our art. The Royal Nepal Academy is happy to publish this valuable book and would like to congratulate the author Mr. Bangdel.
Madan Mani Dixit
Vice Chancellor
