Discover Traditional Art

Walk through a village square in the hills of Nepal during Dashain or Tihar, and you will almost certainly hear a Madal before you see one. That deep, resonant thump…

TRADITIONAL ART

Bhaktapur Pottery Square: Inside Nepal’s Oldest Ceramics Community

Walk into a quiet courtyard in the old city of Bhaktapur and you will hear it before you see it:…

All Traditional Art

TRADITIONAL ART

Clay for the Gods: Terracotta Idols, Lamps, and Ritual Pots

Introduction In Bhaktapur’s Pottery Square, the ground itself tells you where you are before your eyes do. Rows of wet…

TRADITIONAL ART

Carving the Lakhe Mask: The Wooden Masks Behind Nepal’s Street Dances

Introduction When drums start pounding through the narrow streets of Kathmandu during Indra Jatra, crowds part quickly for a towering,…

WOOD CARVING

Carving the Chariots: The Woodwork Behind Kathmandu’s Jatra Processions

Once a year, the narrow streets of Patan fill with a sound that has nothing to do with engines: hundreds…

METAL CRAFT

Bells, Vajra, and Dorje: The Metalwork of Nepal’s Ritual Objects

Walk through the narrow lanes of Patan or Bhaktapur early in the morning and you will hear it before you…