NEPAL: A LITTLE-KNOWN KINGDOM 



263 



A STREET SCENE OE KHATMANDU 



In a Nepal city a public square is as invariable as is a common or green in a New England 

 town. This square always contains the "durbar," or royal palace, and on the remaining sides 

 usually are to be found shrines and temples. From it radiate irregular streets, and presently 

 other thoroughfares will converge with these to form lesser squares — a method of city plan- 

 ning suggestive of that in our own National Capital. The streets, even when squalid, have 

 an alluring quality, with their carved doorways, archways through which one glimpses a 

 courtyard, and innumerable idols festooned with flowers. 



and more looked out calmly and serenely 

 to each of the four quarters of the globe 

 from underneath the overhanging eaves. 

 Equally famous is Swayambunath, an- 

 other temple of the same type and even 

 richer and more frequented. It is most 

 picturesquely situated on the top of a 

 wooded hill approached by a steep, almost 

 perpendicular, flight of 500 steps and 

 closely surrounded by smaller shrines, 

 each in its own way a gem of architecture 

 and carving. In front of the temple is 

 the gigantic Dorgee, or Thunderbolt of 

 Indra, resting on a carved stone pedestal. 

 Thousands of pilgrims from all countries 

 flock to this, a Holy of Holies to the 

 Buddhists. 



THE NEPALESE EXCEL IN METAE-WORK 



The art of the Nepalese, or, properly 

 speaking, the Newars, is worthy of spe- 

 cial consideration. It was the Newars 

 who brought art to its highest state of 

 perfection, and their influence has ex- 



tended through these hills into Sikkim, 

 Bhutan, and Tibet. Indian influence has 

 penetrated from the south with the ad- 

 vance of Buddhism and has spread 

 through the hills, along the Brahmaputra 

 Valley, to Lhasa. On the other hand. 

 Chinese influence is also strong and there 

 has been intercourse with that country 

 for many centuries. 



Nepal probably excels in metal-work 

 and wood carving, though followed very 

 closely by Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet. 



In their architecture, the Newars have 

 distinctly drawn upon China, as shown 

 in their pagoda-shaped temples, while in 

 Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet the buildings 

 suggest an even earlier period, possibly 

 that of Egypt. 



In their metal-work all these countries 

 follow the same method. For beaten- 

 work, the metal employed, whether cop- 

 per, brass, silver, or gold, is first ham- 

 mered to the required thickness, then 

 shaped on a mold made of lac. It is then 



