FROM PAST PATHS TO FUTURE WALKS: Reading and Learning From the Traditional Streets of Kathmandu Valley Towns

Sudarshan Raj Tiwari

Introduction

The town, for most societies, has been a settlement in a bounded area, where passages crossed to cause a dynamic convergence … of people, ideas, activities, services and whatever else

cultures cumulated. The early Egyptian ideographic symbol for the word ‘town’– a composition of a circle enclosing a cross- is almost literal. Even truer to the ideogram were the traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley. Particularly towns from the Malla period appear to have been conceived, built, perceived and lived almost exactly to the idea. They were traversed by pathways, embellished with crossings and ringed by boundary markers - physically, literally and ritually.

Fig. 1: Symbol of the city in Early Egyptian Hieroglyphics (Steinbacher, 1995).

Convergence of heterogeneity of urban citizenry naturally demands understanding, acceptance, cultivation and nurturing of mutual interdependence and the rules of living together to bind them in some form of a whole entity. The very word 'polis' tells of the 'space of the many, the space that exists in between individuals or groups of individuals when they coexist' (Aureli,2011). It is in these spaces between the individual buildings, along the pathways and at the crossings within and at the perimeter, the public spaces of the streets and the squares, that the town expresses and lives. The surviving street pattern of Malla towns of Kathmandu valley (12th - 18th century) show an intricate web of public spaces of streets and squares that wear characteristics precipitating varied aesthetic, social and cultural experiences of values cherished by the resident population. Conceptually, these urban spaces are mediated by rituals of significance to the two popular religions, Hinduism and Buddhism.

History of Development of Urban Patterns

Ritual mediation of public spaces has been a long standing urban tradition in Kathmandu valley, coming from as far back as the Kirat period (ca. before 1st century AD). It has been shown that the Kirat settlement, called pringga was small but densely built in fallow high ground(Nadarajah & Yamamoto, 2007) and characterized by a street that linked the in-town sanctum (devakula or dyochhe) of the tutelary of the settlement with its out-of-town hypaethral sanctuary (pithugwora or pith) located in nature some distance from its periphery marked by funerary spots (Tiwari, 1989). Annually, the residents celebrated the ceremonial travel of the

town's tutelary from the dyochhe to the pith and the associated rituals of departure, moving and arrival. Eventually, the forecourt of the dyochhe developed into a central public space and the spatial detailing of the street incorporated a number of stopover spaces for the tutelary on its ceremonial travel. When the Lichchhavi arrived, the Kathmandu town was already a ceremonial arena as much as they were served administrative, economic and social purpose.

Fig. 2: A Kirat pringga Settlement Seeding of the Ritually Mediated Streets and Squares in Kathmandu.

The Lichchhavi period (1st -9th century AD) saw the towns getting larger and complex requiring them to manage the maze of interlinking pathways of various kinds. Towns were organized using the classical Hindu knowledge system, which prescribed templates and norms for sizing and patterning, and the Lichchhavi experiences and practices in town planning from the Gangetic plains. By 5th century AD, the capital town of Managriha was built using Prastara planning pattern and all its 12 entry points on the perimeter of the square and the four central crossings appear to have been marked with urban elements such as stone water conduit pits, temples and platforms for public use (See Fig. 3). Other prescribed patterns such as Dandaka (for Kathmandu) and Karmuka (for Deupatan) were also used in patterning settlements. The Hindu classical knowledge system had scaled up the locality specific ritual mediation of urban spaces of the Kirat days to one of cosmic reflection and ordering as entrenched in the diagram Vastupurushamandala. Use of prescribed patterns brought in the formality and order of

geometry on the ritual mediated order. Although the standard Hindu prescriptions did not emphasize creation of urban public spaces as such, Lichchhavi developments in Nepal have contributed to the definition and development of crossroad as urban public space. The use of stone water conduit pit as a defining element of the crossroads urban space is a major Lichchhavi contribution in the making of public space in Kathmandu valley towns (Tiwari, 1989). The absence of any reference to public temples or squares in the famed Tang Annals account of Kailashkutbhawan palace reported by Wang Huen Che, the ambassador of China in mid 7th century Nepal, shows that the central urban space of the palace square was not yet crystallized in the Lichchhavi period.

Fig. 3: Lichchhavi town of Maneswor and the Surviving Street Segments and Cultural Markers

From Kirat to Lichchhavi period, then on to Malla period, towns progressively faced greater diversity of clan, class and caste; varied economic pursuits and trades and ways of rest and recreation. Their pathways made an intricate web in the town and their boundary edges met in the public spaces of the streets and the squares. This burgeoning density, heterogeneity and diversity of urban society, economy and culture were sought to be managed in the town at the residential and working neighborhoods, at gathering places and institutions and along streets and at squares in the crossings. The indigenous Newar, an amalgam of various ethnic communities, had grown to be the dominant inhabitants by the medieval period and their highly ritualistic way of life (Shrestha, Khatry, Sharma, & Ansari, 1986) brought in an era of agricultural urbanism supported with immense developments in religion, arts, crafts and commerce in Kathmandu valley towns. In the Malla period (12th - 18th century AD), town forms appear to have discarded the geometry of the Lichchhavi in favor of organic patterning respectful of physical and religious topography while reviving the Kirat homogeneity at the neighborhood level. Here we find the concept shifting to more of a mental geometry (Tiwari,2013). The open public space structure appears to seek out active individual interaction through application of homogeny, streamlining and calming. As the valley divided itself in the fifteenth century into several independent small kingdoms ruled by the brotherly Malla houses, who took a competitive stance in urban arts, crafts and religious celebrations, hierarchies of streets and squares of various hues and colors, functional, aesthetic and ritual intents and provisions evolved in the towns, each aiming and claiming rather sophisticated subtle distinctions.

The communal life philosophy of Newar demanded a lot more space for interaction than allocated in the classical Hindu patterning of town, and, along with the durbar square and neighborhood chowk, many crossroad nodes also transformed into communal activity spaces such as market squares or just festive squares. Even the extended family system played a singular role in characterizing the Malla urban space with many a private family square or court vying with the neighborhood square in scale. The religious and ritual mediation of life and the

congregational nature of people combined to develop all such spaces as sites for concentration of temples and the associated socio-religious appurtenances such as pati, sattal, dabali and mandap. The hierarchical character of such squares—the durbar square, the market square (crossroad nodes), the neighborhood square and the family court—is also visually expressed, not only by the size and extent of the space but also by the scale and importance of the temple structures (Tiwari, 2013). Malla period streets and squares show a crafty use of the familiar, in expected as well as surprising locations and contexts, as props for community living and pedestrianism. The streets and the squares, through the selective mix of such props, create a graded sense of private and public behavior in the citizen in the public space. The hierarchical character thus also shows a social intensity gradient (Tiwari, 1994) soliciting appropriate social behavior in public (Sharma, 2013). The distribution of public squares is conscious, objective and extensive.

Characteristics of Squares in the three periods

The basic town square of a Kirat pringga can be studied at the Tunaldevi Dyochhe chowk located off the main street at Dathutole of Hadigaun. The axis of the Dyochhe crosses the rectangular court in front, becomes a narrow street and taken a right angular turn to the east to meet the main street of the town. The court space in front and on the sides of the Dyochhe is further defined by a east-west pathway and by pati placed at its north-west corner. On the west of the Dyochhe building is the ceremonial space of arrival and departure of the goddess during the annual festive travel through to the pith. There is no marker at the first turning, but the crossing space is widened on the side away from the main street - an early form of lachhi . The crossing of the pathway from the dyochhe with the main street is marked by placing a Jaladroni (Jadhu) on the opposite side of the main street. The jadhu is a drinking waterspout serving the passersby and participants in revelry. A small corner space is formed at the right and a pati is placed looking towards the main street. Although the elements and their layout became live and the festivities and rituals linked up and mediated the living and the divine through towns space on particular auspicious time and days that came in seasonal or annual cycles only, yet their symbolism and meanings; cognitions and recognitions; knowledge and experiences instigate and trigger memories and recollections to charm the everyday life and mundane activity performed using the same elements and the same network of spaces.

An example of specialization of the crossing in the Lichchhavi period can be read at the Dabali, which was developed as one of the main entrance crossing or public space of arrival. A number of pati and rudimentary sattal are located about it such as to define the crossing space as well as its limits, ends and corners with a big dabali (stage) occupying its spatial and ritual center. The crossing space appears extended southwards and westwards, where some temples, pati and ceremonial spots are located. The rituals and the placing of auspicious seats (stones with lotus motifs) show the dabali faced northwards and a hallowed spot for raising the ceremonial pole (lingo) is located at the middle of its northern side and on the axis of the main street of Kirat Andipringga now transformed into a perimeter street of the Lichchhavi Maneswora. The street to the east is stepped and goes down to the pit conduit (later called hiti), an important new element in the making of the square. The street goes further as a major thoroughfare to the Pashupatinath temple in Devapattana.

Another space at the south-west corner crossing of Maneswora (presently Chardhunge at Naxal) does not show dabali formation but has a collection of a large Narayana image, a Narayan temple, stone plinth remains of an avarana pit temple (with its associated myth of Amar Bana), a number of chaitya and sivalinga showing the complexity of religious faiths, myths and memories that played out at the gateway to the Lichchhavi capital.

The complex maze of streets and squares that supported the Malla capital town is exhibited by the plan of Patan shown in Fig. 6. Located around the central space outlined by the streets, two going east-west (Tyagal-Pulchowk and Balkumari-Pimbaha) and two going north-south (Konti-Mahapal and Sankhamul-Lagankhel), the central Durbar Square space is sited with a number of temples and other public structures such as dabali, mandap, sattal, pati and hiti and literally wraps round the palace building on the east creating continuous subsidiary spaces to the north and south of the palace building also. The palace square is approached mainly through the main streets and most of the festivals and ritual celebrations of the town come to the fore space of the palace. Second order spaces, market squares or urban plazas are located at the intersection of neighborhood streets and the high streets (such as the four streets outlining the Durbar square) and are composed with one or two temples, hiti, dabali and pati. The intersection with a high festive street appears as a criteria and they tend to be 'multi-cultural' (Tiwari, 2015) as more than one neighborhood (tole) identify with the intersection.

Fig.4: Chysah Square with Bhimdyo Lachhi (Tiwari, 1994)

A third order space located and formed around a street intersection inside a neighborhood (tole) contains a temple, usually a Ganesh, a well, a pati or two, a open space of a size related to the traditional trade of the caste (jaat) belonging to the tole. Some such neighborhood squares can be quite large and may even have its own neighborhood festivity e.g. Talaco pottery square of Bhadgaon or the Chysal square in Patan. The fourth order space located at the end of a pathway is a square at an extended family level and may contain a well and a miniature temple

specific to the clan. The third and the fourth order public spaces tend to be mono-cultural(Tiwari, 2015).

Fig 5: Nugah - A Second Order Market Square in Patan. (Drawing adapted from Raghuvamsi, 1998)

A large number of open spaces shown in Fig. 6 are Buddhist Monasteries. Most of them being inward looking court in terms architectural space design and socially 'mono-cultural' in the formation of its collective association, the Sangha, they work like a sub-neighborhood within the neighborhood (tole). In the current study, they may be placed within the third and fourth order spaces. For example, Nagabahal may be seen as a third order space with its crossing street, hiti and chaitya. Bhinchebahal space presents a differing class within the third order neighborhood 'square'. These cursory observations apart, the study of Buddhist monasteries in the making of the urban spaces in Kathmandu is out of scope of this research.

It is been observed that the use and orientation of neighborhood spaces (third order) relate to the assigned jaat of the tole and their traditional trade. While such spaces belonging to the agricultural community were oriented with the long side aligned to north-south roughly to maximize sunny area for drying agricultural produces, while the neighborhood courts of the potters appears to seek mix of sun and shadows, with more of shadows. It may be noted that Malla towns were sectored into homogeneous neighborhoods, tole, by occupational trade and

capital towns were sectored into 24 toles. As there were more than 24 jaat, even more than 84 by some classifications, a neighborhood would have accommodated more than one jaat with close occupational relationships.

Fig.6: Urban spaces of Malla Patan. (map adapted from Theophile & Gutschow, -)

Space forming characteristics: Street

To study the ritually mediated character of streets (and also squares) of the past from the extant state after as much as two thousand years of overlapping use through various periods, we follow the methodology of inference set in urban anthropological and spatial studies of Nepal by such noted scholars as Gutschow, Herdick, Toffin, etc. We thus start with the position, given the strong religious conservatism and assimilative nature of the indigenous Newar, that a ritual once instituted tenaciously preserves its historic past and continues to reflect the structure of the town of the medieval period or even of the periods further back in time as overlapping living cultural layers ( (Tiwari, 2001)). Archeological finds have come in handy in support of logic of such assumptions. For example, at Hadigaun Satyanarayan excavation site, archeological trace of a building with bricks dated to about 2nd century BC have been found, which leaves little to doubt that geometric layout and proportioning system akin to those

incorporated in design templates like Vaastupurusha mandala, believed to have been accessed in Kathmandu valley only after the arrival of the Lichchhavi, were in use (Tiwari, 2001). This allows us to take the position that the Kirat built developments display use of advanced geometry and proportioning.

Fig. 7: Subaha (Drawing adapted from Raghuvamsi, 1998)

Judging from the central spaces of Andipringga (Dyochhe tole of Hadigaun), the Kirat streets appear as straight segments with right angular turns. Even ceremonial streets were kept quite narrow apparently just enough for the small khat (a palanquin for travel of god images) to move in ritual celebrations and making a two way pedestrian passage in regular living. For the period, the segments appear quite long. The uniformity of the width of street appear intentional and matter of fact. A widening of the street at the crossroads may relate to the function of negotiating the extended bamboo poles used to balance and carry the khat in shoulders of the bearers. This may explain why religious stone markers (such as numinous stones or resting seat stones with lotus leaf design, etc.). The intersection of the narrow path with the main street is marked by placing the jadhu on the opposite side of the main street.

Both the wide main street and the water supply appurtenance are likely to be Lichchhavi period changes and adjuncts.

In the Lichchavi period, as the use of geometry and prescribed patterns of streets and pathways were used to create cosmic patterns with temples and other markers placed on the nodes or extended axes and socially defined residence and workplace land use segregation, we find streets gaining hierarchical outlook with main streets supporting key festivals and jatra. As the classical rituals took hold, the streets would have found specialized travel function e.g. for the gods (jatra routes) and the living. The obeying of cosmic perceptions and laws by the Gods generated a series of divine movements in the city at specific times of cosmological conditioning. Vaisnav domination of rituals in Lichchhavi towns would have led the main streets

to stage jatra enacting the Narayan myths. Since, the later Gods came out in chariots larger than the khat of the Kirats, the streets became wider and closer stopping places may have been necessitated along a stretch of street. These stopping places are usually marked by pati, which appear provided as a preparatory stall or resting place. As a facility for living in town, the pati was located so as to maximize environmental advantage (a sunny or shaded spot with sufficient overhang to protect the building as well as to provide a shelter in the heavy rains) or to meet some social needs such as a place for the gathering of the elderly, children to play or women to hang washings to dry (when near hiti).

Fig 8: Durbar Square, Patan (Drawing adapted from Korn, 1976)

One of the Lichchhavi main street, the arterial street of Daxinakoligram (Kathmandu) has survived keeping its alignment and major Narayan nodes intact at Jaisidewal, Chikamugal and Kathmandu Durbar Square. The nodes in the northern section of the street were defined by the Dyochhe of the mother-goddesses of Koligram.

Surviving sections of Lichchhavi main streets at Maneswora also exhibit similar long wide stretches with nodes at street intersections as per the town pattern used, and marked by a large temple. The orientation of streets are off cardinal with actual directions possibly coordinated in principle with the approach axis to Pashupatinath, which seems to have been as the reference for all of the three major Lichchhavi towns (Maneswora, Daxinkoligram and Devapattana).

Fig. 9: The Main Street of Lichchhavi Town of Daxinkoligram (Kathmandu)

The Malla street character changed drastically as the geometric pattern based planning of the Lichchhavi was progressively discarded in favor of a informal organic network guided by the features of topography and the urban ground now dotted with power places, dyochhe, temples

and other markers while applying the organizing principle of the cosmic imaging and the newer mandala at a philosophical level.

Within the new form giving approaches, the streets continued to serve the movements of the divine, the living and the dead. It is notable that the reflection of the funerary routes in urban patterning, rather muted in earlier cultural periods, is much stronger now. As it was ordained that route of the dead and the route of the divine should not intersect, and the funerary paths linked each and every house to its designated funerary ghat, a very complex pattern of back lanes became laid out. An example of such patterning of funerary streets can be seen in the plotting for Bhaktapur done by Gutschow (See Figure 37 in Gutschow, 1982). The divine movements also became equally complex and myriad with the multi-cultural population celebrating as ardently both the main religions, Hinduism and Buddhism and their various forms, sects and cults. The overlapping layers of ritual mediations in the streets added charm and variety in the experience of moving of the living.

It has been pointed out that the system of pathways in the town, along which people move, is also the towns people's observation platform for seeing the city, perceiving the environment, comprehending it and developing a sense of being at home (Lynch, 1970). In Malla Kathmandu, almost like in a western city, 'streets primarily provided means of passage to respond to the welfare and peace of the living being, the jiva. The living and their routine movements primarily include performing daily religious rituals such as bathing in the rivers and sacred ponds, offering daily puja to various Gods to set the tone for the day, going to the farms and coming back, going to the market to buy/exchange mundane necessities and the like. These activities generated patterns of pathways linking rivers, ponds, temples, farms and markets to residences.' (Tiwari, 1989).

All the three movements i.e. of the divine, the living and the dead, have played their part in the definition, delineation and detailing of the Malla street and pathways. The streets appear to carry multiple myth and ritual stories offering choices and leading to varied alternative experiences as individuals or groups moved about their life in the town. The myriad of points of attraction along the street had made it like a string of short segments with a marker at each node. Each of the node told a number of stories pointing to alternative directions to take as the passersby moved to their destinations. The standard behavior expected of the resident also made these nodes in streets calming points for the busy and those in a hurry. In any ordinary day, the street is akin to a stream of people with diverse thoughts, desired directions and destinations and the marker in the nodes, which induced calming and harmonizing thoughts and movement, seems to have helped in the management of urban heterogeneity. A Malla street socially starts at the pikhalakhu, the auspicious stone set in front of the main door of the street side house marking the boundary of the family and moves through the intersection with

the chhwasa, also called kshetrapala (Pant, 2002), the boundary of the clan territory. A further segment away may be located the neighborhood deity (popularly Ganesh), which signified the boundary of the neighborhood and the place of arrival at the tole. The gradient set by these markers along the street helped to guide and harmonize social behavior on the street and public places.

Fig 10: Streamlining movements on streets - Social Gradient (Tiwari, 2015)

Unlike in Lichchhavi planning, the width of the street was not uniform in Malla period. The irregular narrowing and widening of the street in irregular stretches, the varying angularity of the bounding surfaces of street side houses and the provision of minor shrines or pedestrian furniture spaces in such opportune spaces presents the user with varied aesthetic experiences and potential for social and cultural dialogue with the site and the walking community. A system of voluntary set back aimed at augmenting the socio-cultural as well as environmental functions of the street side space practiced in the Malla society appears to have resulted in the type of width variation observed. Where such set back spaces were substantial, it led to the creation of public space called lachhi. Often new lachhi added sunny spots along the streets and supplemented spaces to augment socio-cultural or religious functions associated to the street or a marker or temple already consecrated there.

We thus find that the streets by virtue of their ritual and social mediation and the variety of elements located along the way, trigger memories, stories and myths that enable silent interaction with the thought processes of the passers-by. While the detailing and artistry of the element allow an interaction that can be slow and in pedestrian pace providing spots for interaction and exchange between the passersby, whose directionality and destination may

have been brought together thereby increasing social interculturation. The walk along with the elements and their specific details therefore allow physical, mental and spiritual juvenance in the individual level and religious, social and cultural juvenance at the community level, In a sense the urban space and its elements and the street and its constituents act together in maintaining a ritually bound social togetherness. They create, nourish and continue thick urbanism.

These public spaces formed by narrowing and widening of the arteries (lachhi) and interspersed with platforms (dabali) and resting pavilions (pati), numinous stones, shrines, chaitya and temples also offer restorative potions of sun and shadows, calm and breeze, sights and sounds, neutral 'voids' and spirited spots and etc. apparently catering physiological, psychological and spiritual recuperation and rest. The web of pathways provide alternative routes between originating and destination spaces with alternative experiences with differing drivers of motive and recipes of recharge.

Changes and Challenges from Contemporary life

At a time when virtual cyber space has become almost real as physical public space and as the more successful of the society spend more time indoors, why is it still worth for us to take up the issue of public urban spaces? What direction do we think the usage of public urban space go in such circumstances and expectations?

Several things are happening in the towns of Kathmandu Valley. All the three characteristics of urbanization i.e. heterogeneity, diversity and density have intensified over the decades in Kathmandu valley towns. They are all growing and intensifying and bursting at the seams of the housing areas, open spaces and transport corridors, to name the key urban contexts. The population of Kathmandu town has grown from about two hundred twenty five thousands in 1980 to over 1 million in a span of 30 years, most of the growth contributed by migrants from other ethnicities and cultures of Nepal, almost all of them traditionally non-urban in nature. The density of Kathmandu Metro today is in excess of 21000 persons per Km2. It was also the fastest growing city in Nepal at 4% annual growth of population over 2001-2011. And while this growth was happening, not only no new open spaces were added, but even the traditional ones have been reducing through misuse and building. This reduction of public spaces in streets and squares is a result of the encroachment not so much by the poor but more by the thoughtlessness of the public institutions entrusted to look after public good including public spaces. If we look around Pulchowk Stupa or Tundikhel, we can see the most terrible examples standing out. Outside the traditional urban cores, there has been no provision of open spaces for urban interaction and the new urban suburbs are nothing more than socio-cultural deserts.

Another important change that is happening is the breaking down of the traditional organization and structure of the society, particularly in the economically successful clans and neighborhoods of the Newar. Also as the heterogeneity continue to build up socially in Kathmandu with in-migration and as less of the traditional owners/users assert their territorial culture, we find a generally unmanaged ‘privatization’ of the public spaces. The occupation of others (since the incursion happens first in the ‘multi-cultural space’, which is easy to enter as the claim to use of space is more easily made in such spaces) is particularly evident in high streets, market squares and even durbar squares, which has been subjected to wanton commercialization. The cultural symbols and values have all but lost their meanings and the spaces have turned into something not much more than a second rate economic and environmental space. For quite a few users, the surviving environmental characteristics comes as a boon in an otherwise ‘space-less’ city.

The fast building up of socio-cultural diversities, particularly in the last decade and both in pace and scale in the ever decreasing public space in the traditional core have had its impact in virtually wipe out the socio-cultural characteristics and possibilities of the public urban spaces of Kathmandu Valley. Although, the situation is not as bad in mono-cultural spaces but there the crumbling structure of the original society has taken a larger toll by turning into a place devoid of identity and people willing to exercise socio-cultural care. Studies have shown that 75% of migrants have traversed medium to large social distances. The consequence of this large socio-economic differences between migrants and locals would be limited ability of the migrants to integrate with the local population well.

How are the original society, the new society and the public space coping with each other? Very little efforts at social group formation, local spatial attachment in neighborhoods and setting up of agreed ways of sharing (cultural processes to exercise/renew the society) are to be seen coming from either of the traditional and the new groups. What is there in these public urban spaces that may save the loss of society from perceived exclusion or intrusion? It must be these very age old principles of urbanism alone that can bring about integration and long lasting socio-cultural relationship. At least we have an illustrated model of urbanism in Kathmandu valley’s past that still offers possibilities on carrying the obtuse present into a meaningful future.

But with the massive damage wrought by the April 25 Gorkha Earthquake, the scenario may have changed forever. While we expect the first and second order spaces to be built back within a decade, it is difficult to say how much of the old street will be reclaimed through reconstruction. It is going to be real hard bargain for pedestrianism with local people looking for global futures.

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