There is perhaps no country in the world where traditional architecture, painting and sculpture are as well preserved, For 1500 years, Nepal has been famed as a central of temple building, metalwork and woodcarving, and for centuries has sent its precious art objects to other centers of civilization. Today, many of its craft skills are undiminished. To better understand the deep and complex roots of Nepalese culture, it is necessary to look at Nepal’s ancient past.

Archaeology

Tilaurakot:Over the past few decades’ archaeological work has been conducted in the Terai region of the country where Nepal’s first settlements were probably located. Tilaurakot, for example, used to be the capital of the Shakya dynasty and is situated in Kapilavastu district in western Nepal. The present archaeological site extends over an area of mote than five square kilometers. The central portion, measuring approximately five thousand meters by four thousand meters, is surrounded by a citadel built at three different periods. The first and second ancient citadel walls are made of mud and date from 600 to 200 B.C. While the third wall appears to have been constructed with kiln burnt bricks around 150 B.C. The eastern gate, the eastern stupa, the Ashita Apsidal Stupa and a defence wall were first discovered at the site. More recent excavations brought to light the majestic western gateway complex including the watchman’s room, six meter wide roads of different periods (with cart – track impressions), the moat on the east and west, three periods of defence walls and the northern twin stupas made and enlarged between the fourth and second centuries B.C. The central portion of the site has also been excavated and various brick structures from the third century B.C. to the second century A.D. have been unearthed. Water storage tanks, big jars, brick and terra-cotta ring wells and a fire-altar have also been found. Other antiquities discovered at the site are human and animal terra-cotta figurines (dated 400 B.C. to A.D. 200) Silver punch-marked coins early cast coins with symbols, Kushan coins, and pieces of Sunga and Kushan pottery. Apart from these antiquities, practical items such as terra-cotta cart wheels, iron implements, nails, arrowheads, bone and copper rods, dice and fishing hooks have also been found.

Gotihawa:These ancient ruins are situated eleven kilometers south of Tilaurakot and six kilometers south-west of Taulihawa, the present district headquarters. To the north of the Gotihawa village, there is an ancient brick stupa and an Ashokan pillar. The lower portion, with its square granite base stone, is still intact but the crowning features and inscriptional portions are missing. The site can be safely identified as the Nrivan stupa of Kakuchhanda Buddha (one of the previous Buddha's), whose hometown lies within one kilometer of this stupa-pillar complex.

Sagarahawa:This site is located two kilometers north of Tilaurakot on the bank of the Banganga river. It was excavated in 1896 and seventeen miniature stupas were found there.
In the same general region, sites of ancient civilization have been identified at Lumbini, Banjarhi, Nipaniya and Kadyatawa, to mention just a few. Several important brick temples, one of which has been fully excavated. It appears to have been built in the Sunga period and shows two phases of construction. There is a two-meter high rectangular platform supported from the inside by cross walls. So far no image either of stone or terra-cotta has been found during the excavations; however, a number of silver punch-marked coins have been found.

Varahakshetra:This is another important temple site located at the confluence of the Koka and Koshi rivers. The site is known to belong to the period of later Guptas, who had issued a copper grant for the two Varaha images found there. There are also many miniature Gupta period temple replicas, which suggest that many such temples and idols were made during the sixth and seventh centuries A.D.

Narasingha Tappu:Some years ago, while cultivating lands at Narasingha Tappu, close to the present town of Itahari, and idol of Vishnu was discovered. The image belongs to the fifth or sixth century A.D., and is of the Gupta tradition. It is now kept inside a local Shiva temple. The site, according to local people, also contains pottery items, indicating that it was inhabited as early as the Gupta dynasty (fourth-fifth century A.D.).

Janakpur:At Ram-Janaki temple complex near Janakpur there is an important image depicting Uma lying on a bed and feeding a baby. Ganesh and Kumar are also depicted in the panel while on the top of the scene is a Shiva linga. The piece dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century A.D. and belongs to the Karnatakas of Simaraongarh.

Simaraongarh:This was the old capital city of the Karnatakas of Mithila and was built by King Nanyadeva in A.D. 1097-98. The ruins of the city extend over an area of 16 kilometers which is still surrounded by a high wall of kiln-burnt bricks. There are more than one hundred images and sculptures scattered throughout the area. Most are made of black schist stone and are nicely polished; a few are made of sandstone. The images at the site are of Vishnu, Narayan, Lakshmi-Narayan, Shankarsana, Garudopari Vishnu, Uma-Maheshwara, Durga, Shiva and Surya. In different parts of Simaraongarh, there are remains of temples and gateways of the old city. Other sites bearing Karnataka images and sculptures are Kanchanpur (near Rajbiraj), Murtiya (west of Janakpur) and Valmiki Nagar (near the Gandaki barrage), as well as several other places between the Gandaki and Sapta Koshi rivers.

Painting:Two media that reveal a lot about Nepalese culture, both past and present, are painting and sculpture. Fortunately, there are many fine and well-preserved pieces that have survived the passage of time and thus enable detailed research to be made. Looking briefly at the history of Nepalese painting, it appears that ancient icons and religious paintings entered the Valley during the Lichchhavi period. Lichchhavi inscriptions inform us that traders, monks and Brahmans, as well as artists from neighbouring areas, visited Kathmandu Valley from the mid-fifth century A.D. The visitors may have brought religious icons and paintings with them which served as models for local artists.

The Chinese envoy, Wang Hsuan Tse, who came to Nepal in the seventh century A.D., described quite eloquently the houses in the Valley, which at that early time were embellished with sculptures and paintings. Although there are no surviving examples of paintings from the Lichchhavi period, it can be surmised that the murals or wall-paintings noticed by the Chinese envoy were just as sophisticated as the surviving pieces of culture from this period.

The earliest examples of Nepalese painting are in the form of manuscript illustrations on palm leaves. Nepalese manuscripts go back to the ninth century; however, not all early manuscripts were illustrated. The earliest known example of an illustrated manuscript is the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita, dated A.D.1015. These manuscripts invariably consist of narrow folios of palm leaves about thirty centimeters long, depending on the text, but not wider than five centimeters. The manuscripts are perforated in two places, loosely held together with string and protected by wooden covers on both sides. These wooden covers, a large number of which have survived, are more lavishly painted than the manuscripts themselves. In palm leaf manuscripts the scribes left spaces for the artist to later paint in the figures of divinities.

After the introduction of paper, palm leaf became less popular; however it continued to be used until the eighteenth century. Early paper manuscripts imitated the oblong shape but were wider than the palm leaves.

Nepal has several ancient pilgrimage sites. Each temple is attached to a legend or belief that glorifies the miraculous powers of its deity. Kathmandu Valley is home to the famous Pashupatinath Temple, Swayambhu Stupa and several other famous temples. Hundreds of famous temples are located in and around the Kathmandu Valley. Some well-known pilgramage sites are: Barah Chhetra, Halesi Mahadev, Janakpur, Pathibhara, Tengboche in East Nepal; Manakaman, Gorkha, Lumbini, Muktinath, Gosainkunda, Tansen, Kathmandu Valley in Central Nepal; and Swargadwari, Khaptad Ashram in West Nepal.

Nepal is also the Gateway to Kailash Mansarovar, the mythical abode of Lord Shiva. Devotees from various parts of Nepal and India throng the temples during special festivals. Even though weak infrastructure renders some places hard to reach, efforts are being made on national level to develop and promote some popular sites.

Pilgrimage sites of Nepal like Muktinath and Gosainkunda make popular trekking destinations. Tours to these sites are encouraged for the novelty they provide in terms of nature and culture.