Dwarika's Hotel

Dwarika's Hotel
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu.
Location within Nepal
General information
Location	Kathmandu, Nepal
Coordinates	27°42′17″N 85°20′34″E
Other information
Number of rooms	80
Number of suites	48
Website
www.dwarikas.com

Dwarika's Hotel is a luxury hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal, located in the Battisputali neighborhood. The hotel is a collection of traditional heritage Nepali houses centered around courtyards, making it one of Asia's finest hotels. With 80 rooms and 48 suites, Dwarika's Hotel took over 30 years to construct. It has been recognized with the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation for its commitment to preserving Nepali architectural traditions.^[1] It was awarded the PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association)Heritage Gold Award in 1980.^[2]

History

The hotel is renowned for its cultural preservation efforts. It began when founder Dwarika Das Shrestha decided to save old wood carvings from traditional Kathmandu buildings that were about to be discarded. In 1952, Shrestha saw carpenters cutting up an intricately carved wooden pillar of a demolished old building, to use as firewood.^[3] This inspired his lifelong mission to save and reuse these historic carvings.

Shrestha initially placed these carvings in a room housing a single master's student from abroad. The carvings garnered significant interest, leading Shrestha to conceive the idea of constructing guest rooms with traditional wood carvings, thus starting the hotel venture. He also revived the "Dacchiapa" technique, the Newari traditional method of making carved bricks. Shrestha passed away in 1992.^[3] His wife Ambica Shrestha continued the mission thereafter.

The hotel is managed by the Shrestha family and now possesses a large private woodwork collection. The restoration workshop that the late Dwarika Shrestha established to revive wood carvings as early as 1962 is still in operation, although it is now used only for significantly damaged pieces.^[4]

References

1. "UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation: 2006 Awards Jury Commendation for Innovation Entries".
2. unesdoc.unesco.org https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000140699/PDF/140699eng.pdf.multi. Retrieved 2024-07-19. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. Warren, William (2012). Asia's Legendary Hotels: The Romance of Travel. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 68–73. ISBN 9781462906741.
4. "Dwarika's Story". Archived from the original on 2011-07-12..

External links

• Official website
• Photographs