Directorate
Christiane Brosius
Professor of Visual and Media Anthropology at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS). Christiane Brosius is conducting research on urban transformation in Patan as well as on artistic production and social change in Kathmandu Valley. She has been involved in PhotoKathmandu 2015, with ‘Patis in Patan’, a photographic ‘heritage walk’ co-curated with Sujan Chitrakar, School of Art and Design, Kathmandu University. Christiane also coordinated funding of post-earthquake reconstruction of phalcas in Lalitpur funded by Mohr Foundation, with Padma Sundar Maharjan.
Dr. RAJAN KHATIWODA
Chief Scientific Documentation Coordinator
Dr. Rajan Khatiwoda is the Chief Scientific Documentation Coordinator in the Nepal Heritage Documentation Project (NHDP) at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (HAdW). Khatiwoda studied Classical Indology at Heidelberg University, from where he received his PhD in 2017. His dissertation deals with the formation and enforcement of the Mulukī Ain, Nepal’s first legal code promulgated in 1854. From 2013 to 2016, he was part of the Cluster´s Project A14 "Transcultural Legal Flows in 18th- and 19th-Century South Asia." Since 2014, Khatiwoda is research associate at the South Asian Institute, Heidelberg University, and the Research Unit "Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal," Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Previously, he worked as a research assistant and cataloguer for the Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project (NGMCP) and the Nepal Research Centre (NRC) in Kathmandu for nine years (2004–2013). His recent publications include:
2024: Homicide Law in 19th-Century Nepal: A Study of the Mulukī Ains and Legal Documents
2021: The Mulukī Ain of 1854: Nepal’s First Legal Code.
rajan.khatiwoda@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de
www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/people/all/person/persdetail/khatiwoda.html
Prof. Dr. Axel Michaels
Directorate and coordination
Senior Professor and Member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Axel Michaels has been researching on Newar rituals in Bhaktapur along with Niels Gutschow. He is also the leader of the project 'Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal' at Academy. Axel has published widely on Nepalese culture and traditions, his latest publication being 'Kultur und Geschichte Nepals' (Kröner 2018) (English translation 'Culture and History of Nepal').
michaels@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de
https://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/krs/abteilung/michaels.html
Roshan Mishra
Directorate and coordination
Roshan is the Director at Taragaon Museum and a visual artist based in Kathmandu. He also manages the Nepal Architecture Archive (NAA), which is run by the Saraf Foundation for Himalayan Traditions and Culture, a patron organization of the Taragaon Museum.
Since 2014, he has been affiliated with the Museum and has been working with its permanent collection, launching of the Contemporary Art Gallery and creation of a Library. He has been curating the external and internal exhibitions those are organized at the Taragaon Museum.
Roshan is a visiting faculty at the Kathmandu University for research, archiving and documentation program. He studied Fine Arts in Nepal and in the UK, and holds a Master’s Degree in Digital Art.
roshanmishra@taragaonmuseum.com
Varun Saraf
Directorate and coordination
A third generation hotelier, Varun has a deep routed connection to Nepal. Having lived his formative years in Nepal, he has launched several social enterprises in the country.
He oversees the activities of the Saraf Foundation for Himalayan Tradition and Culture as well as the Taragaon Museum. He is interested in waste management for which he created a company that manages 15 tons of waste in the city of Kathmandu on a daily basis.
Further, he is developing a centre at the Sagarmatha National Park in the upper Khumbu region of Nepal to show how tourism, environment and sustainability can create a circular economy that benefits all stakeholders.
varunsaraf@charteredhotels.com
Pabitra Bajracharya
Administrative Assistant
Pabitra holds an MA degree in Business Studies from Tribhuvan University (Kirtipur, Nepal) and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Development, Environment, Societies and History in South Asia (MADESH) from Heidelberg University (Germany). Within NHDP, she worked as a research assistant, organizing historical data and the project's literary resources. She is working as an administrative assistant at NHDP.
She overviews and monitors all administrative tasks, the monthly reports, and takes care of the financial matters. She is the connecting link between the Nepal and Heidelberg teams, the Saraf Foundation, the administration of Heidelberg University, and the Heidelberg Academy of Science and Humanities.
pabitrabajracharya69@gmail.com
Dr. Manik Bajracharya
Dr. Manik Bajracharya is a scholar of Buddhism and member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities as a researcher in the project Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal.
For NHDP, he supervises translations, specialising in Newari terminology and works as a consultant.
Prof. Dr. Niels Gutschow
Niels Gutschow, born in 1941 in Hamburg as the son of an architect, first came to Nepal in 1962. He studied architecture in Darmstadt and returned to Bhaktapur in 1971 as a member of a team to restore the Pujarimath.
During the 1970s his research focused on Urban Space and Ritual; later he shifted toward architectural surveys which materialised in two major publications (among many others),
'The Nepalese Caitya: 1500 Years of Buddhist Votive Architecture in the Kathmandu Valley' (1997) and 'Architecture of the Newars: A History of Building Typologies and Details in Nepal' (2011).
For three decades, Niels lived between residences in Tahaja (near Bhaktapur) and Abtsteinach (Germany). Since 2003, he has been an Honorary Professor at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University. He supported the project in its formative years as the head of the architectural documentation team.
Dr. Ashish Karmacharya
In 2011, Dr. Ashish Karmacharya received his Ph.D. from the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France in the field of Information Science. His research focused on the integration of semantic frameworks into spatial technology. He has also been associated with i3mainz, a research institute of Mainz University of Applied Sciences as a research scientist, and was involved in research projects on the application of semantic technologies including computer vision, data science, GIS and cultural heritage. Within NHDP, Ashish was responsible for the development of the ARCHES platform and system administration. He continues to support the team as a consultant.
Dr. Monalisa Maharjan
Monalisa Maharjan received her PhD in Art History in 2016 from the University of Évora, Portugal, where she was an Erasmus Mundus Fellow. Her thesis explores the entanglement of Tangible and Intangible Heritage in Kathmandu Valley, providing a case study of the Yenya Punhi festival and the role of ritual Newar associations (guthi) in the process. Since 2016 Monalisa has worked at the UNESCO Chair for Intangible Cultural Heritage and Traditional know-how at CIDEHUS (Centro Interdisciplinar de História, Culturas e Sociedades da Universidade de Évora) as a research fellow. She is also associated with international organizations such as ICOMOS and the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ICH network co-coordinator). Her research interests are Intangible Cultural Heritage, indigenous knowledge, community participation, sustainability and UNESCO Conventions. She has worked on the research and documentation of inscriptions, for NHDP and its associated project ‘Anthropology of inscriptions’. She continues to support the project as a consultant.
Ashesh Rajbansh
Ashesh Rajbansh works as a Brand Executive at Nepa Hima Trade Link P. Ltd and Kathmandu University. He has served as the Brand Manager and technical support person for DLSR users for Canon in Nepal from 2002 till 2010. He is a passionate photographer. His photos were published by Canon Singapore as a table calendar for 2010. Having worked for many multinational brands, major hotels and resort chains in Nepal, he has contributed to and featured in many international publications. As an associate of NHDP, Ashesh conducts workshops on heritage photography for the team and also supports the work with documentation of selected monuments.
Dr. Nutandhar Sharma
Nutandhar Sharma has a PhD in Buddhist Studies and two Master’s degrees in Culture and History respectively. He is an independent researcher, freelance journalist and a lecturer for tourist guides. Since 1980, he has been involved in field research for different projects on Nepalese and Indian culture and is an author of many books and articles. He has won the Regional Talent Award for Cultural Scholars and the Education Medal by the Government of Nepal. As an expert on Newar culture, rituals, and language, Nutan collects social, anthropological and historical data for NHDP.
Kashinath Tamot
Kashinath Tamot is an expert of Classical Newari involved in freelance research, notably in research on Kumari, Nepalmandal and Nepal Samvat, and as the chief compiler of the Classical Newari Dictionary published in 2000 CE. He is also the founder of the movement of Nepālamaṇḍala as Newar Identity. While he was a part of the Nepal German Manuscript Cataloguing Project, his hundreds of articles in Nepalbhasa, Khasbhasa and English have been published in various journals and magazines. He retired as Reader from the Central Department of Nepalbhasa, TU.
Anil Basukala
Anil Basukala studied at the Lalit Kala Campus of Fine Arts, Kathmandu, and has been since working predominantly as a specialist for measured drawings and heritage architecture surveys.
As a draftsman, he has been involved in several major projects with Prof. Dr. Niels Gutschow in Nepal, India, Cambodia and Mongolia (1994-2004). His contributions to architectural history and documentation are widely regarded as products of art, demonstrating his capacity to treat a drawing as more than just a technical aid.
In addition to this, he has been working as an overseer for several restoration and rebuilding projects, such as the Itumbaha Restoration Project in Kathmandu, where he ensures that materials are treated carefully, and that the quality of work is upheld.
Anil is also involved in the post-earthquake reconstruction of Patan Durbar Square. Within NHDP, he works as a draftsman and photographer.
Bibek Basukala
Bibek Basukala grew up watching people around him working in the field of cultural and architectural heritage in Nepal.
He is currently studying at the Nepal Engineering College, Bhaktapur. He also worked for the Kathmandu Valley Preservation trust as an Intern in restoring the Char Narayana temple in the Patan Durbar Square premises. Bibek is keen on continuing the preservation of Kathmandu Valley's heritage. Within NHPD, he works as a draftsman.
Bijay Basukala
Bhaktapur-born engineer and draftsman Bijay Basukala began working on monument documentation with the help of a scholarship from the Bhaktapur Development Project as early as 1984.
An expert in Newari architecture, he has been involved in a long-standing and in-depth work collaboration with Prof. Dr. Niels Gutschow since 1987. His work includes the documentation and restoration of Vambaha and Subaha, the Butwal and Godavari temple complexes.
Basukala worked with the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust to guide the restoration of the Kulimha Narayana temple in Patan, Itumbaha in Kathmandu. He has been the leader of a project to rebuild the Harishankara Temple on Patan's Darbar Square since 2015.
In addition to this, his work has led him to survey heritage architecture internationally, most notably in Cambodia (Preah Ko temple complex) and Mongolia (Erdene Zu temple complex).
Within NHDP, Bijay creates architectural drawings.
Yogesh Budathoki
Yogesh Budathoki has worked as a photographer in two long-term heritage documentation projects: the NGMPP (Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project) and its successor, the NGMCP (Nepal-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project). For NHDP, Yogesh works mainly as a photographer, digitizer and contributes to metadata inputs. He also supports the administrative task of the NHDP office and the team in Patan.
Jagat Lama
Jagat Lama supports the team in Patan with organisational, culinary and practical tasks and competence.
Bharat Maharjan
Bharat Maharjan graduated with honors from Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu in 2014 with a Master’s degree in Newari Language and Culture (Nepalbhasa) and in 2021 in Nepalese History, Culture and Archaeology. He also graduated as a painter from Lalit Kala Campus of Fine Arts in 2009. He worked as a teacher at the Central Department of Nepalbhasa of TU and at the Tribhuvan University Press. Previously, he worked as a Research Assistant as part of the Inscription Inventory Project of Patan Municipality. Within NHDP, he is working on historical as well as linguistic sources. He is also the representative of NHDP in Nepal and supports the team in administrative capacity.
Pankaj Nakarmi
Pankaj Nakarmi holds Master’s Degree in Nepal Bhasha (Newari language) from Patan Multiple Campus and a degree in Fine Arts. He studied Business Studies from Tribhuvan University (TU) and has worked as a manager in a co-operative bank. As a part of NHDP, Pankaj assists the history and anthropology team in collecting information about historical, social and religious events and activities.
Thomas Schrom
Thomas Schrom is an architect and restoration expert. He has been active in Nepal and Bhutan since 1991 and has been engaged in restoration projects such as the Patan Museum and the Patan Durbar.Following the 2015 earthquake, he worked on the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (cultural sector) under the Nepal Government and UNESCO Nepal.
Since 2016, Thomas has been working closely with the Department of Archaeology on the establishment of the digital "Cultural Heritage Information Systems" (CHIMS). Within NHDP, he works as a documentation consultant, where he supervises the in situ architectural dcumentation work of monastic courtyards (baha/bahi) and other monuments in Patan and Kathmandu.
Rabi Acharya
Rabi Acharya holds an M.A. degree from Nepal Sanskrit University in Sanskrit literature and Buddhist philosophy. He has worked as a manuscript cataloguer in 'Nepal-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project' (NGMCP) from 2003-2014. He also worked in the project 'Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal' at Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Within NHDP he worked as an epigraphist in the Patan team.
Safal Dhakhwa
Safal Dhakhwa is pursuing his Bachelor's Degree in Business Studies while interning at the Nepal Heritage Documentation Project, where he focuses on digitizing, cataloging, and organizing data. He also manages photo categorization and archival duties as part of his role.
Prasanna Bajracharya
Prasanna Bajracharya is a 3D artist specializing in computer games such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Studies from Tribhuvan University. Alongside his experience in working with 3D, he has also assembled competencies in photography and videography in different institutions. For NHDP, he will contribute his skills in photography and visual design.
prasannabajracharya17@gmail. Com
Elias Michaels
Elias Michaels holds an MA degree in Geography (focal area Geographical Development Research) from the Freie Universität Berlin. He has been working for the German United Nations Society and has spent several months in Nepal as an intern with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Within NHDP he is responsible for database management as well as GIS, mappings, and the development of the Heritage Walk App.
Ashish Gautam
Developer
After studying Computer Science and Engineering from VTU, Belgaum, India, Ashish Gautam joined UNESCO, Kathmandu as an IT Consultant for the development and implementation of Cultural Heritage Information & Management System for the Government of Nepal called CHIMS using an open source framework called Arches.
His expertise is built on work for UNESCO & Department of Archaeology, Nepal and within NHDP he works as a full stack developer.
Amogh Bajracharya
Amogh Bajrcaharya is a student assistant at the NHDP. He is originally from Patan, Nepal, and has been in Germany since 2012. He is a bachelor’s student majoring in Computational Linguistics and English studies at Heidelberg University. For the NHDP, he does the processing of monument images.
Pradip Ghimire
Pradip holds an MA degree in Vedic Astronomy from Nepal Sanskrit University, Nepal. Prior to his current pursuits, he served as a sub-editor at Kantipur Media Group. Currently, he is pursuing another MA degree in Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology) at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University. He has also been working as a research assistant at the research unit 'Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Premodern Nepal' of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. As a research assistant for the NHDP, he contributes to the study and analysis of inscriptions, historical documents, and other textual sources related to the monument.
Chaaru Jain
Chaaru is currently pursuing a Masters in Development, Economics, Societies and History of South Asia at Universität Heidelberg. Over the course of her undergraduate studies, she was awarded a grant by the Leiden University Fund to conduct archival research at the Gurkha Museum in Winchester (2022). Her research interests range from postcolonial representation, oral histories, indigenous knowledge to water management, food security and sustainable urban planning.
Within the NHDP project, she works with transcripts, data organization and assist with research on urban transformation in Kathmandu Valley.
Former Team Members
Intern
Ashma Adhikari completed her Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies from the Kathmandu University, with a keen interest in photography and anthropology. She has worked as a freelance photographer for the in the past and also has gained experience in creation of short documentaries. As an in intern with NHDP, she was working as a photographer and providing visual metadata inputs.
Developer
After studying Computer Science and Engineering from VTU, Belgaum, India, Bishwo Bijaya Shah joined UNESCO, Kathmandu as an IT Consultant for the development and implementation of Cultural Heritage Information & Management System for the Government of Nepal called CHIMS using an open source framework called Arches.
His expertise is built on work for UNESCO & Department of Archaeology, Nepal and within the NHDP he is working as a full stack developer.
HEIDELBERG TEAM
Bishal Diganta holds a Master’s degree in Health and Society in South Asia from Heidelberg University (2021) and another one in Sociology from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (2017). He has previously worked in the GeKo Project (2020) funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany, as a data analyst (2020) for Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, and in SUTRA (Himachal Pradesh), India. He is currently working as Research Data Manager in the project ‘Heritage as Placemaking (HAP)’, funded by the Riksbankens Jubilieumsfond, Sweden. Within NHDP, Bishal is responsible for database management and synchronization between DANAM and HeidICON.
Heidelberg team
Charlotte von Waitz studied Anthropology (B.A.) at Heidelberg University, with a keen interest in Nepali language and culture as well as urban anthropology and art history. Within the NHDP she participated in data gathering about phalcās (public rest houses) and ethnographic research about their usage by the local communities.
Heidelberg team
David C. Andolfatto studied Asian archaeology at Marc Bloch University, Strasbourg (BA) and at Paris Sorbonne University (MA and PhD). His research focuses on the archaeology, history and art history of Nepal, especially in the Kathmandu Valley and in West Nepal.
From 2015 to 2018, Andolfatto worked as a consultant for the UNESCO Kathmandu Office. During this period, he conducted archaeological excavations on heritage sites and coordinated different preservation projects.
His PhD thesis on the archaeology of West Nepal led him to document historical sites and artefacts in this largely overlooked part of the country. As a part of NHDP, Andolfatto provides data on heritage sites of the area comprised between Jumla and the Mahakali river (Nepal-India border).
Heidelberg Team
Dikshya Karki is a researcher on Nepali arts, films and cities. She has a PhD from the Heidelberg University. She holds an MA degree in Arts & Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
She worked as a researcher for the project “Rethinking Art, Patis in Patan” and its exhibition in Photo Kathmandu 2015 as well as for a retrospective exhibition of Nepali artist Birendra Pratap Singh.
For NHDP, she contributes to the arrangement of visual and textual materials.
Intern
Hrijata Dahal studied Bachelors in Media Studies at Kathmandu University School of Arts (KUSOA), Lalitpur. She has worked behind the camera for TV talk shows, produced video essays and also conceptualized and executed a social ad campaign. In the past, she has also contributed photographs to The Rising Nepal and reported a news article for Nepali Times weekly. She worked as a photography intern in NHDP.
Directorate and coordination
Ina Buchholz graduated from Heidelberg University in 2009 with an M.A. in Islamic Studies. After working in the Research Collaboratory “Ritual Dynamics”, she moved to the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe” where she coordinated the Chairs “Visual Media Anthropology” and “Buddhist Studies” for 10 years. Within NDHP, she overviewed and monitored all administrative tasks, the monthly reports, and the financial matters.
Heidelberg Team
Jennifer Landes studied business informatics with focus on marketing management and IT-security at the Mannheim University. In her master thesis, she assessed several IT security frameworks and implemented an individual strategy for a certification in a software firm. Since 2013, she works at the South Asia Institute as IT delegate in the areas of IT- website programming and press and public relations. She also worked on several beneficial and non- commercial website projects. As a part of NHDP, she was responsible for database management and synchronization between DANAM and HeidICON.
Heidelberg team
Julia Meckl is MA student of Development, Environment, Societies, and History in South Asia at Heidelberg University with interest in space and social practice, heritage, and Nepali language. She holds a BA in South Asian Studies and Anthropology. Within NHDP, she assisted with the research on phalcās (public rest houses).
HEIDELBERG TEAM
Lara holds an MA degree in Media, Communication and Literature from the Department of Modern South Asian Languages, Heidelberg University. In 2016 she completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Hindi Literature from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. For the NHDP she works as a research assistant organizing data on inscriptions, profiling and translating them from modern Nepali.
Heidelberg Team
Lily Djami studied applied computer science in Heidelberg University (2021). She has previously worked with the Waterproofing Data project at the Institute of Geography, Heidelberg. Since 2018 she works as a student assistant for the IT team at the South Asia Institute. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in computer science at the Goethe University Frankfurt. For NHDP, Lily is responsible for database management and synchronization between DANAM and HeidICON.
Heidelberg team
Lizeth Ortiz studied Transcultural Studies (M.A.) at Heidelberg University. She holds a B.A in Anthropology (2015) and a Specialization Degree in Do-No-Harm approaches and Peace building (2017) from National University of Colombia. She worked as a student assistant for the Chair of Visual and Media Anthropology at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS). Within NHDP, she contributed to the revision and management of literature and visual resources of the project.
Heidelberg team
Matthias Arnold graduated from Heidelberg University in 2003 with an M.A. in East Asian Art History, Classical Chinese and European Art History. As a member of the Heidelberg Research Architecture he coordinated the development of various digitization and database projects. Within NHDP, he was responsible for managing visual resources and metadata quality, as well as overseeing data sustainability. Along with Dr. Ashish Karmacharya, he conceptualized the development of the Arches platform.
Heidelberg Team
Manvi Gautam has a Master's degree in Transcultural Studies from Heidelberg University. She has formerly worked as a journalist and in television production in India, and has a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi. She contributed to the revision and management of visual resources as part of NHDP.
Heidelberg Team
Mhairi Montgomery holds an M.A. in Transcultural Studies from Heidelberg University and an M.St. in Women's Studies at the University of Oxford. She previously worked as a Student Assistant at the Chair for Visual and Media Anthropology at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies. As a part of NHDP, she was responsible for proofreading the English language texts uploaded to DANAM.
NEPAL TEAM
Nashib Kafle worked as Office Manager and Documentation Associate at NHDP office in Nepal. He holds a double degree in MA Health and Society in South Asia from Heidelberg University, Germany as well as Media Studies from Kathmandu University, Nepal. His work experience ranges from journalism and social science research, communications management and visual media to data processing and work coordination.
Nepal Team
Praagya is a student of Art History and Visual Culture at Bard College. At NHDP he is focusing on the documentation of art and architecture from the Rana period in Nepal. His research particularly emphasizes the neoclassical architectural style found in royal and residential palaces, as well as the Indo-Mughal motifs present in Hindu temples. Additionally, he has a keen interest in the illustrated manuscripts of Nepal.
Nepal Team
An architect by profession (B.Arch, IOE), Padma Sundar Maharjan is currently working on heritage conservation. He worked as senior site architect for the reconstruction of four temples destroyed by the 2015 earthquake in Kathmandu Darbār square (UNESCO World Heritage Site) under the Kathmandu Valley Preservation trust (KVPT). Maharjan is setting up the “Traditional Buildings Inventory” (TBI) in Nepal. He also has been a lecturer at the Himalayan college of Engineering, Pātan since 2010. Within NHDP, he contributed to the making of maps and drawings of the monuments.
Nepal Team
Rabi Acharya holds an M.A. degree from Nepal Sanskrit University in Sanskrit literature and Buddhist philosophy. He has worked as a manuscript cataloguer in 'Nepal-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project' (NGMCP) from 2003-2014. He also worked in the project 'Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal' at Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Within NHDP he worked as an epigraphist in the Patan team.
Nepal Team
Rishi Govinda Amatya used to work as the the project manager at NHDP’s office in Patan, where he was responsible for the office and fieldwork organisation. He holds an M.A. degree in Heritage Management from the University of Birmingham. He is a writer and researcher of local culture and heritage. Rishi also works towards making myths, history and intangible cultural heritage relevant and accessible for young adults in Nepal. He has produced two self-guided heritage maps for children in partnership with the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust and Patan Museum and is now working on a heritage map for Kathmandu Durbar Square.
Heidelberg Team
Radha Malkar holds an MA degree in Transcultural Studies (2020) from Heidelberg University, and another one in Ancient History (2017) from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
She has previously worked with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Pune Chapter.
Within the NDHP she overviews and monitors all administrative tasks, the monthly reports, and takes care of the financial matters. She is the connecting link between the Nepal and Heidelberg teams, the Saraf Foundation, the administration of Heidelberg University, and the Heidelberg Academy of Science and Humanities.
Nepal Team
Rajendra Shakya completed his M.A. in Newar studies with honors from the Tribhuvan University (TU). He has translated and edited many legal documents of the late 19th century mostly from Tsum and Kutang in Upper Gorkha region for Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Premodern Nepal. Rajendra was a craftsman before he started working as a journalist in 2003 and was affiliated to various electronic media till the end of 2014. He spent a longer part of his career in the radio, producing programs on Newar history, culture, art and architecture, along with current affairs for Ujyaalo 90 Network. For NHDP, he translates and interprets texts and inscriptions.
Heidelberg team
After studying Classical Indology and Linguistics at Nepal Sanskrit University and Tribhuvan University, Ramhari Timalsina received his doctoral degree in Classical Indology from Göttingen University. Since April 2018, he has been working as a research fellow at the research unit ‘Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Premodern Nepal’ of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. His research within NHDP contributed to the study of inscriptions, historical documents and other textual sources related to the monuments.
Intern
Sabrina Dangol is a visual storyteller based in Kathmandu, working as a freelancer, exploring write-ups, poetry, and multimedia storytelling. She has worked with different NGOs to produce photo stories/essays of the earthquake survivors, civil war survivors, and child-soldiers. Her work on the stories of girl trafficking survivors was exhibited in the Kathmandu Triennale, 2016. In 2019, Sabrina received a scholarship to attend an international photography workshop in China. and was selected for the Angkor photography workshop and festival in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As an intern with NHDP, she supported the visual documentation of monuments.
Nepal Team
Shekhar Dongol, an architect by profession (B. Arch, IOE) has been involved with John Sanday Associates since 2006. He worked as an assistant field director for the heritage conservation and restoration of various monasteries in Upper Mustang. Within NHDP, he created architectural drawings of monuments.
Nepal Team
Sanjina Shakya from Chyasal, Lalitpur is our Intern at NHDP, Nepal. Currently pursuing her Bachelors Degree in Computer Application as a First-year student, Sanjina has been with the NHDP team since November of 2022 and works across various platforms ensuring that the digitization and cataloguing of data goes as planned.
Sanjina additionally also works on photo categorization and archiving. Having grown up in the historic streets of Lalitpur, the young lady is keen on preserving her heritage and roots and is our youngest enthusiastic colleague in the Team!
Nepal Team
An architect by profession (B.Arch, IOE), Sabina Tandukar is associated with Rich Architectures Co. where she primarily works in heritage documentation and preservation. She was involved in the restoration and reconstruction of four temples in Kathmandu Darbār square (UNESCO World Heritage Site) under Kathmandu Valley Preservation trust (KVPT). She also worked as an archivist at Nepal Architectural Archive, supported by Saraf Foundation for Himalayan Traditions. Within NHDP, she contributed to the making of maps and drawings of the monuments.
Directorate and coordination
Tanja Haufer holds a MA degree in Japanese Studies from the Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen. She is working as an administrative assistant at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies coordinating the student exchange programs since 2021.
Within the NDHP she overviews and monitors all administrative tasks, the monthly reports, and takes care of the financial matters. She is the connecting link between the Nepal and Heidelberg teams, the Saraf Foundation, the administration of Heidelberg University, and the Heidelberg Academy of Science and Humanities.
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