Kathmandu--Sujan Shrestha says it breaks his heart to look at the piles of rubble that are all that remain of the ancient Nepalese temples where he has worshipped all his life.
The 28-year-old shopkeeper grew up in a house just off Patan Durbar Square, a spectacular World Heritage site in the quake-hit Kathmandu Valley packed with ornately-carved Hindu temples, statues and a royal palace.
"We were always told that a big one was coming, but I never imagined that it would be this devastating," he said as he looked over the ruined square where he used to sell pashminas to tourists.
"I cannot believe that those temples collapsed, this place looks incomplete without them. It breaks my heart when I look around."
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit on April 25 has devastated the Himalayan nation's rich cultural heritage and left the Kathmandu Valley's three former royal squares in ruins.
The squares, which date back to when the valley was divided into three Hindu kingdoms, are at the heart of local life as well as being a huge draw to a country that relies heavily on tourist dollars.
"The quake left an impact on 90 percent of our heritage sites. It is difficult to value the loss," said Bhesh Narayan Dahal, the director general of the Department of Archaeology.
"The very next day after the earthquake, a team was deployed to assess the damage and make an inventory of what was found.
"Our concern is to not let any antiquity or items of value to leave the site. Our teams are working to keep a record and collect details."
The UN's culture agency UNESCO said the damage to the three squares in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur -- all world heritage sites -- was "absolutely dramatic".
"We are in contact with the government and pushing them very hard to protect these sites and not to increase this damage now," said Christian Manhart, head of UNESCO in Nepal.
AFP
