CU Chisel/ Nunem carving

FX:  Chipping/Music

Starts:00:00:00

Roy:  Nunem Raj Shakya is a master craftsman. One of only two Kathmandu sculptors practicing the dying art of soft stone carving.

00:07

Music

sculptures

Roy:  For centuries, Nepal's stone sculptors have been an important part of its cultural heritage.

00:22

Almost all its icons and gods survived the ages etched in stone.

00:29

The art form, which enjoyed the patronage of kings, was traditionally passed down through generations, until the modern age intervened.

00:34

Music

Kathmandu street

Roy:  Today in the back streets of Kathmandu, this age old Nepalese tradition is being revived.

00:45

Nunem:  The Shakya clan have always been sculptors. It's always been our caste

00:56

Nunem

that's done this type of work because only we possess the magical Tantric knowledge - the power to call the gods and deities and command them to dance.

Sculptures

Roy:  And it was this magical power, the ability to converse with gods, and carve their secret dances on the kings' temples, that made stone carvers indispensable.

01:23

But when the construction of temples stopped, so did stone carving.

01:34

The craft only survived because some families nurtured the skills and passed them from father to son.

01:42

Family carving

Nunem:  From the time I was eight years old I worked with my father following his every direction and I have been working at what he taught me ever since.  It's a generation thing --

01:50

Nunem

Passed on from my great grandfather to my grandfather and then to my father and so on to me.  Now I teach my son,  and my grandchildren will learn from him exactly the same way that I did.

CU Stones/ Uttam and Dharma

Roy:  For Uttam and Dharma Shakya, the learning began many years ago, at this quarry outside Kathmandu.

02:29

Now that their father is old, the responsibility for collecting the heavy stones used in the sculptures is theirs.

As his sons begin to make this long journey without him, Nunem can only hope he has taught them well.

02:46

Dharma:  I am proud to do this work because through it I show my identity.

02:55

Dharma

We don't make these sculptures just for money - we also do the work to make our heritage rich and strong.

03:17

Guardian lions

This work is very important because it preserves our sense of culture.

Roy:  The Shakyas were never more proud than when the family was asked to craft the guardian lions in Darba Square, in the centre of Kathmandu.

03:31

But because pigeons can't tell the difference between a wall and an original Shakya, even famous icons need a regular once over.

03:41

Roy with Dharma beside lions

Roy:  Why do we need lions? What is the significance of having lions?

03:48

Dharma:  Lions means King of the Jungle.  For that also he is very powerful and strong. Very beautiful.

03:52

Roy:  Like these lions, the Shakya family proudly guard their old tradition.

04:03

And while Dharma completes the fine work on a prized competition entry that will establish him as an artist in his own right, his father's advice is never far away.

04:08

Sculptures

Nunem:  That's not right... it looks almost broken. And up here on the neck  you need to take more off here and make it narrower... Yes, there... yes.

04:19

Roy:  Just as it has always been, a father speaks, a son listens, and tradition passes from one generation to the next.  In this family, it's almost time for the pupil to become the teacher.

04:31

Nunem:  You see, this craft is like a house - if you neglect it, it will fall apart.

04:45

Nunem

So now that I am old and can't do much, I am hoping my sons will do better than I did.

Music

05:02

Ends: 05:15