Wood-carved doors

Many houses in the Kathmandu valley have beautiful wood-carved doors and windows. Creativity and talent of those who made them always amazes me. This particular door is decorated with eight Buddhist auspicious symbols: The Endless Knot, The Precious Parasol, The Lotus, The Two Golden Fishes, The Victory Banner, The Vase, The Conch Shell and The Fly Whisk which in Nepali Buddhism often is used instead of The Wheel of Dharma.

Wood carvings of Bhaktapur

Woodcarving is the main decoration of houses and temples of medieval  Bhaktapur .
It decorates the rafters, columns, cornices, balconies, windows, doors and walls of temples and traditional houses. The tradition of woodcarving in Nepal goes back to12 century. Since then, the carvers have achieved great skill by passing secrets from generation to generation and acquiring and sharing new techniques. In the Newar community, to which wood carvers mostly belong to, medieval texts are still kept – instructions and rules for wood carving, which are used in practice until now. For example, the masters still do not use any nails or glue to create their works.
The most well-known in Bhaktapur are the windows of the former royal palace "55 windows" and “peacock window”. But not less interesting are and other works.