these are pictures that i have taken in kathmandu valley and outside, mainly on the way to and back from dolakha, the epicentre of the 12th may aftershock. it's been over four months since the 25th april earthquake, and it shows in the mossy growth, weeds, and even paddy and corn plants over ruins, atop homes. monsoon...
two months before the earthquake, when we'd driven past this building in sankhu it was standing tall and proud, all three stories of it...
still in sankhu, weeds, flowers, yam thrive over a rubble.
.. and behind this overgrowth of what looks like paddy (must've been growing from stored grain) and weeds is a door that must have led to a room.. to a veranda or the stairs...
on the way to dolakha, corn grows from the top of this dilapidated house.. again the family must've have stored their seeds in the collapsed attic... there was only one house that i saw in the whole place, where the family had actually used the flattened roof with mud from the collapsed upper floors as a vegetable patch to grow mustard greens!
in jiri, a staircase leading upto .. ummmmm
vegetation creeping up this old house in dolakha bajar
vegetation has overtaken this ruin
moss on a ruined wall of a building in dolakha bajar
looking down at the ruins of the tripurasundari temple in dolakha
a squash vine creeps up the side of a building that is standing in charikot that still carries traces of the walls of the building adjoining that collapsed during the may 12th quake
a veranda of a home that tumbled down just below charikot bajar
corrugate galvanised iron sheets helped many survivors of the earthquake to ward off the monsoon rains... most of the hillsides in dolakha and elsewhere are dotted with these tin sheds that brightly reflect the midday sunlight.. behind this tin shed, weeds and corn grown on top of the ruined home
the blue doorway that must have opened unto a veranda in this ruined house below charikot, just above tama koshi
moss has covered the entire covered structures in jungu vdc in dolakha
this school in jungu lost all of its 19 classrooms in the second quake. the school must be located less than ten miles as the crow flies, across the tama koshi from sunkhani village, the epicentre of the may 12th quake
rain clouds hug the hillside behind this stupa with its toppled gajur in jiri
soothing greenery as one looks southwards from gairimudi vdc. the tama koshi winds its way towards ramechhap
closeup of the group of homes from the same place... ruins amongst the greenery
an octogenarian couple in front of ruins of what used to be a two and a half storey home
a moss covered chaitya a little way down the village.. mainapokhari vdc can be seen in the distant hill
squash vines taking over the rubble of these homes in gairimudi ward # 7
the head sir of this school in gairimudi was lamenting how they lost all 24 classrooms, including 12 computers, 2 printers, 1700 books in the library..
across the road from the school lies the ruins of a house, again being overtaken by weeds
heading down south towards ramechhap.. amidst the green paddy fields lie what look like bombed out homes
a little bit south of manthali, next to the tama koshi.. another torn apart settlement
back in kathmandu.. looking in from the gap between corrugated sheets, weeds do not seem to have taken over the dharahara stub.. probably because there was not mud? just limestone mortar?
on closer inspection.. some moss beginning to grow on the bricks
moss also claiming the inside wall where visitors have been warned not to spit tobacco, pan parag etc... how many of those nearly 200 souls who lost their lives when dharahara fell must have read this warning on their way up or down the 213 steps?
the destroyed parapet on the south western side in which direction the dharahara fell on 25th april
in basantapur.. weeds seem to be reigning supreme
the walls behind these weeds still have the army's attendance charts
below too weeds grow unhindered over debris
walls show the tell-tale signs of rain swept mud
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pillars of gaddhi baithak turning green with the weather
a closer look
.. and moss below...
and a single corn plant.. probably taken by the numerous pigeons that abound the area?
in tundikhel rubble from dharahara and the basantapur monuments are nearly covered up with vegetation
and looking northwards. .are the lumps of rubble from other houses in the city
closer look
as the sun sets over the rubble of kathmandu's famed monuments.. and an empty space in the background where the dharahara once stood erect
