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  • NEPAL

view of sumda chorten's consecration

Sumda
chörten
is
located
midway
from
Tsarang
and
Lo
Monthang
and
it
dates
back
to
the
15th
century.
Its
name,
according
to
the
local
community,
means
"three
ways"
and
it
marks
the
border
and
the
crossroad
to
reach
three
nearby
villages:
Lo
Monthang,
Tsarang
and
Dee.
The
project
started
with
the
architectural
repair
carried
out
by
John
Sanday
Associates
back
in
2005.
The
restoration
of
the
stuccowork
and
the
aesthetical
intervention
was
carried
out
between
the
summers
of
2006
and
2007
by
selected
trainees
from
the
Wall
Painting
Conservation
Team
working
in
Lo
Monthang.

View of Sumda Chorten during the reconstruction work
the team at work

technique
of
execution

The
chörten
was
built
using
clay
based
plaster
and
stones
in
the
lower
section,
and
sun
baked
mud
bricks
in
the
upper
section.
The
dome
was
protected
with
a
wooden
roof
on
top
of
which
the
summit
was
made
of
sun
baked
mud
bricks
and
reddish
sandstone
bricks.
All
the
chörten
is
covered
with
a
coat
of
mud
based
plaster
mixed
with
chopped
straw.

Mud
bricks,
coat
of
plaster
and
stuccoworks
are
mixed
with
very
fine
chopped
fibres
of
red
and
yellow
colour.
Traditionally,
the
chörten
should
have
been
built
employing
all
the
robes
and
the
belongings
of
the
lama
or
the
high
merit
people
buried
inside
the
structure.
All
his
belongings
should
have
been
chopped
and
mixed
in
all
the
plasters
to
be
used
for
building
the
chörten.
That
explains
the
presence
of
red
colored
fibres
found
in
the
plaster
and
in
the
sun
baked
mud
bricks.
Furthermore,
the
stuccowork
was
carried
out
with
a
mixture
of
reddish
clay
mixed
with
chopped
straw
and
the
thickest
high
relief
was
secured
to
the
surface
of
the
chörten
with
small
wooden
sticks.

Traces
of
colors,
found
during
the
removal
of
the
new
plasters,
proved
that
the
chörten
was
indeed
painted.
Several
thick
coatings
of
different
colors
showed
that
the
chörten
had
been
painted
countless
times
during
the
last
centuries,
changing
every
time
some
of
the
colours
according,
probably,
to
the
personal
taste
of
whoever
painted
it.

the
architectural
preservation

The
architectural
preservation
was
carried
out
in
summer
2004
from
John
Sanday
Associates
architects
and
masons.
More
details
about
the
procedure
may
be
found
on
their
own
website:
we
were
not
present
during
the
conservation
works.
From
what
the
local
architects
told
us,
they
replaced
the
support
and
the
roof
beams,
and
carried
out
a
structural
repair
inside
the
chörten.
While
doing
so
they
opened
a
chamber
at
its
basement
and
they
found
ancient
relics
and
treasures.
Our
team
was
not
present
and
we
never
knew
nor
were
told
what
was
inside.
But
the
local
masons
and
some
of
the
architects
involved
in
the
architectural
repair
knew
about
the
content.
When
John
Sanday
Associates
finished
their
part
of
the
project
the
chörten
was
sealed
and
no
access
inside
was
possible.

the
intervention

State
of
preservation:
 the upper section of the chörten was severely damaged by rainfall and most of the stuccowork had been washed away. The dome had lost one section on the south side and a very bad plasterwork was applied in an attempt to fix the problem. Many cracks were present all around the dome and the entrance door on the east side was detached from the main structure so that it was seriously in risk of falling down. Several layers of plaster, applied during the centuries, thickened and covered the original stuccowork in such a way that it was difficult to distinguish any pattern. The embossed Sanskrit writings below the dome were all covered by mud and a large portion had been washed away. The basement of the chörten would host two high relief mirror images on each side and only some traces were left together with a complex stuccowork in Newari style.

Consolidation
work:
 the first operation to be carried out was the removal of all clay leakages from the ceiling together with the new plasters applied by the local carpenters during the architectural restoration in 2004. Only the original surface and the original stuccowork were preserved while everything that was added later, be it an over coating or a plaster, was completely removed. Spatulas, trowels and hard brushes were used according to the complexity of the stuccowork that had to be cleaned. This operation unveiled the original stuccowork in all his beauty.

The
next
step
consisted
in
cleaning
all
the
cracks
and
the
lacunae
in
order
to
prepare
the
fractures
to
be
consolidated.
The
consolidation
was
performed
by
injecting
a
mortar
based
on
finely
sieved
local
clays
and
a
low
percentage
of
PVA
binder
through
syringes.
The
stuccowork
in
danger
of
detachment
was
fixed
with
the
same
solution
but
with
a
higher
percentage
of
PVA
binder.
All
the
cracks
were
subsequently
plastered
at
the
same
level
of
the
surface
of
the
chörten
with
a
mixture
of
local
clay,
cow
dung
and
a
low
percentage
of
PVA
binder.

The
entrance
door
frame
needed
a
wooden
propping
to
avoid
that
the
pressure
of
the
injected
solution
would
cause
the
falling
of
that
structure.
A
mortar
made
with
local
clays
and
a
higher
percentage
of
PVA
binder
was
injected
slowly
and
allowed
to
dry
properly
every
time
until
the
frame
was
completely
secured
back
to
the
dome.
In
addition,
the
collapsed
section
of
the
dome
was
properly
cleaned
from
all
the
debris
and
it
was
reconstructed
using
the
original
technique.
Wooden
sticks
were
introduced
deep
inside
the
structure
every
three
rows
of
bricks
to
secure
the
new
construction
and
to
prevent
the
bent
of
the
dome
from
collapsing.

Reconstruction
work:
 it was decided to reconstruct all the stuccowork that was lost following the requests of Lo Manthang villagers and monks. Since there was enough stucco left, it was possible to cope with the reconstruction of the missing elements. All the remaining stucco was copied and used to recreate the lost parts. Lifesize drawings of the elements to be reconstructed were drawn and then, following the original technique of execution, short wooden bits were inserted in the areas to be plastered, so as to give strength and adhesion to the stuccowork. The surface was previously wet with a PVA binder solution to enhance adhesion between the layers. The plaster was then applied according to the thickness of the original stucco to be imitated. Then a stencil was laid over the plaster and yellow pigment was pounced to mark the shape to be cut. The excess of plaster was cut out using sharp spatulas and surgical knives so as to leave the carved stucco. During the process of drying up, the new stuccowork was wet with a solution of PVA binder and clay in water for preventing or removing any cracking from the surface.

In
some
cases,
during
the
procedure
of
reconstructing
the
embossed
writings,
it
was
not
possible
to
understand
what
the
original
writing
was
meant
to
be.
In
those
cases,
the
space
for
the
writing
was
left
blank
and
unpainted.

The
coloring:
 the consolidation work, natural pigments used to paint the chörten were found inside the dome and on the roof. Traces of colors were still visible on the surface of the building as well. Even though it was not possible to prove that they were the original colors from the construction period, especially after having found so many layers of over paintings, the monks allowed us to use them to paint the chörten. The pigments were mixed with a solution of an acrylic binder and the colours were applied by brush.

the
end

The
restoration
work
of
the
chörten
was
completed
as
scheduled
and
the
Wall
Painting
Conservation
Team,
the
main
lamas
and
the
King
of
Lo
Monthang,
together
with
the
chairmen
of
Tsarang
village
attended
the
ceremony
of
consecration
of
the
chörten,
which
took
place
on
16th
August
2007.

the
looting

In
summer
2009
we
went
back
to
work
on
the
chörten
for
a
short
maintenance
program
since
some
unusual
heavy
rain
had
caused
quite
some
damage.
On
our
way
the
roof
we
found
a
man
made
opening
just
after
the
upper
door.
Some
of
our
guys
went
in
and
found
a
small
chamber
with
the
remains
of
an
ancient
sacred
book.
It
was
clear
that
the
chörten
was
looted.

When we called the police, the elders, the monks and the king we were of course the suspects and the ones whose fingers were pointed at. At that time John Sanday Associates team was not working anymore in Mustang and everyone started blaming us for opening the chamber during the restoration. Which we never did, given that the chörten was completely sealed when we started working on its stuccowork and outer decorations. There was no way to remind them that was John Sanday Associates’s work and not ours: we told the local people many times that the Wall Painting Team had no hands in this and if there were any photos available of whatever was in the chamber it would have been in the hands of John Sanday Associates’s staff. Of course nobody listened, or didn’t want to. We were just ordered to stay back and let the Lobas deal with such delicate matter.

And
that's
what
we
did.

Meeting at Sumda Chorten after the looting
the meeting held with the local community and the police