Dwarika's Hotel
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Dwarika's Hotel is a
luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suite (hotel), suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a d ...
in
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
,
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, located in the Battisputali neighborhood. The hotel is a collection of traditional heritage Newari houses centered around courtyards. It has over 80 rooms and 48 suites, and took over 30 years to construct. It has been recognized with the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation for its commitment to preserving Nepali architectural traditions. It was awarded the PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Heritage Gold Award in 1980.


History

The hotel is known for its cultural preservation efforts. It began when founder Dwarika Das Shrestha decided to save old wood carvings from traditional Kathmandu buildings that were about to be discarded. In 1952, Shrestha saw carpenters cutting up an intricately carved wooden pillar of a demolished old building, to use as firewood. Shrestha initially placed these carvings in a room housing a single master's student from abroad. The carvings garnered significant interest, leading Shrestha to conceive the idea of constructing guest rooms with traditional wood carvings, thus starting the hotel venture. He also revived the "Dacchiapa" technique, the Newari traditional method of making carved bricks. Shrestha died in 1992. His wife
Ambica Shrestha Ambica Shrestha (12 February 1933 – 18 July 2024) was a renowned Nepalese hotelier and a significant figure in the preservation of Nepalese cultural heritage. She served as the president of Dwarika's Hotel, Dwarika's Hotels and Resorts until h ...
continued the mission thereafter. The hotel is managed by the Shrestha family and now possesses a large private woodwork collection. The restoration workshop that the late Dwarika Shrestha established to revive wood carvings as early as 1962 is still in operation, although it is now used only for significantly damaged pieces..


References


External links

* {{official, http://www.dwarikas.com
Photographs
Hotels in Kathmandu