Kathmandu earthquake restoration tracker

How far has Kathmandu earthquake restoration got?

The Department of Archaeology counts 825 of 920 quake-damaged heritage monuments as reconstructed across Nepal, according to The Rising Nepal on 16 August 2026. That leaves 95, by our subtraction. These are national figures, and they aren’t limited to the Kathmandu Valley.

The damage dates from the Gorkha earthquake, a magnitude 7.8 quake at 11:56 am local time on 25 April 2015, centred near Barpak in Gorkha district, according to the US Geological Survey and The Kathmandu Post. Death tolls differ: The Rising Nepal gives 8,786 deaths and 22,491 injuries, while The Kathmandu Post says nearly 9,000 people were killed. In the valley, the Dharahara tower collapsed, and Wikipedia says temples were damaged or destroyed in all three Durbar Squares.

The Department’s Director General, Saubhagya Pradhananga, told the paper that the budget for heritage reconstruction “has been decreasing year by year”. The same article gives figures for individual Valley districts that don’t add up, so we don’t use them.

How current is this tracker?

This tracker was last checked on 5 November 2026, and we check it periodically. Every status below carries the date of its source, which is often much older than the check itself. An old date means we found nothing newer, not that nothing has changed.

We list what reports say. We haven’t inspected these buildings ourselves, and we don’t call any monument finished unless a dated source does. If you visit and see something different, trust what’s in front of you.

What is the status of each named monument?

The table gives the latest status we could find, with its date and source. Where the only source is a travel guide, we say so, because that’s weaker evidence than a government report or newspaper.

What happened at Kathmandu Durbar Square?

Kathmandu Durbar Square has seen mixed progress, and the last full count we found is from January 2023. Sandip Khanal, chief of the Hanumandhoka Durbar Supervision Office, said 75 of the area’s 95 heritage structures were damaged. Of those 75, 38 were finished, 14 were in progress and 23 hadn’t begun.

The tower complex shows how slow this work is. China Daily says more than 10,000 wooden parts were dislodged or damaged, that about 85 per cent of the old components were reused, and that the project was handed over in mid-August 2024, more than nine years after the quake. For what to see there now, read our guide to Kathmandu Durbar Square.

How was Kasthamandap rebuilt?

Kasthamandap took about three and a half years to rebuild, from 8 November 2018 to its inauguration on 4 April 2022. The Department of Archaeology’s 2017 report says the 2015 quake destroyed the building completely, and that surviving timber was salvaged and recorded with UNESCO funding.

The road there was contested. The Himalayan Times reports that Kathmandu Metropolitan City first gave the work to a company that used cement and iron rods, and withdrew after protests. The reconstruction committee that followed spent Rs 115 million, against a Department of Archaeology estimate of Rs 198 million, according to Onlinekhabar. Architect Sudarshan Raj Tiwari called it a model for heritage conservation, The Rising Nepal reported in August 2026.

What happened at Rani Pokhari and Dharahara?

Both were reopened by national leaders, and both have left disputes behind. Rani Pokhari is a historic pond in central Kathmandu, and Dharahara is a tower that collapsed in 2015.

Rani Pokhari was the first major post-2015 reconstruction project. Plans to use reinforced concrete columns were halted after protests, says The Rising Nepal. The President inaugurated the pond on 21 October 2020, after more than five years and over Rs 240 million, according to The Kathmandu Post.

Dharahara is a new building, not a repair. Gulf Times describes a 23-storey, 84-metre white tower built as a replica of the 19th-century nine-storey original, inaugurated on 24 April 2021. In March 2023, Himal Press found it about 80 per cent complete and closed to climbers. By August 2026 The Rising Nepal said it was in operation, while the historic remains still lacked proper protection.

Did Nyatapola survive the earthquake?

Yes. Nyatapola, the five-tiered temple in Bhaktapur, stayed standing in 2015, but it was damaged. The Kathmandu Post reported in January 2020 that its top floor tilted significantly to the east and the floor below tilted slightly. It credited a 2009 restoration with preventing worse.

Bhaktapur municipality began repairs in December 2019, according to Onlinekhabar, at an estimated Rs 6.51 million. The Post gave a budget of Rs 6.3 million, a plan to rebuild the top two floors and a target of April 2020. We found no dated report confirming when that work ended, so the table says so. Nyatapola is close to Bhaktapur Durbar Square.

Which rebuilds are disputed?

Several rebuilds are criticised for losing original material, and The Rising Nepal’s August 2026 report names four. A high completion figure doesn’t settle these arguments.

• Yaksheshwor Temple, Bhaktapur: the Auditor General’s 62nd annual report said the old structure was demolished without recording it or keeping reusable timber.
• Rato Machhindranath Temple, Bungamati: original foundation materials were replaced with new ones.
• Sundhara: part of the Dharahara complex, overshadowed by a new replica and not properly restored, the paper says.
• Kumari Ghar: new jhingati (traditional clay) tiles are going on the roof, and an activist argues original tiles would better preserve its authenticity.

The Committee that oversees the World Heritage property warned about this in 2016. It noted pressure to rebuild with new methods and with contractors unfamiliar with traditional materials. For more on how UNESCO has responded, see our guide to the Kathmandu UNESCO sites.

What does this mean for your visit?

Expect a mix of old, repaired and newly built structures, plus some scaffolding, at any of the sites. You may not be able to enter a particular building. Museums and interiors can have different access from the square outside them, so ask at the ticket counter.

Kumari Ghar’s roof contract runs until February 2027, so check access close to your date. See our page on Kumari Ghar in Kathmandu for what visitors can do there.