The Malla kings of the 13th to 15th centuries filled their royal baths in Patan with water channelled through an intricate canal network known as Raj Kulo, from 13km away in Lele.

As the population grew, an elaborate underground water distribution system was developed to bring water to the various spouts around the city. This pipe network remained an integral part of the water supply even into the 1970s, providing a constant water flow to the many hiti in Patan.

But as new houses sprang up and the road network expanded, developers paid scant attention to the canals beneath, and some water spouts were buried beneath construction projects deemed more modern and important to the developing city. Within a few years many hiti ran dry.

"People got used to getting water from the mains, and the spouts were buried and forgotten," says Keshari Bajracharya, a Nag Bahal resident. Through a community initiative, and support from the US Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Heritage Preservation to the Patan Tourism Development Organisation and Nag Bahal Hiti Rehabilitation Project of Lalitpur, Nag Bahal Hiti in old Patan has now been renovated and locals have started using the water once again.

For the engineers responsible for its restoration, the biggest challenge was to find the original channels, some of which are now buried beneath private residences. "The process was long," says project director Jharna Joshi. "We had to identify where the water was flowing from, and repair the channels in such a way that it would also be easy to carry out future maintenance work."

The project staff say it would not have been possible without the support of the local community. Dilip Joshi, secretary of the Historical Water Spout and Aquifer Preservation Society, says the people of Patan understand the importance of preserving the hiti. "Even those who did not directly benefit helped us, especially when we had to identify where the water was flowing from and if it went under their homes," he says.

Of the 61 known water spouts in the Patan area, five have been completely destroyed, but Jharna Joshi is confident that with further financial support, all the other 56 could be revived to their former glory.

Dilip Joshi says the water from Nag Bahal Hiti can be stored and distributed to homes?a system that has already proved successful in Patan's Kumbeswor and Alko Bahal, where water coming from the spouts is collected and stored to be distributed to over 200 homes by the community.

However, the long-term goal must be the preservation and restoration of the old canal systems that worked so well for so many centuries. Says Joshi: "We can renovate as many water spouts as we like, but unless the aquifers and the canals that actually bring water to them are saved, there may not be water flowing out of them."

Mallika Aryal

ALL PICS: NAG BAHAL HITI REHABILITATION PROJECT