The Sacred Town of Sankhu

"This book, started in 2002 as a PhD thesis at Leiden University, has grown into a voluminous treasure of field data covering history, mythology, ritual geography, caste and religion, guthi organisation and socio-economy - all treated in an anthropological framework. It is this holistic approach (reflecting the best traditions of the Leiden school of cultural anthropology) that determines the book's value, and reference to it should henceforward not be lacking in any serious...
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"This book, started in 2002 as a PhD thesis at Leiden University, has grown into a voluminous treasure of field data covering history, mythology, ritual geography, caste and religion, guthi organisation and socio-economy - all treated in an anthropological framework. It is this holistic approach (reflecting the best traditions of the Leiden school of cultural anthropology) that determines the book's value, and reference to it should henceforward not be lacking in any serious publication, in whatever discipline, on Newar culture." - Sjoerd Zanen, International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter, 64 (Summer 2013) "Bal Gopal Shrestha's rigorously researched work on Sankhu is an invaluable anthropological contribution to Nepali and South Asian studies, and I wholeheartedly recommend that libraries specialising in these subject areas hold copies of it." - Ajaya Mali, The Kathmandu Post, 19 January 2013 "We have this unique, rich, marvelously complete and balanced book . . . This book is the first complete systematic description of the religious year of any town in Nepal, and it may well serve as an example for more similar studies." - Dr D. H. A. Kolff, Professor of South Asian History, Emeritus, University of Leiden, The Netherlands "It is a very valuable book, full of very interesting ethnographic data, based on a long fieldwork in this Newar town located in the Valley of Kathmandu, Nepal. This piece of work is in my opinion one of the best theses submitted by a Nepalese student in anthropology in Europe these last decades." - Prof Dr Gèrard Toffin, Director of Research, CNRS, France "The whole history and culture of the town of Sankhu are covered with encyclopedic thoroughness, detail, and local knowledge. The book will be an indispensable reference for all those who study the Newars and who are interested in the social organization, culture, and history of the Kathmandu Valley." - Prof Dr David N. Gellner, University of Oxford, UK "The book is a perceptive ethnography of Sankhu focused on its social structure, religion and culture, lately in the throes of change. Dr Shrestha has done extensive fieldwork to collect data, which are supplemented by a close and critical assessment of available textual material relating to the local myths, legends and historical traditions. This book is exemplary ethnography of the social, cultural and religious practices of the Newars written by an insider who is a promising scholar well-versed in the social sciences." - Dr Kamal P. Malla, Professor of English, Emeritus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal