Mayor Buddhi Raj Bajracharya of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (also known as Patan) is a prominent leader decorated with the Coronation, Royal Victoria and Service Medal, to name a few, and is involved in preserving Nepal's traditional arts. Born in August 1936, Bajracharya studied up to the intermediate level and performed in various theatre productions between 1949 and 1954. Since then he has been involved in social programs as member and leader. His works in the community led to his nomination as Mayor of Lalitpur Nagar Panchayat in 1975 and to his eventual election in 1982. He has been in office ever since.

As President of the Environment Improvement Committee of Lalitpur and an active member of humanitarian organizations such as Lalitpur's Nepal Cancer Relief Society he contributes further to his community. Bajracharya developed a firm business background as Chairman of the Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1981 to 1985. This knowledge greatly aids in dealing with the swarms of people that flood his office. In fact, before his interview began he was to be found surrounded at his desk juggling what seemed to be several discussions at the same time. Bajracharya is by all means a busy man who is extremely dedicated to his city and its people. His face is one of a man who knows his trade and the obligations that it entails. He can be both assertive and laid back when called upon, the true signs of a people person.

Since the seventeenth century or thereabouts, his city has been called Lalitpur, the "City of Fine Arts." The city was founded and ruled by King Siddhinarsingh Malla and populated by the Newars, the old people of Kathmandu Valley. In the early stages of its development, Lalitpur was small, peaceful place with strong artistic values in place towards religion. Over time the skills of its artisans increased along with those of neighbouring Malla Kingdoms fuelling intense rivalries. The most prized artisans faced a likely possibility of having their hands amputated so that they could never do work for competing kingdoms. Centres of artistic and religious callings, known as Durbar Squares, were erected by each of the three Kingdoms of Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu. They still stand as monuments to Kathmandu Valley's past and to that of the rest of the planet as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

In the eighteenth century, the Shah rulers forcefully won power from the Malla Kings. With their arrival, the "City of Fine Arts" turned its focus to the development of Shah Warfare that was their main concern. Then, in the nineteenth century, the Rana Rulers came into power in Lalitpur. They were highly influenced by the British and gave little support of interest to the pursuit of arts. Their aim was to develop the city using the modern styles of their time and at establishing trade with British ruled India.

Come the beginning of twentieth century, King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev regained control of the city for the Shahs. A mass urbanization followed with absent regard for traditional styles. The city's aesthetic planning took a back seat to its economic development generated by the population boom. As a result, traditional sites were destroyed in the construction of poorly designed houses of cement that multiplied exponentially due to the increase in population.

In present state Lalitpur, Bajracharya has taken numerous steps to reshape the city into a faithful tribute to its name and past. The city's population stands at 168,000 people consisting of Newars and Silpakar, Shakyas, Bajracharyas and Lhokamis castes. The city is mainly Buddhist but has a vast diversity in other religions and ethnicity that produce a wide range of fine arts and demand nationwide respect. Newars are primarily Buddhist and are famous for their traditional paubha paintings that depict both Buddhist and Hindu deities in displays of grander. Silpakars furnish intricately carved woodworks to match the skills of their ancestors. The Shakyas are leaders in their work with stones and metals, whereas, the Lhokamis focus strictly on stonework. The Bajracharyas are renowned for lost wax metalwork. Many temples, shrines and traditional Newar houses still stand as part of the norm for the citizens of today's Lalitpur but to most foreign visitors they stand as structures that previously existed only as mythical fairytales in their minds.

The municipality has initiated programs to preserve traditional arts such as woodwork, stonework and metal work. It has contributed close to thirty million rupees to date for the preservation of the city but has not yet developed a budget for the coming year. Bajracharya went on to say that "the majority of monuments have been restored and protected and a five-year program has been implemented during which none of Patan's monuments will be left unpreserved."

As modern social styles are casting traditional values into the background, the municipality has instituted financial support programs, donating a certain amount annually, to local festivals, buildings, and monuments. Recently, the mayor personally took part in some festivals such as Bali for a ten day period. The program aims at restoring these festivals that have lay dormant for the past few decades. The municipality plans to declare the core city area as "ancient" and to divide it into two areas in order to help preserve it. The inner core is to be built strictly according to traditional methods, whereas, the surrounding area will be developed using modern styles. To encourage the increase of the core's traditional features, Bajracharya has initiated programs that provide "free, traditional terra cotta bricks to builders" as well as "ten percent subsidy towards the price of timber."

Presently, there are neither established government laws to support or enhance the construction of structures in traditional styles nor any to punish those who build using modern methods inside the core area and heritage zone. However, if builders are now caught using modern construction methods inside the core area, they may be fined up to five thousand rupees by the municipality. The municipality then takes steps to remove such constructions. Bajracharya is taking an active role in the formation of concrete municipal laws to be handed to government house for approval.

The municipality is currently working with NGOs who are dedicated to preserving traditional architecture. Many programs have been put in place in the area such as in Khokana Village. These programs have developed workshops to educate local people on the construction of buildings in the traditional style. Project involving international donors, NGOs and local people has been put in place in Lalitpur to promote knowledge in traditional fields. The municipality is confident that western influences are minimal in the city's core but that they are ever prominent in its surrounding areas.

A declaration is to be made of a newly protected area in Patan, known as the "Monument Zone," that will encompass surrounding areas of the current "Heritage Zone." This project is not receiving any financial support from the National Government nor is much been done to relieve the increasing struggles artisans in Patan have to face.

The government has been working towards shutting down the granite mines at Gwaldo and Dakchinkali. Stoneworkers are confronted with difficulties in finding the right kind of stone for their work. Those working at the art's center in Bhinsebaal are witnessing a reduction in the market for their creations and many are changing professions into others arts or entirely unrelated fields. Bajracharya was optimistic as "diplomatic tours of stonework in Patan for visiting consulates proved encouraging."

The Uku Bahal is Nepal's center for copper and bronze statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities. The metalworking artists there use the lost wax technique for statues and are considered to be the most skilled. Secrets of production formerly kept within tight-nit family groups have spilled out into the open to accommodate for the large market. The secrets of old have inspired the great works of today and orders come in for them from Korea, Taiwan, Europe and the United States.

Woodwork also has a prominent role in Lalitpur, particularly in the Bungamati and Bhaktapur area, which are centers in Nepal for wood artisans that produce high quality work. Projects have begun to provide people with cheaper lumber in order to build homes in traditional styles.

Patan is perhaps the foremost producer of terra cotta in Nepal with factories that producing bricks that used to be difficult to obtain. With newer technologies in machinery and molds the costs of producing terra cotta bricks has been drastically reduced. Terra cotta factories are now contributing to the restoration of the city's traditional character through municipal programs. Diplomatic tours to these factories produced much support towards the programs that have been implemented in the community.

The need for local programs to generate involvement and education for traditional arts led to the start of various youth programs in the community. The Buddhist Youth Organization now claims ten thousand members of which Bajracharya is the President. The organization focuses on getting youth working with thangka and paubha paintings, stonework, metalwork and woodwork. It provides an educational two-year training program to enthusiastic young artists. Two hundred seventy-three students have graduated from this program and are currently working as traditional artists in the area and over another one hundred students currently involved in the course.

Municipally run arts and crafts programs also take place in the community. They target all age groups to help people learn about the city's history in traditional arts and the need to apply its past to its present and future. Furthermore, overseas promotions of Patan's traditional market have been successful. One such recent international venture in Hoang Chow, China, that displayed the work of Patan's artisans proved to generate great interest. Nepal was once internationally famous mainly for its relaxed people and stunning landscapes but is now famous for its instability. Due to recent political violence, Nepal's tourist industry has flat-lined. Artists who depended on tourism to support the market for their work are now being forced to look elsewhere in vain pursuit of new buyers.

The municipality has raised the issues relating to the hardships directly relating to its artisans. It is hopeful that the future will yield easier times and steady markets to support the city's developments in traditional arts. Bajracharya shared his vision for traditional arts as they apply to the Patan, saying that his "wish is to see the city's traditional sites completely restored" so that the city will remain one based on traditional culture. The municipality's goals are to educate and encourage the people in traditional arts. A program based on working with the people on traditional social issues is called a guthi. Ten such guthis have been put into the works in Patan to help promote awareness in the community of the issues at hand and to encourage them for their involvement in preserving the city's traditional arts.

Bajracharya has played important roles in the community supporting traditional aspects of life in Lalitpur. He has attended numerous community events such as festivals and art related gatherings to encourage others to take part, acquire an interest, and continue to support such events in the future.