The city of Bhaktapur, also called Khopa in Newari, was founded in the eighth century. It spans the nearby hillocks that hold the rich soil the city thrives on. Bhaktapur has always been a city based on agriculture, along with the rest of Nepal, and populated primarily by Newars, the indigenous people of Nepal. It developed as a center for trading and culture into the country's capital from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. A strong artistic community has developed that was spurred by scholars, artisans, traders, and dignitaries. Those that did not live there made the city their stop over for their ancient footpath travels, bowing to the harsh winter storms in the Himalayas to the North and to the malaria ridden jungles in the summer to the South. The city flourished, leading to the establishment of Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Its arts were greatly encouraged by ruling King Jitramitra Malla who found who found rival artistic kingdoms nearby. Today, its population of around 100,000 people is still made up mostly of Newars whose main occupation remains agriculture, keeping the city cleaner than its industrial counterparts, and whose dialect has stayed the city's preferred tongue. Bhaktapur has been able to strongly preserve its medieval traditional atmosphere, more so than have the other nearby historic royal cities of Kathmandu and Lalitpur. Over the trade years, Bhaktapur became ethnically diverse. Many of these ethnitcities still find fulfillment in the pursuit of the artistic traditions of their ancestors and new generations of artisans are being born.

The city has implemented a plan for the renovations of the temples, monasteries and shrines within its core area, which provides work to many traditional art businesses. The project focus is on the area surrounding the Durbar Square that has been declared as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. "The plan is to revert to traditional styles to boost tourism," said Mayor Prem Suwal. The municipality has been providing wood at minimum prices, clay bricks (daachi eeta) at twenty-five percent cost, and tiles for free to builders in the core heritage area. "The city has been spending over US$ 33,000 per year for the last three years on renovations," said Suwal. Temples, shrines and resting-places have been restored to add to the city's ancient charm with a total of US$ 1,798,230 spent on these renovations from 1993 to 2001. The restoration of streets and courtyards as well as the restoration of ponds and traditional water supplies such as wells and waterspouts have also been taking place. "The primary focus is on the core area and if there are available funds remaining, we then provide help to the surrounding area," he continued. The city's goal is to support local traditional development in the present by giving builders what they need and to ensure its future by providing visitors with an authentic experience, making the town a tourist destination.

The municipality has imposed general building restrictions for inside and outside of the core area. It has also formed a separate set of rules such as roofs must be sloped twenty-five degrees to thirty degrees and tiled in order for projects to receive free construction materials. Within the core area a building must not, in any situation, be taller than four stories or thirty-five feet. Outside the core area buildings are restricted to five stories or forty-one feet. "Those who wish to build in the modern style face a low fee of around $33 US and the lack of free materials," said Suwal. In light of this, there is little reason for a person to build using modern methods inside the core area. It can be said that modernization is a matter of convenience. In the recent past it was simply not convenient for builders to use traditional methods, as the supplies were not available except at high prices. "Fifteen years ago, modern styles were popular but now that we are providing building supplies, traditional styles are popular again," Suwal said happily. Modernization has also affected certain traditional arts and they are dwindling. However, as a popular tourist stop the city can enjoy, for now, a good market for those that remain unwavering.

Weaving traditional dress was formerly a highly practiced art in Bhaktapur, mainly by women. Today, the younger generations find these clothes restricting and uncomfortable, preferring light cotton saris to the traditional thick black sari (haku parsi). The Chitrakar's paubha can also be easily found inside stores that dot the city and beckon to those remaining tourists who pass by their windows. Woodwork is increasingly popular today as people find interest in their beautifully carved windows and doors. The Silpakars work at shaping their woods as they always have and newer generations of artisans have also applied the skills that they have learned. Many of these works can be seen along the renovated temples like Yaksheshwor Temple in Durbar Square and the monasteries throughout the city.

To encourage people to take part in traditional arts the municipality has organized six month training programs. Two males per female are invited to enroll for skill development in traditional crafts such as clay tile making, terra cotta brick making, and wood and stone carving. The Awaal, the brick makers have found much work in the restoration of the heritage area. Trainees can also chose from weaving, dressmaking and fabric painting, vocational education to ancient Newari script reading and writing. Guthis, which are programs that deal with social and traditional issues, also teach traditional music, song and dance that are used in local festivals to the youth of Bhaktapur.

In a disappointing turn of events, Nepal's tourism industry has plummeted by around fifty percent. As a result, Bhaktapur visitor numbers have fallen this year back down to its 1993-1994 tourist numbers of just over 80,000 people. The municipality's once highly reasonable goal of drawing in more tourism now seems increasingly less so. In times to come, however, those who do visit the city will be able to walk amongst a beautifully preserved piece of Kathmandu Valley's past, a historic blip among a modern freight train.