Iconography Nepal documents and studies the images that live in and around the Kathmandu Valley—the deities, guardians, symbols and motifs that most of us walk past every day without knowing who or what they are.
It began from a simple feeling: walking through the city, noticing countless sculpted and painted forms, and constantly asking, "Who is this? Why is this here? What story does this image belong to?" Iconography Nepal follows that curiosity and shares the answers in a form others can use.
By "iconography" we mean the wider visual language of Newar and Nepali art, not only deities. The focus is on how images created before the 20th century use forms, emblems, motifs and symbols to create meaning. The aim is to document these images, group and compare them, and slowly build a clearer map of how they relate to one another.
How Iconography Nepal Works
The project moves through three connected layers: Pulse, Archive and Research.
Pulse
the living surface
Pulse is the public heartbeat of the project: regular social media posts that drop one image, detail or idea at a time into people's feeds. The goal is to make these forms visible again in everyday life and to remind people that they are part of a shared valley-wide visual memory, not just anonymous decoration.
Archive
the record
Archive focuses on the systematic documentation of images from temples, courtyards, royal sites, museums and private collections in Nepal and abroad. In addition to basic data (location, date, material, subject), the archive records iconographic features and organises related works into groups, making comparative study across time, place and medium possible.
Research
the interpretation
Research looks for textual, ritual and historical references that help explain these images—scriptural descriptions, local practices, temple traditions and oral histories—and relates them back to what appears in the archive.
Pulse, Archive and Research form a loop: see → record → understand → share → see again.