For Nepal’s sake, don’t bulldoze the ruins. Rebuild these exquisite shrines | Simon Jenkins

Ancient sites like Kathmandu matter. The cult of authenticity should not get in the way of restoration

Two disasters hit Nepal at noon last Saturday. The first wiped out whole towns and villages, and has killed as many as 10,000 people. With the world’s help, that disaster can be and will be rectified. The other disaster was to one of the world’s most exquisite cultural survivals, the ancient settlements of the Kathmandu valley and their Hindu and Buddhist shrines. That disaster, labelled “irr...