Bhaktapur, Aug. 31 -- On a recent hot afternoon, Yaddhab Lal Kayastha gathered with a few others at Jagati in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur. The heat was cruel, sweat dripped down their temples but the small group were assembled for a purpose: to restore and clean an old hiti (a stone sprout) and a falcha (a resting place) that have been left uncared for for a long time.

"We got a call from the locals who told us that there were plans to demolish them entirely in the name of road expansion. I couldn't let that happen," says the 39-year-old Kayastha.

They thus started cleaning and restoration works a week ago and have finished almost 90 percent of work. They have carried out this job with little to no financial assistance from anyone and by wo...