ABSTRACT
Though Nepal and the Kathmandu Valley may be a remote place for most people, not just when viewed from North America and Europe, but also from most parts of Asia, almost everybody who works on Sanskrit or Tibetan manuscripts and particularly Buddhist ones is bound to give a closer look at what lies in such places as the National Archives, the Kaisar, or the Asha Libraries in Kathmandu. The historically, socially, religiously, and ethnically heterogeneous community of the Kathmandu Valley-which for most of its history was simply called the people of Nepal and only over the last few centuries has come to be called the Newars-is the main agent behind the wealth of texts that have been brought, produced, reproduced, handed down, maintained, collected, and made available, not to mention used, read, and followed within the Valley and beyond. The particular culture developed within the Valley clearly extends far beyond manuscripts. Its most visible products are to be found in town planning, architecture, and generally the visual arts, much of it being reflected in the artistic and visual side of local manuscript production. Moreover, the manuscript culture of the Valley itself extends far beyond its own cultural boundaries, including so much of what are the literature and the manuscript culture of India and Tibet. The Valley’s communities have been both conscientious facilitators as well as creative innovators.
