On the night of 19 January, the main building and courtyard of the Tengboche monastery in the Khumbu region caught fire and burned to the ground. The fire had begun as the result of an electrical malfunction or accident, no one is certain which, associated with the small hydro facility commissioned less than a year ago.
Had the disaster occurred 30 years ago, it would have remained a strictly local affair, an event of importance only to the Sherpa people of Khumbu. But ever since Edmund Hillary stopped there on his way to the first ascent of Everest, Tengboche has become an increasingly important international landmark, and, until last month, perhaps the world's best known and best loved functioning monastery.
While exactly what set of circumstances caused the fire will perhaps never be known, it was natural for all with ties to Tengboche to try to draw lessons from the event. They have tried to evaluate the wisdom and propriety of bringing electricity there. Was the technology appropriate? Did the project follow principles of sound community development? Is electricity there necessary, ecological and useful or is it cosmetic and extravagant?
This article, reported from New York City using the telephone, is an attempt to describe what was consumed by fire; to reveal frictions within the universe of care and concern that is focused on Tengboche; and to inform the process of rebuilding which will soon be getting underway.