The Long Lesson of the Strut
A carved strut outlives every hand that paid for it.
Median documented lifespan · valley struts
217
+6.4× the cabinetwork it shaded
Years that surveyed sal-wood roof struts at the Fifty-Five Window Palace and the Pujari Math have stood — darkening, oiled and re-oiled, while the patrons, dynasties and lacquer beneath them passed.
Survival by carved object class · Bhaktapur conservation survey