Tersapatti Road: Pokhara’s Old Art District

Pokhara Off The Beaten Path

Most travelers in Pokhara get so caught up in the coffee shops and bars of Lakeside that they fail to see the rest of the city. Although this tourist hub has enough hipster cafes and a lively nightlife to keep you grounded by the banks of Fewa Lake for a week or so, there is so much more to Pokhara than this one stretch of road.

Once you manage to break yourself away from the confines of Lakeside, you will find that it is not all that difficult to get off the beaten path in Nepal’s second most famous city. With most of the tourists glued to the backpacker’s street, merely going down a back alley will put you closer to a more candid and local side of Pokhara. If you continue to trek deeper into the city you will even stumble across a district comprised of century-old buildings and traditional artisans.

Looking for more off the beaten path things to do in Pokhara? Read on how to hike to Sarangkot Hill here!

Stumbling Across Tersapatti Road

Sandwiched in between Mahendrapool Road and the Baglung Bus Park, you may be unsure about how to actually get to Tersapatti Road. But as you wander the winding alleyways and side streets of Pokhara, it will be obvious when you have arrived in this art district. With its hundred-year-old buildings complete with terracotta rooves, the age of this neighborhood can be seen in the intricate carvings into the wooden frames and the Hindu shrines erected in the middle of the streets.

Other than the randomly placed pagodas and historic houses lining the streets, the sound of hammers chipping away at stone is another one of the signs that you have entered the neighborhood of Tersapatti. This old district hidden deep in the heart of Pokhara is home to many traditional artists. Armed with only a humble mallet, these craftsmen create wondrous works of art which are then sold to local temples, monasteries, and hotels.

If you are wanting to get in touch with the religious side of Pokhara, be sure to check out my guide to Buddhist monasteries!

Traditional Music In Pokhara

Along the traditional art street of Tersapatti Road, you will find more music shops than anything else. Of course, you will see guitars and various other stringed instruments displayed up on the walls, but it is the handmade madals (traditional Nepali drums) that will really catch your attention.

At any of the family-owned shops, you will find generations of craftsmen working together. Sitting in their open storefronts, these artisans spend their days stretching tanned skins over the face of the drums and binding them together with meters of twine. This is a craft that has been handed down through the centuries and is a skill on display every day on Tersapatti Road.

Hiking to the World Peace Pagoda is one of the most popular day trips from Pokhara. Read about the hike here!

The Carpenters of Tersapatti Road

From Darbar Square to Nyatapola Temple in Bhaktapur, it is the intricate carvings made into the very wood of the pagodas that attract droves of tourists to its grounds every day. From the temples to window frames of traditional houses, these designs captivate all those who happen to be passing by. On Tersapatti Road, you can actually come across some of these masters busy at work.

With a crude mallet and a slab of wood, these craftsmen chip away at the blocks and expose awe-inspiring works of art. From portraits of the gods to elaborate geometric shapes, the time and patience that goes into creating just one of these masterpieces is mind-boggling. Rather than having their work sold on the tourist street of Lakeside, these carpenters usually sell their wooden murals and masks to local Nepalis. Being well off of their tourist trail in Pokhara, many of these masters welcome travelers into their shops and get excited to show off their wares.

Not wanting to hike all the way to Sarangkot Hill? Read on how to get there by local bus here!

Painting Pokhara

No art district would be complete without the artists who bring color to the neighborhood. While wandering the streets of Tersapatti you will find a handful of painters who have opened up shop in the heart of Pokhara. Several of these artists used to live by Lakeside, but as the tourist hub continued to grow, rent skyrocketed. Many of the local artists could not keep up with the rising cost of living and therefore relocated to Tersapatti Road.

Much like many of the sculptures and carpenters in Pokhara’s traditional art district, their target customers are locals rather than foreigners. Gopal Shrestha is the owner of Osho Art Gallery, one of the several studios on Tersapatti Road. Most of his work is sold to hotels and guest houses, who take traditional Nepali landscapes and hang display them in their lobbies and halls. Although it is idyllic scenes of the countryside that makes money, it is Gopal’s more abstract and spiritual works of art that he takes pride in.

One of the most famous Buddhist monasteries in Pokhara is the Matepani Gumba. Read more on this temple here!

Just Another Lakeside?

After discovering that some of the artists that call Tersapatti Road home have been driven out of Lakeside you can’t help but wonder if they would want to attract more tourists to this peaceful art district. Many of the local craftsmen were excited at the idea of foreigners taking an interest in this old neighborhood. While Lakeside brings a piece of the international community to Nepal, it is Tersapatti where foreigners can experience a taste of traditional Nepal.

From the dying breed of classical brick and wood houses, streetside shrines, and local coffee shops, Tersapatti Road is an area teeming with life. Not with tourists swaggering back to their hotels after a late night at the bar or souvenir shops hounding passersby. But with traditional artisans preserving a craft which has been handed down through the centuries. Although you may not see it on Lakeside, you can easily find the heart of Pokhara off the beaten path.

(Many of the shops on Tersapatti Road are closed on Saturday)