Preserving Nepal’s Changu Narayan Temple with Skydio 3D Scan

In this video, we explore the urgent need to accelerate the digital documentation of historic sites across the globe in order to preserve them for the future. With a focus on Nepal, we dive into the devastating 2015 earthquake that destroyed 80% of the historic structures and temples in both Bhaktapur and Kathmandu Durbar Squares, highlighting the growing need for digital preservation.

Skydio's partnership with WeRobotics provides microgrant scholarships to Flying Labs across the globe, with Nepal Flying Labs being selected as a recipient for their project to create a digital twin of Changu Narayan Temple, the oldest temple in Kathmandu Valley dating back to the 5th Century.

Through the use of Skydio autonomous drones, Nepal Flying Labs was able to create a high-resolution 3D model (a digital twin) of the temple, providing an essential resource for aiding in reconstruction and documenting structural changes over time. Nepal Flying Labs approached the project with extreme care, working cooperatively with multiple agencies to ensure the integrity of the site's value to the community.