AS darkness descends over the town of Bidur in Nepal, a Buddhist temple located high above the banks of the Trishuli River is illuminated by rows of flickering lamps, standing as a beacon of remembrance over the devastation that hit the area on Aug 26.
Sacred chants waft through the stillness of the night, transcending individual grief to become a collective expression of mourning, faith and hope.
The temple building was saved in the disaster due to its altitude, but much of the people and buildings at lower level along the banks did not survive the now infamous Nepal-Tibet “Himalayan tsunami”.
Prayers continue around the clock for those who perished. The temple has become a sanctuary for grieving families and a place of collective mourning, where the pain of loss finds expression through ancient rituals, whispered prayers and the rhythmic chanting of scriptures. The air is heavy with grief, yet a deep sense of spiritual solace permeates the surroundings, offering a measure of comfort to those struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
For grieving relatives, the temple is more than a place of worship; it is a refuge in which sorrow can be shared and the burden of loss briefly eased. Photographs of many of who perished are placed near the altar. In moments of overwhelming grief, the presence of fellow mourners and the unwavering support of the monastic community offer a quiet reminder that they are not alone.
A young monk named Acharya Tupten Lama, himself with a plaster cast on his leg, is supporting about 90 families who have lost their relatives and homes. In total he estimates about 200 children have disappeared in the tragedy in that area.
“We are asking those who have lost their loved ones to come here. We will provide necessary support during the recovery process,” he said during a visit by the humanitarian team from the Malaysia-Nepal Business Council (MNBC) recently.
The MNBC delegation led by its president Datuk Pardip Kumar Kukreja was conducting a survey for its fund-raising mission to provide aid to help survivors uplift their lives again.
Scenes of riverside obliteration
From the vantage point of the temple, one see the scars of the catastrophe along the river below. A once-bustling community has been obliterated into a landscape of destruction.
The market that once thrived along the riverbanks has been reduced to a desolate stretch of mud, rubble and twisted debris. Rows of shops and small businesses have disappeared beneath thick deposits of silt and stones, while shattered walls, broken timber and fragments of corrugated metal lie scattered across the ground.
What was once a lively commercial centre has become almost unrecognisable, its familiar streets and pathways swallowed by the remnants of the flood.
The destruction extends well beyond the marketplace. Buildings along the river have been severely damaged or completely swept away, leaving behind fractured foundations, roofless structures and precariously standing walls.
Some multi-storey buildings appear gutted, their exposed concrete columns and broken balconies revealing the violence of the rushing waters and the debris they carried. The riverbanks remain scarred by deep channels carved through the earth, while enormous boulders, uprooted trees and heaps of sediment bear witness to the extraordinary force of the torrent.
It was something most Nepali people had never before seen or heard of in their lives. Some still refer to it as the flash flood incident. The prime minister of Nepal termed it as the “Himalayan tsunami”.
Indeed, it was not an ordinary flood but very much a tsunami, explained Mohd Firdaus Azman, charge d’affaires at the Malaysia Embassy in Nepal.
“For us Malaysians, when we talk about tsunami, it probably happens at sea. But a tsunami doesn’t have to be at sea. It’s a big wave, a sudden wave that happens anywhere. It can be from a river.
In this case, it was basically from a river stream from the Himalayas, which was caused by breaking glaciers. And these were huge glaciers.”
It is now estimated that about two million cubic metres of water fell from a height of 5,000 metres.
The torrent crushed everything that came across its path, while collecting stones, boulders, trees, mud and soil as it grew in effect into an avalanche.
Profound human toll
The glacial collapse and tsunami that struck Nepal and Tibet on August 26 caused a devastating loss of life and left thousands of people missing or injured. According to disaster reports, Nepal suffered the heaviest casualties, with at least 1,455 people confirmed dead and more than 5,285 reported missing.
A further 9,287 people sustained injuries. Search and rescue operations were officially brought to an end in early October, leaving families facing the anguish of uncertainty over the fate of their missing loved ones.
Across the border in Tibet, the disaster claimed at least 43 lives, while more than 519 people remained missing, according to official Chinese reports. The combined death toll in Nepal and Tibet reached at least 1,498, with the number of missing people exceeding 5,804.
These figures underscore the catastrophic scale of the disaster and the profound human toll of the glacial collapse and ensuing floods across the Himalayan region.
For example, Timure town in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, near the border with China, was catastrophically destroyed during the disaster. The town was completely washed out.
Timure was once a major trading centre, a local commercial hub and a popular stopover for tourists. The devastating torrent of debris swept through the town, destroying entire residential areas, carrying away hotels and burying essential infrastructure under thick layers of mud. The destruction was so extensive that the landscape became almost unrecognisable.
Across the affected districts, the disaster claimed more than 1,300 to 1,400 lives, while an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people remained missing. Timure and the surrounding mountain trails were crowded with local workers, business operators and hundreds of international tourists, many of whom were caught in the devastating flood.
“Whole family trees were there and they are all washed out. How is any relative able to tell that they are missing? The whole family is gone. There is nothing to see,” said Mohd Firdaus.
“Some of the bodies that they found had been taken all the way downstream to India.”
Mohd Firdaus was speaking during a visit by the Malaysia-Nepal Business Council’s humanitarian team to the Malaysian embassy in Kathmandu.
From all these, thousands of people have been missing. 54 of them are Malaysians. The majority of them were on the way to Mount Kailash on pilgrimage. Some were on the way to Everest Base Camp and a few others were trekking across the mountains.
Dangerous access by road
Reaching communities devastated by the tsunami has become a difficult and dangerous undertaking, particularly for those travelling by road. More than a month after the disaster, many routes to the hardest-hit areas remain severely damaged, blocked or almost impossible to navigate. Powerful floodwaters have swept away entire sections of roads, while other stretches have collapsed into deep ravines, leaving broken edges where the ground has crumbled beneath the force of the water.
Landslides have buried portions of highways under massive deposits of soil, rocks and uprooted trees. Thick layers of mud and scattered debris have further complicated travel, making it difficult for vehicles to maintain a firm grip on the road. In some areas, only thin stretches of fractured asphalt remain, precariously attached to steep mountainsides and offering little assurance of safe passage.
Traversing the rugged Himalayan terrain presents a constant challenge. Narrow roads snake along precipitous slopes, overlooking the Trishuli River as it rushes through the valleys far below. Drivers must carefully navigate uneven surfaces, hairpin bends and stretches where heavy machinery has only partially removed the debris. The destruction of bridges, many of which have been damaged or completely swept away by floodwaters, has further restricted movement. Travellers and rescue personnel are often forced to find alternative routes or proceed on foot wherever crossing remains possible.
The persistent danger of landslides makes these journeys even more unpredictable. Loosened earth and fractured rocks remain unstable and can give way without warning, especially after rainfall. For humanitarian workers transporting food, clean drinking water, medicines and other essential supplies, journeys that would normally take a short time can stretch into several exhausting hours.
The destruction of roads and bridges has also deepened the isolation of communities already reeling from the disaster. Villages cut off from the outside world face growing difficulties in obtaining essential supplies, while residents seeking medical treatment, travelling to relief centres or trying to reunite with family members must undertake long and difficult journeys.
Tour guide Keshab’s family is among those affected. His village has been cut off from the neighbouring town on the other side of the river. The bridge connecting the two sites across the river was among more than fifty bridges destroyed during the incident.
“I cannot reach my own village,” he said, explaining that a journey across the bridge used to take less than an hour but folks are now forced to be driven for much longer to access the neighbouring town.
“Over here people need immediate connections like bailey bridges,” he added. The loss of reliable transport links has made it increasingly difficult for affected communities to access the assistance they desperately need.
For rescue teams and volunteers, reaching the isolated settlements frequently requires leaving their vehicles behind and continuing on foot. Carrying supplies along narrow mountain trails and unstable slopes, they must overcome one obstacle after another to reach survivors.
What help is needed now
Members of Lions International and its Leo clubs are among those who have provided valuable services to support survivors whose homes, livelihoods and communities had been destroyed. These include emergency relief collection drives, gathering food, clothing, hygiene products and other essential supplies.
At Mustang Gumba on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Lions International has set up a shelter for a couple of tribal villages from the northern Rasuwa area who have lost all their properties and many kin. The group has undertaken to care for these villagers for six months, providing them food, sanitation facilities and place to sleep, until they obtain permanent resettlement by the government.
There seems to be adequate food for survivors for the time being from the aid that is being supplied by various humanitarian and charity groups. These include World Food Aid and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
However, with winter approaching in the Himalayan highlands, providing temporary shelters that can withstand harsh weather, together with warm clothing and blankets, is especially critical to protect vulnerable survivors from the cold.
Survivors also urgently require safe accommodation, clean drinking water, adequate food, medical assistance and proper sanitation. Many families have lost their homes and belongings, while countless others remain displaced, facing an uncertain future.
One of the most pressing priorities is clearing the enormous amounts of mud, rocks and debris that have buried houses, businesses and agricultural land. Nepal needs heavy machinery, including excavators and trucks, as well as construction materials and technical expertise to remove the wreckage and reopen routes to remote mountain communities.
Beyond meeting immediate humanitarian needs, Nepal must restore the infrastructure essential for reconnecting communities and supporting economic activity. Damaged or destroyed roads and bridges require urgent repairs, while electricity networks, telecommunications, water supplies, schools and healthcare facilities must be brought back into operation. Equally vital is helping affected families rebuild their livelihoods. Farmers need support to recover land buried beneath debris and replace livestock lost in the disaster.
Meanwhile, shopkeepers, hotel operators, transport workers and small-business owners require financial assistance to resume their operations. Cash aid, recovery grants and employment schemes that engage local residents in debris removal and reconstruction could provide much-needed income while revitalising the local economy. Nepal’s recovery efforts must therefore go beyond rebuilding homes and infrastructure to address the widespread loss of livelihoods that has left many families struggling to meet their most basic needs.
‘Completely new terrain’
The government of Nepal has had to announce the end of search and rescue. Even the search mission carried out at the hydropower facility for survivors in tunnels has been called off. The current phase is focussing on recovery and rebuilding.
“They are using heavy machinery to dig the ground and to look for bodies. It is no longer a search for rescue purposes. It’s just to recover. They have started building bridges and houses, and delivering aid,” said Mohd Firdaus.
The situation was so severe that the rivers and streams became expanded and unrecognisable. Before the incident some were just about 30 to 35 metres wide. But after Aug 26 they became 200 to 300 metres wide. “The wave came and expanded the Trishuli River to more than 300 metres. It all happened within a few seconds,” he said.
It was not just water that rushed down. The gigantic wave comprised of gigantic rocks and heavy mud. There are places that are now five metres higher than they were originally. And the layers of debris have become so strong as though they have been cemented.
It’s not even possible to use a shovel there. “They need to use heavy machinery. That’s how bad it is. So that’s why the authorities say it’s impossible (to salvage). Even when we looked, it was as if the places were cemented. It’s like a completely new terrain.”
There is generally an acceptance that recovery efforts should go beyond rebuilding homes and infrastructure to address the great loss of livelihoods. For this, the gentle but resilient nation needs a hand from the world.
The writer served as a volunteer with the humanitarian mission under the Malaysia-Nepal Business Council. To make an enquiry or donation towards MNBC’s fund-raising for Nepal, contact 019-355539 or visit mnbcmy.org.