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Heritage Photogrammetry & 3D Documentation · EWAP

Indreshwor Temple
& Batule Ghar

Panauti and Pelunga (Kaski), Nepal

Indreshwor Temple · Project overview

A temple complex, one merged model

Photogrammetry processing for the Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme covered the Indreshwor Temple complex in Panauti. The 5,164 images cover the main temple, its surrounding shrines and stone lions. I aligned the terrestrial and aerial components in RealityCapture, merged them and prepared the textured model. It was published on Sketchfab in June 2025 with three 8,192-pixel texture tiles.

5,164
Images in 48 sets
1,000,120
Faces in the published model
3
Texture tiles, 8,192 pixels each
View the model on Sketchfab ↗See the workflow

The model

Indreshwor Temple, Panauti

The published model has 1,000,120 faces and three 8,192-pixel texture tiles. These are path-traced renders of the model export, made in Blender with the model's own texture tiles and a single sun, so the carved doors, brickwork, gilded top roof and stone lions can be read.

Render of the textured Indreshwor Temple model from a three-quarter view: a three-tier pagoda with a red-brown roof, a gilded top roof and pinnacle, and a stepped plinth with stone lions and a railing.
Three-quarter view. The three roofs, the carved lower storey and the plinth.
Render of the temple model from the opposite three-quarter view, showing carved doors and a bell beside the plinth.
Opposite side.
Render of the temple model from the rear three-quarter view with stone lions and a small shrine on the plinth.
Rear side.
Front view of the temple model: three roofs stacked above a carved brick lower storey with doors and windows.
Front view. Camera level with the plinth, facing the main doors.
Close render of the temple's lower storey: carved wooden doors, brackets and brickwork under the lowest roof.
Detail. Carved doors, brackets and brickwork under the lowest roof.
Wireframe close-up of the temple's lower storey: the triangle mesh over the carved doors, brackets, stone lions and railing.
Mesh close-up. The triangulation over the lower storey, carved doors, lions and railing.

Design & technical approach

Three components merged into one

I received the photographs by capture set, aligned the terrestrial and aerial groups separately, then merged them into one component for meshing and texturing.

Terrestrial_AAerialTerrestrial_CMerged5,164 images in 48 sets
Indreshwor Temple. Three components merged into one.

Interactive 3D model

Explore INDRESHWOR TEMPLE NEPAL in 3D

Rotate, zoom and inspect the model directly in this case study.

Open on Sketchfab ↗

Final deliverables

What came out of the processing

Textured mesh
Final textured 3D model: 1,000,120 faces, three 8,192-pixel texture tiles
Published model
On Sketchfab, June 2025: Indreshwor Temple ↗
Programme records
The programme catalogues this documentation in its Arches database
RealityCapturePhotogrammetry3D reconstructionPoint cloudsMesh reconstructionTexture baking

I completed CyArk’s virtual EWAP 2025 Photogrammetry Workshop in January 2025. Field data: EWAP field teams. My role: processing and 3D model output.

Batule Ghar · Project overview

Round houses of the Mid-Hills

Photogrammetry for the Batule Ghar round houses in Nepal’s Mid-Hills formed part of a 2026 Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme project covering several sites. Two are shown here, both at Pelunga, Kaski. House-04 was aligned in six parts, merged into a master and finished across 14 model versions. House-03 is a thatched round house with a plastered upper wall, two roof tiers and a veranda.

6,991
Images in House-04, in 16 sets
14
Model versions in House-04
1,222,358
Faces in the House-03 mesh
View the Batule Ghar 3D model on Sketchfab ↗See the workflow

The models · 2026

Batule Ghar Round Houses of the Mid-Hills of Nepal

House-03, Pelunga, Kaski, one of the Batule Ghar sites: a thatched round house with a plastered upper wall, two roof tiers and a veranda. The export has 610,776 vertices and 1,222,358 faces, textured from six 8,192-pixel tiles. These are path-traced renders made in Blender with those textures and a single sun.

Render of the round house model from the front left: a thatched upper roof over a plastered wall with small windows, a wide lower eave and a veranda with wooden posts.
Veranda side. Two thatched tiers, the plastered wall and the veranda posts.
Render of the round house model from the opposite side: a curved plastered wall under the upper roof, with a stone-lined base.
Opposite side. The curved wall and stone base.
Render of the round house model from the rear three-quarter view, showing both thatched tiers and the plinth.
Rear side.
Wireframe close-up of the veranda: triangles over the thatch, posts and walls.
Mesh close-up. The triangulation over the eave, veranda posts and walls.

Design & technical approach

Aligned in parts, merged into a master

Large houses do not align in one pass. I aligned House-04 as six components (aerial with exterior, two ground, two top and a small interior set), merged into one component, then finished as a Master.

AERIAL_N_PEX_MASTERground01ground02Top01top02PIN_03MergedMaster6,991 images · 14 model versions
House-04, Kaski. Six components, then a merged component, then the Master.

Image sets in House-04

PEX_01382PEX_021,439PEX_04150PEX_05289PEX_06606pex_0797PIN_01532PIN_021,124PIN_0319PIN_04504PIN_05327PIN_06585AGR_01502ARN_0190ARN_02153ARN_03192Terrestrial · 6,054Aerial · 937
6,991 images in 16 sets. The smallest set holds 19 images, the largest 1,439.

Model versions in House-04

1234567891011121314Average edge length, log scale: 0.00073 → 0.046 scene unitsMasterModel version
14 versions of one house, from a fine mesh to lightweight ones. The Master uses version 13.

Interactive 3D model

Explore Turlungkot_Master in 3D

Rotate, zoom and inspect the model directly in this case study.

Open on Sketchfab ↗

Final deliverables

What came out of the processing

Textured meshes
House-03 exported as a 1,222,358-face mesh with 610,776 vertices and six 8,192-pixel texture tiles; House-04 in 14 model versions, from a fine mesh to lightweight ones
Master
House-04 finished as a Master built on model version 13
Programme records
The programme catalogues this documentation in its Arches database
RealityCapturePhotogrammetry3D reconstructionPoint cloudsMesh reconstructionTexture baking

I completed CyArk’s virtual EWAP 2025 Photogrammetry Workshop in January 2025. Field data: EWAP field teams. My role: processing and 3D model output.