On Monday, July 3 visitors to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. were participants in a once in a lifetime experience. During the course of viewing the "Tibetan Culture: Beyond the Land of Snows Festival" mounted by the Smithsonian Institution, a fleet of black limousines drove up in front of the main gateway to the Festival and within minutes a formidable corps of secret service agents emerged from the cars and took their positions on the festival grounds. The reason for their presence was clear as soon as a well-known figure made his way towards the festival displays. His Holiness the Dalai Lama had arrived to enjoy a tour of the festival led by Smithsonian officials amidst a crowd of awestruck onlookers. For members of the University community fortunate enough to be present, this was a special moment.

During his visit His Holiness saw the Tibetan Gate and Shakyamuni Buddha Shrine Room created as part of the collaborative project Kathmandu spearheaded by the Fine Arts Center in partnership with the Springfield Museums and the Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School in Springfield.

The result of years of planning, Kathmandu was a three dimensional recreation of a Tibetan Buddhist temple built in successive stages at the Fine Arts Center. Kathmandu premiered at the Springfield Museums in conjunction with The Mystical Arts of Tibet and the Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandala Painting exhibitions. Kathmandu was the setting of the "Dance of the Deities" performances by the Nataraj Dancers during February school vacation week. Costumed to resemble sculpted deities in the exhibition, dancers interpreted the displays through performances complemented by Tibetan music and enhanced with dramatic lighting.

With attendance topping 4,300 visitors for February vacation week programming, the Museums set an all-time record for visitation. Other programs focused on Kathmandu were also well attended. A Sunday afternoon lecture series drew visitors from across New England. The series began with a presentation by renowned Buddhist scholar Dr. Robert Thurman that was enjoyed by 400 participants. The school program for the Tibetan exhibitions was designed to introduce students to Tibetan art and culture and to complement the peer mediation curricula of local schools. Written teacher evaluations reflect the profound impact the docent-guided tours had on visiting students. One teacher commented, "This installation (Kathmandu) was particularly wonderful. One child said that she wanted to take pictures because she wanted to remember it for the rest of her life." The closing of the exhibition in Springfield proved to be one step in the journey of Kathmandu.

Parts of the installation were selected to be showcased in the "Tibetan Culture: Beyond the Land of Snows" festival organized by the Smithsonian Institution. From June 23 to July 4 over a million visitors walked through the monumental Tibetan-style gate created as part of the collaboration and viewed the Shakyamuni Buddha Shrine Room of Kathmandu. Many miles have been logged in by the project, but the travels of Kathmandu have not ended. Currently, plans are underway to install the main gate as an outdoor display in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. At this point, it is hard to predict the next reincarnation for this ever-evolving arts outreach project of the Fine Arts Center.