Lokta

Lokta paper has been used in Nepal since the 12th century to write epic tales, print mantras for use in prayer wheels and for religious texts chanted by Buddhist monks. Until 1959 Nepal used this paper for all official government correspondence. Now it’s used for ownership papers (lal purja) and legal documents. Hand-made from the renewable fibrous inner bark of a high-elevation evergreen shrub, Daphne cannabina, it provides a reliable revenue stream for women in 22 districts in Nepal’s rural and urban areas. Today the raw paper is hand-produced in rural areas but finished lokta paper products are produced only in Kathmandu Valley and Janakpur. The designs are hand silk-screened or hand marbled onto the paper.