History
Historically handmade Nepali Lokta paper was used for government record keeping, to wrap goods, write horoscopes and to make incense.
During the 1970s with the growth of tourism in Nepal, interest in this traditional craft product began to rise. It was in 1980/81 that the traditional craft paper took a turning point when UNICEF launched the project “Community Development through Production of Greeting Cards”. The project aimed to improve the quality of life of Lokta cutters and paper makers in the rural areas and to provide them employment opportunities. Beside this, the project also covered urban-based paper craft producers capitalizing their old block printing skills of Bhaktapur thus leading to the establishment of Bhaktapur Craft Printers (BCP), now incorporated as “Bhaktapur Craft Paper Ltd.” in Bhaktapur.