Books Mandala started in 1991 as a board of postcards on the Lakeside strip in Pokhara. The tourists who bought the postcards kept asking for books, so books went up beside them, then more books than postcards, and in time floor-to-ceiling shelves. The shop was called Nepal Mandala Book Shop, and it grew into one of the largest bookstores in Gandaki Province.

That shop was the first Books Mandala store. It simply started out under a different name.

Taking the shop online

By 2017, more and more of the requests reaching the Pokhara counter came from people who could not walk in. Serving them meant an online store, and an online store needed a name that worked beyond one street in one city.

"Nepal Mandala Book Shop" was a good name for a shop. It was a long one for a web address, and with "Nepal" at the front it sounded more like a place than a bookstore. So we kept the part that mattered and put the books first. Books Mandala went on the website, booksmandala.com, and on every social account we opened, and in time it became the name of the whole business. Our first shop in Kathmandu opened as Books Mandala. The Lakeside shop in Pokhara, where it all began, kept its old sign a little longer, and it is Books Mandala now too.

What the mandala is doing in the name

In the Buddhist and Hindu traditions that run through Nepal, a mandala is a map of a whole universe: many parts arranged around a centre, each with its place. That is the bookstore we set out to be. Nepali literature sits beside international fiction, textbooks next to manga, and a secondhand paperback on the same shelf as this week's release from Delhi, London, or New York.

Books Mandala is our shorthand for that idea: a universe of books.

The mandala came with us from Pokhara. The books tell you what we do.

More books, for more of Nepal

A well-stocked bookshop is still out of reach for a lot of readers in Nepal. Closing that gap is the work. We carry more than 50,000 titles today and deliver to most of the country, as well as to readers abroad who want books from home.

We buy directly from most of the major international publishers that sell into South Asia, and from Nepali publishers, so new releases reach our shelves early and at fair prices. If a title is missing, readers can request it and we will order it in. Used books keep good books moving at prices more people can manage.

Two shops and a website are where we are today. We want to be in more cities and closer to more readers, and we are working on it.

Somewhere to spend an afternoon

Our shops host author events and book launches through the year, and plenty of people come in with no particular book in mind and leave an hour later with three. We would like every new shop to work the same way.

A note on the name

Many of Kathmandu's bookshops share a word or two, and "mandala" is a popular one. Mandala Book Point is a separate bookstore in Kathmandu with its own owners and its own history. We have no ownership, stock, or management in common with it, so articles, reviews, and listings about Mandala Book Point are about that shop, not ours. Both are good bookshops to visit. They are simply not the same one.

And if you come across "Nepal Mandala Book Shop" on an old receipt, a map listing, or a review from years back, that is us, under our first name.

Quick answers

Where did Books Mandala start?
In Lakeside, Pokhara, in 1991, as Nepal Mandala Book Shop. The business took the name Books Mandala when it went online in 2017.

Why is it called Books Mandala?
A mandala represents a complete universe. The name keeps "Mandala" from our original shop and describes what we aim to be: a universe of books.

Is Books Mandala the same as Mandala Book Point?
No. Mandala Book Point is an independently owned bookstore in Kathmandu with no connection to Books Mandala.

Can I order a book that is not on the website?
Yes. Send a book request and we will source it where we can.

Does Books Mandala ship outside Nepal?
Yes. We ship worldwide from Nepal.