Kathmandu, Oct 18 (IANS) Amidst the celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights in South Asia, and Chhath, the worship of the sun in the Terai plains, Nepal will observe yet another festival Monday when it ushers in a new year, according to an ethnic calendar.
In an amazing leap-back in time, from Monday starts the year 1130, according to the Nepal Sambat, the calendar followed by the Newars. The Newars were the first inhabitants of Kathmandu valley, a clan remarkable for its trading acumen and skill in architecture, painting and sculpture.
The calendar is believed to have been started by Sankhadhar Sakhwa, a Newar merchant, who turned sand into gold by alchemy and paid off the accumulated debts the entire Kathmandu valley owed to the then king Raghav Dev. The Nepal Sambat year is, therefore, regarded as the start of an era of liberation under a common man hero.
Nepal has several other ethnic calendars as well. There is also a Kirati calendar followed by the Kirats, the Maithil calendar followed in the Terai, and the Lhosar calendar followed by the Buddhist Tamang community.
Nepal’s official calendar, however, is still the Bikram Sambat calendar said to have been started by Indian king Vikramaditya and introduced in Nepal by then prime minister Chandra Shumsher Rana. According to it, Nepal is now in the last phase of the year 2066.
The powerful Newar community has long since been campaigning to replace the Bikram Sambat with the Newar calendar.
Senior Maoist leader and former tourism minister Hisila Yami, who belongs to the Newar community, says the Nepal Sambat calendar should be used by Nepal since it was introduced by a common man and is named after the country instead of a religion, community or individual.
‘The Nepal Sambat calendar will help boost the feeling of nationalism by discarding a foreign country-based Vikram Sambat, which even its country of origin has discarded for day-to-day activities,’ she said.
Yami, a graduate from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, says that the contribution of Shakwa was ignored by Nepal’s rulers.
‘It took the first people’s movement in 1990 for the government to officially recognise Shankhadar Shakwa as a national hero,’ she wrote in the Kathmandu Post daily Sunday.
‘It took a people’s war (by the Maoists) and a second people’s movement in 2006 to get Nepal Sambat to be officially recognised as a national calendar.’
Yami rues the fact that despite the government’s pledge to replace the Bikram Sambat, it is yet to be implemented.
‘Are we then waiting for another people’s war and movement to implement the Nepal Sambat?’ the Maoist lawmaker asks.
Dear editor,
Happy Diwali !
I extend thanks that you have released this very good news about Nepalese culture and Nepal Sambat.
But, the reality of Nepal Sambat is another thing.Sister Hisila Yami said ‘discarding a foreign country-based Vikram Sambat, which even its country of origin has discarded for day-to-day activities’ but that is wrong and is not fact. So, I request to all Newars not to go to exercise in futility.So, I am sending some facts about Nepal Sambat to study–
History of Nepal Sambat
From the last several years, I have been publishing several articles on Bikram Sambat, Nepal Sambat and other Sambats. I am sorry as several Newar communities have attempted to blame me. I am not biased against Newar community and have always respected them. I have been accepting that Newars have been conserving the Hindu and Buddhist religions, cultures and traditions for centuries. But, I never believe the story of conversion of Sand into Gold. I have received several instances that prove that Sankhdhar did not start Nepal Sambat. King Ragha Dev was given the title as mentioned in Gopal Bansabal- it was ‘Pashupati Bhattarak Sambatsar’-63. The concluding sentences from Bishnu Dharma, a handwritten book at the time of King Raghav Dev is in Nepal Sambat 167. Now, the government has decleared for National Sambat . How it will practical ?
The story of conversion of sand into gold is imaginary. Nepal Sambat is born in Nepal and during the Malla Period; it was prevalent in Tibet, Bengal and several neighboring countries. It was also in use during Prithavi Narayan Shah and the Rana period. But due to inconvenience in changes in tithi (date), Chandra Shamsher started to write on Date ( gate)the present Bikram Sambat. Bikram Sambat proved chroncically because it contained 365 days in a year in contrast of 354 days in the Nepal Sambat. Many historians have studied about the its proponent and its founder.
Similarly, the Shaka Sambat was started by King Kaniska from 78 AD and it was gradually lost during the Moghal and the British Empire in India, but Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru restarted it in 1957. But as it had only 354 days in a year, it was not practical and AD was reused. Historian K. B Udaya wrote that there is no proof of the rich Sankhadhar at Kathmandu in the Gorakhapatra on Nov 13, 2007. He writes-The culture regards King as an incarnation of Lord-Narayan or Vishnu. Sankahdhar. Sankhadhar is rendered one wielding the conch. After the mid-term elections in 2056, through an ad-hoc decision of the Council of Ministers chaired by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, presented by minister Omkar Prasad shrestha made an erroneous decision of declaring Sankhadhar Sakhwa a national hero (Bivuti). Such a decision made in haste is unsuitable.
French scholar Syavan Levy has writtem that the people revolted against Tibetan king who was ruling Nepal between the 7th and 9th century AD and liberated the country. Nepal Sambat started between 879 and 889 AD. One of the Histotian Pro. Bendal has written about the rule of king Raghav Dev of the Lichhavis and started Nepal Sambat in 880 AD. Histotian Balchandra Sharma agrees to this point in his history book Nepalko Aitihasik Ruprekha. According to another scholar of history Dhanbajra Bajracharya, King Raghav Dev started this Sambat in honour of Pashupatinath. Italian scholar laciano Patrek has published a Vansavali which honours King Raghavdev as Pasupati Bhattarak Sambatsar. Historian Baikuntha Prasad Lakaul has written in Nepali Samacharpatra on Kartik 30,2058 that no others are as authentic as Gopal Bansawali. Historian Dhundi Raj Bandari wrote in Nepalko Aitihasik Biwechana about handwritten Bishnu Darma which mentions King Raghav Dev propagating Nepal Sambat 167.
On hearing from an astrologer, king Ananda Malla of Bhaktapur ( There is no any record of King Ananda Malla in history at that time) asked to bring sands from Bisnumati River. But, Shankhdhar Sakhwa asked the King’s carrier to deposit the sand to him and carried another sands to the King. Historian Bhuvan Lal Pradhan supported the conversion but arising the arguments leter he wrote about gold particles found in the river. So, there is no strong argument about Shankhdhar. Historian Dhanbajra Bajracharya, Shankarman Rajbansi,Baikuntha Prasad Lakaul and Krishna Bahadur Udaya are the Newars who have proved that Nepal Sambat was started by King Raghav Dev. The Nepal Samachar, in its editorial (dated 2058-7-30), wrote that the story of conversion of Sand into Gold has not been established.
Some followers of Shankhdhar have written that south gate at Pahupatinath has a stone-statue with Sankha(Conch) in hand, is the statue of Shankhdhar Sakhwa. But this is not true. This is the statue of King Bhagiratha devotee of Bhagitathi Ganga for water in the earth. Such statues are found in front of 108 Shiv Temples across the River Bagmati, in front of Ganga Mata, Sundhara at Dharahara & Patan Sundhara. We can see such statue stands in front of Swarna Buddha Mandir in Patan also. So, I request, not to try to exercise in futility. The history always follows the real events, evidence, writings, chronology; the heresy also must be trustworthy. So, let us not establish any assumptions contrary to the historical fact only to gain political or individual racial benefit. Nepal Sambat is historical. Well, welcome New Year 1130, Nepal Sambat.
Thank you.
All the best.
Dirgha Raj Prasai
Political & Cultural Analyst.