A copy of an account by Rāmānanda Bā̃ḍā of petitions he made to Rudravīra Sāha and Bam Sāha in justification of his claim to control the Luthāma Guṭha [VS 1859]
ID: E_2253_0015A
Edited and
translated by Manik Bajracharya
Created: 2020.08.16;
Last modified: 2021-07-28
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Abstract
The document of which this is a copy is an account made to an unknown addressee by Rāmānanda Bā̃ḍā describing how in VS 1859 control of the Luthāma Guṭhī, a Matsyendranātha-related trust, had been misused by Bhājudhana Jaisi, and how the sender had petitioned Rudravīra Sāha and Bam Sāha to regain control of the guṭhī.
Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1श्री३मत्स्येन्द्रनाथ१1श्री५महाराजा२1लुथाम्गूठभन्याकोहाम्रापुरुषाजीवराजवांडाले¯ ¯१¯ ¯कोरथमाँहां•विमानचढाईराष्याकोहो१९२वर्षभयो•तस्कोटह2ल्उनकासंतानले•गरिआयाकोहो• वीचमंहांवर्ष२४गोर्षाकोराज्यभई•इजारापर्दा•धर्मार्थराष्याकोगूठ•इजारा
3हालिखाञौन•पुरुषावाटगरिआयाकोटहलभन्याछोड्यौन•५९कासालमंहां•भाजुधनजैसिले•इजारामाफ•ग
4रायाभंदासुंदा•श्रीरूद्रवीरसाहथिगञौं•¯ ¯२¯ ¯ले•देवताकोधनहर्दा•हाम्रोकेहिलाग्दैन•¯ ¯२¯ ¯ले•देवताकोखेत
5देवतालाई•वक्स्याप्रांत•तिनसहरकाशिरिस्ताले•हामिलेपाउन्याहो•वाँडाँकोगूठजैसिलेकसोगरिलैगयो•अ
6न्यायपर्योभनि•विंतिगर्दा•गुठिहारलाई•हरिदियाकोछैनं•इजारापमाफगरिदियाकोछभनि•आज्ञाभयो•भाजुध
7नलाई•खैगरिदिउंलाभन्नुभयो•रूवरूभाजुधनजैसिलाई•दिहाल्भनिदिनुभयो•दिउंलापनिभन्यो•घरमाग्नजाँ
8दाँ•कोहिवर्ष•मैलेखायर•दिउंला•आजरश्रीवंवसाहथि•हामिलाई•भाजुधनलेगूठसुप्योभनभन्यो•तसमंहां
9चित्तवुझेनर•श्रीवंवसाहथि•विंतिगर्नगञौं•उन्लेदियाको•दसखतकोनकल्¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯
Translation
[1r]
Thrice glorious Matsyendranātha - 1
His Fivefold Venerable Majesty1 - 2
The Luthāma Guṭha was established by our ancestor Jīvarāja Bā̃ḍā2 when he offered the vimāna3 to the chariot of 1 [i.e., Matsyendranātha]. His descendants have been serving this [guṭha] for 192 years. When in the meantime, after 2 or 4 years of Gorkha rule, the ijārā [system] was instituted, we did not bid for and enjoy [the physical benefit of] the ijārā [contract] for the guṭha, since it was established for the purpose of [accumulating] religious merit. [However,] we did not discontinue the services carried out by our ancestors. When in the year [VS 18]59 (1802 CE) we heard that Bhājudhana Jaisi had had ijārā [obligations on the part of the guṭha] forgiven, we went to Rudravīra Sāha4 . We petitioned him, saying: "If 2 [i.e., the king] confiscates the deity's property, there is nothing we can do. Since the king [now] has returned the deity's land to the deity, [and since] the Śiristās5 of the three cities have said that we should receive [charge of the guṭha], how is it that a Jaisi has seized control of a guṭha of the Bā̃ḍās? Injustice is being done [to us]," and he told us: "We haven't removed the guṭhī members (guṭhīhāra); only ijārā [obligations] have been forgiven." He said that he would take Bhājudhana to task. He, being face to face (rubaru) with Bhājudhana, told him to return [charge of the guṭha] immediately. He said, too, that he (i.e., Bhājudhana) would return it. [However,] when we went to his house to ask for it back, he said: "I will return it [only] after enjoying it for some [more] years. Tell Baṃba Sāha6 today that [I,] Bhājudhana, [have] handed the guṭha over." We were not satisfied with this [proposition] and went to make petition to Baṃba Sāha.
A copy of the letter sent by him (i.e., Bam Sāha).7
Commentary
This document is the first in a series of documents concerning a legal issue that arose in 1802 over the ownership of the Luthāma (lit. golden pillars) Guṭha. According to the NGMPP catalogue card, these copied documents were in the collection of Manoj Rajopadhyaya of Kathmandu. In the current document, Rāmānanda Bā̃ḍā explains how in the year VS 1859 he realized that Bhājudhana Jaisi was misusing his authority over the Luthāma Guṭha, and how he made petition to Rudravīra Sāha, wherein he justified his claim to regain control of the guṭhī. Rudravīra's order to Bhājudhana to immediately return charge of the guṭhī went unheeded, and Rāmānanda had to make petition to Bam Sāha instead.
The document omits dates and the name of the writer. However, it mentions the year VS (18)59 in its main body, and since document E_2253_0015B, which is Cautariyā Bam Sāha's response to the writer's petition, is dated Śrāvaṇa of that year, we can safely assume that the period this document covers lies within the first four months of the year. Similarly, the writer can be determined to have been Rāmānanda Bā̃ḍā, as E_2253_0015B is addressed to him.
As the document mentions, the disputed Luthāma Guṭhī was established when Jīvarāja Bā̃ḍā donated the vimāna to the chariot of Matsyendranātha. Jīvarāja, with whom the writer of the document claimed ancestry, was a resident of Oku Bāhāla8 in Patan and is credited with completing Mahābuddha Temple9 . According to the vaṃśāvalīs, Jīvarāja received some gold from the Lāmā of Sikkim when he finished building it. He then later used this gold to produce the gilt metal panels and donated them to the chariot.10 Hemarāja Śākya gives the date of the donation as Wednesday, the 4th of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in NS 774 (1654 CE).11 This dating, however, is problematic. If Jīvarāja completed Mahābuddha Temple in NS 721 (Śākya VS 2045: 10), and the Luthāma Guṭhī was created by the same Jīvarāja in connection with the temple, it is unrealistic to believe that there would be a gap of 53 years between the two events. Moreover, the document states that the ancestors of the writer had served the guṭhī for 192 years. This would allow us to assume that the guṭhī was established in VS 1667 (1859-192=1667). This would correspond to NS 730 (1610 CE) or around. This can also be confirmed through the Nepālikabhūpavaṃśāvalī which mentions the establishment of the guṭhī during the reign of King Śivasiṃha Malla (r. 1578–1620).
Luthāma is variously spelled as Lusā, Lusāhāpau12 , and Lhusā13 . The guṭhī maintains the panels, provides for transporting and fitting the panels to the Matsyendranātha chariot each year, and manages storage of the dismantled panels throughout the year after the festival is over. The members of the guṭhī come from the saṅgha of Mahābuddha Bāhāla. Bruce Owens in the 1980s observed that the guṭhī had only one member, though there used to be seven or eight (Owens 1989: 274).
The document mentions the Luthāma Guṭha's falling under the ijārā system of contractual management, and that this system was instituted after 2 or 4 years of Gorkha rule. The definitive year of the imposition of ijārā is provided in document PD_0002_0002 as NS 893 (ca. 1773). It is further learned from the the current document that the government later removed the Luthāma Guṭhī from the ijārā form of control, and Bhājudhana then somehow managed to tighten his control of the guṭhī. The document thus announces that Cautariyā Bam Sāha was petitioned by Rāmānanda Bā̃ḍā to have the guṭhī returned to the original overseers.