Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal

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A purjī from the Dolakhā Māla to the Guṭhī Bandovasta Aḍḍā re planned deductions from the account of a local Śrī Tripurāsundarī guṭhī (VS 1973)

ID: K_0159_0045

Edited and translated by Ramhari Timalsina in collaboration with Yogesh Budathoki
Created: 2021-05-10; Last modified: 2021-07-26
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Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2021. Published by the courtesy of the National Archives, Kathmandu. The copyright of the facsimile remains with the Nepal Rashtriya Abhilekhalaya (National Archives, Government of Nepal). All use of the digital facsimiles requires prior written permission by the copyright holder. See Terms of Use.
The accompanying edition, translation/synopsis and/or commentary are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Abstract

This is a purjī from the Dolakhā Māla to the Guṭhī Bandovasta Aḍḍā regarding deductions planned to be made from the account of a local Śrī Tripurāsundarī guṭhī.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1[Seal of the Dolakhā Māla with legend: श्री
2दोल्षामाल्‌
3१९६४]

1दोल्षामाल्‌वाट श्री५सर्कारतर्फगुठीवन्दोवस्तके
2पुर्जी
3उप्रान्त•श्रीत्रीपुरा•सुंदरी•कागुठीकोवाकीस्मेत्‌लगत्काटने•वोहयेविषये•तेस्‌अडावाट७२साल्‌पोषपौष
4२गतेरीपोट्•जाहेरगरेको•वुझीयाकोहुनाले•सोवारे•रपोट्‌जाहेरभयेकोहोहोइनहोभने
5केवेहोरालेकुंसाल्‌देषी•कुंसाल्‌तककती•लगत्‌काटनेकुंमीतीमाजाहेरभयेकोलेषीपठाउ
6नुभनी७३साल्‌वैसाष•५गते•२मा•लेषीपठायामाआजसम्मकेहीजव़ाफ्‌लेषीनपठायाकोहुनाले
7तस्कोतालेषनेकांभयाकोछतसर्थसोलगतकाटनेवारेमाकेवेहोरालेकुंसाल्‌देषीकतील
8गत्‌काट्‌नेभयेकोछ•तुरंतलेषी•पठाउनेकांभयावेस्‌होलाताकीतागर्नुनपरोस्‌इती
9सम्वत्‌१९७३साल्‌•आषाड•१२गते१शुभम्‌

1[Unknown seal]

Translation

[1r]

[Seal of the Dolakhā Māla with legend: Śrī Dolṣā Māl 1964]

A purjī from the Dolakhā Māla to the Guṭhī Bandovasta [Aḍḍā] of Śrī 5 Sarkāra

Uprānta: When it was learned [by us] that on the 2nd day of Pauṣa in the year [VS 19]72 a report was produced by your (lit. that) office (i.e. the Guṭhī Bandovasta Aḍḍā) regarding deductions from the account and also [regarding] the Śrī Tripurāsundarī guṭhī’s [current] balance, we wrote [to your office] on Monday, the 5th day of Vaisākha in the year [VS 19]73 asking whether [you] knew of the report about this or not, and if so then to write back to us [explaining] the details: from which year to which year and what deductions are [to be] made, and on what date [you] learned [of this]. However, until today [you] have not written and sent any answer [to us]. That is why we are writing this reminder. Therefore, it will be good if you would write [to us] without delay regarding the deductions from the account, [explaining] the details [of them]: from which year to which year and what deductions from the account are being planned? [Further] reminders should not be necessary.

Sunday, the 12th day of Āṣāḍha in the [Vikrama] era year 1973 (1916 CE). Auspiciousness.

[Unknown seal]

Commentary

This purjī is issued from the Dolakhā Māla, and therefore the Tripurāsundarī temple to which the guṭhī is related is apparently the one located east of Charikot Bazaar in Dolakha district.

Word	Notes
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi Bandobasta Aḍā; n. "Guthi Administration Office", office responsible for the management of guṭhīs; established under Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1852-1853 as replacement of the former Guṭhī Kacaharī. Its foundation marks the change from the guṭhīyāri system of the guṭhī management to the contractor based system; remained the central office to coordinate all offices subsequently established for handling different aspects of guṭhī management, including the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā and others. Separate Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 713-715).
māla	n. an office for collecting revenues (M.L. Karmacharya 1996: 63; M.C. Regmi 1978: 862). Cf. māla aḍḍā
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
śrī 5 sarkāra	lit. "five-times venerable ruler"; commonly used to refer to the Śāha king (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266) and often indistinctively to his government (Lecomte-Tilouine 2015).
uprānta	var. uprāṃta, ūprāṃnta, ūprā̃nta, prāṃta; also yathocita uprānta; conj. after that, besides, in addition to, hereafter. In earlier prose and official documents, this word marked the beginning of a text or paragraph. It has no equivalent in English (Clark 1989: 231). In some (mostly Rāṇā period?) documents, it takes the form of yathocita uprānta.