A copy of a copper plate from King Raṇabahādura Śāha to Melamha Vaidya confirming the land of the Vatsaleśvarī Sindūrajātrā Guṭhī (VS 1853)
ID: K_0350_0013
Edited and
translated by Rajan Khatiwoda and Axel Michaels
Created: 2026-10-26;
Last modified: 2026-11-11
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Abstract
This document is a copy of King Raṇabahādura Śāha’s copper plate of 1796 CE (VS 1853). It reconfirms Jayaprakāśa Malla’s guthi of 120 ropanīs for the goddess Vatsaleśvarī in Deopatan. It prescribes her worship on Piśācacaturdaśī and the Sindūrajātrā on the following new moon.Diplomatic edition
[1r]
॥८४॥
२२०नं
रूजु
हेर्ने स्ही नौ हरि
भंने नौ शोश? [Unknown Seal]1स्वस्तिश्रीगिरीराजचक्रचुडामणिनरनाराय़णेत्यादीविविधविरूदावलिविराजमानमा
2नोन्नतश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजश्रीश्रीश्रीमहाराजेरणवहादुरसाहवहादुरसम्सेरजंङ्गदे
3वानांसदासमरविजयिनाम्¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯
4आगेवछलेश्वरीको1 सींन्दुरजात्राकोगुठीकोषेतकपर्थलि2 ऊषवारीरोपनीसाठी६०
5जोगीफमे.ऊषवारीरोपनिसाठी६०पाषोज्मारोपनियकसयविस१२०चारैपटीलो
6हकीलकोसाधगरीजयेप्रकासमल्लराजालेगुठीवाधीचधायाको3 रहेछआजपनिते
7हीसाधसीवानावमोजीमगुठीजानीहामीलेपनीचह्राञ्यूंतेसगुठीदेवपाटंकोमेलह्म4
8वैद्यलाईताम्वापत्रगरीवक्स्यौतसषेतकोऊवजनिलेवर्षवंधनपिसाचचटुरदसी.
9का5 दीनपंचोपचारपुजागर्नुथुमायेक१वलिदीनुभेटीआना॥चह्राऊनुपुजा
10हारकेदछीनाआनायेकs/दीनुश्रीकुमारीगनहरुकनदछीनास्मेतगरी.विधीगर्नु
11चाव़लपाठीवाह्र१२कोसाराजामगरीआचारवाटरात्रीमापुजागर्नुअर्नाकाशृग6 २
12लेविधिचलाऊनुअमावास्याकादीनठेमीकोसींन्दुरधार्नी६अम्वालीकाहातदी
12कनसींन्दुरजात्रागराऊनुयेतिपरापुर्वकारीतीसंगगुठीचलाईसेषवाकीरह्याको
12 गुठीहारलेभोग्यगर्नुईतिसंम्वत१८५३सालमार्गसीरवदी११रोज६शुभ्म्¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯
Translation
[1r]
[Page no.] 84.7
No. 220.8
[Collation notes:] “Checked (ruju). The one who examined: [signature] Nau Hari. The one who read [aloud]: Nau …?”9
[Unidentified seal.]
Hail! [A decree] of him who shines with manifold rows of eulogies, [such as] “The venerable crest-jewel of the multitude of mountain kings” and “Naranārāyaṇa” (an epithet of Kṛṣṇa) etc., high in honour, the venerable supreme king of great kings, the thrice-venerable great king Raṇabahādura Śāha (text: Sāha), the brave swordsman, the divine king, ever triumphant in war.
Hereafter (āge): It appears that King Jayaprakāśa Malla (text: Jayeprakāsa Malla), having made the boundary (sā̃dha) with iron pegs (lohakīla) on all four sides, had established a guthi and offered [the following] land for [the procession called] Sindūrajātrā (text: Sīṃndurajātrā) of [the venerable] Vatsaleśvarī (text: Vachaleśvarī): sixty ropanīs, 60, of guthi field at Ukhubārī (text: Ūṣavārī; lit. “sugarcane field”), Kaparthali, and sixty ropanīs, 60, of dry upland (pākho) at Ukhubārī, Jogi{phame?}; in total one hundred and twenty ropanīs, 120. Today, too, recognising [it] as guthi according to that same boundary and limit (sādha sivānā), we too have offered [it], and we have graciously granted that guthi by issuing a copper plate to Melamha Vaidya10 of Deopatan (text: Devapāṭaṃ).
From the produce of that field, on the day of the annual celebration (varṣavardhana), Piśācacaturdaśī, perform the fivefold-offering worship (paṃcopacāra pūjā). Give one ram (thumā), 1, as sacrifice (bali). Offer half an ānā as a monetary gift (bheṭī), and give one ānā as a sacrificial fee (dakṣiṇā) to the officiating priest (text: pujāhāra). Perform the rite (vidhi), including the fee for the venerable group of Kumārīs (text: śrīkumārīgaṇa); having arranged the provisions (sārājāma) of twelve pāthīs, 12, of husked rice, perform the worship at night through the Ācāra (ācāravāṭa) [i.e. by the Ācāju priest, or: according to custom], and conduct the rite (vidhi) with two horns, 2, of the wild buffalo (arnā). On the day of the new moon (amāvāsyā), having given six dhārnīs, 6, of Thimi vermilion (ṭhemīko sīndura) into the hands of the amālī (text: ambālī; local official), arrange the performance of the procession, the Sindūrajātrā.
Having run the guthi in this way according to the custom of olden times, the guthi holders (guṭhīhāra) shall enjoy the remaining surplus.
Thus, Friday, the 11th of the dark fortnight of Maṅsira (text: Mārgasīra) in the Vikrama Era year 1853 (1796 CE). Auspicious.
[Unidentified seal.]
Commentary
This document is a copy of a copper plate issued by King Raṇabahādura Śāha in 1796 CE (VS 1853). As the document itself states, it reconfirms a land endowment made earlier by King Jayaprakāśa Malla. Neither the document recording Jayaprakāśa Malla’s original donation nor the original copper plate could be traced. A second record of the copper plate exists under K_0001_0032D, which is edited separately; it is not a full copy but a short abstract of the present document. The present copy is also referred to by Michaels (2008: 241) and was edited and translated into German in an earlier publication (1994: 362–363). The document is mainly an instruction for running the festivals and other worship of the goddess Vatsaleśvarī, who is housed in the Vatsalā Temple at Paśupati.11
According to the chronicles, the cult of Vatsalā goes back to the earliest period of the valley. The Devamālāvaṃśāvalī relates that she was enshrined as a stone yantra with a human sacrifice during the reign of King Śivadeva (206–205 BCE, Kaligata Era 2895–96). The annual human sacrifice was later replaced by an unblemished black he-goat under King Viśvagupta (80 CE, Kaligata Era 3181) (Devamālāvaṃśāvalī 2013: 36–37). Another chronicle relates that King Śivadevavarman established the feeding of a group of virgin boys and girls on the 13th lunar day of Caitra. He also established an uninterrupted fire (akhaṇḍāgni) at the Mahādeva shrines of the whole city on Piśācacaturdaśī, the 14th of the dark fortnight of Caitra, and a procession of the goddess’s chariot (Nepālikabhūpavaṃśāvalī 2016: 136–137). Several of these elements reappear in the present document: the worship on Piśācacaturdaśī, the fee for the Kumārīs, and the night-time worship.
The historical record begins later. A large, completely eroded stone inscription on the rear wall of the Pañcagaṇeśa Temple, north of Vatsaleśvarī, probably belongs to the Licchavi period. In 1675 CE (NS 795), more than 45 ropanīs of land were endowed to set up a trust for rituals at the temple (M. Panta VS 2055: 43–44). When the Sindūrajātrā began, and by whom, is not clear; according to Hasrat (1970: 82), it may have been started during the reign of Bhūpālendra Malla (r. 1687–1700). King Jayaprakāśa Malla (r. 1735–1768) then endowed the guthi of 120 ropanīs recorded here. In 1796, Raṇabahādura Śāha reconfirmed it with the present copper plate. The document’s instruction to conduct the rite with two horns of the wild buffalo (arnā) corresponds to another record of the same king: he offered horns of an arnā buffalo so that fermented beer (thvã) could be poured from them onto the stone yantra revered as the goddess (G. Ṭaṇḍana VS 2056 [1999 CE]: 290).
The document names two main celebrations. The first is the fivefold worship (paṃcopacāra pūjā) on Piśācacaturdaśī. This day marks the beginning of the main procession of the goddess, the Vatsalājātrā, and is also the day of the Lukumahādeva celebrations, “when Śiva is dug up everywhere in the Kathmandu valley as a liṅga or as a stone from the backyard garbage dumps where he had to hide for a year” (Michaels 2008: 103–104; see also Michaels 1992: 193). The second is the Sindūrajātrā on the following new-moon day (amāvāsyā). The Sindūrajātrā is also celebrated in Thimi, Bhaktapur and Nuwakot; it is notable that the document prescribes vermilion from Thimi. The Sindūrajātrā is only one of many processions of or around Vatsalā in Deopatan.12 For a detailed documentation and study of the Vatsalājātrā and the other processions around the goddess in Deopatan, see Michaels 2008. For the roots of these processions in Deopatan, see Michaels 1994.
