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translated by Astrid Zotter
in collaboration with
Raju Rimal
Created: 2019-08-12;
Last modified: 2020-12-01
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[1r]
1⟪87⟫1⟪लं८५⟫1सहीहस्तेभुवनराजजोसि1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीकम्यांडरइनचीफजनरलदेवसम्सेरजंङ्गराणावाहा[table1]
1 | नगडीज्मामोहर्रु | २१॥ऽ२ | |||||
2 | पै१६गंडारू१०।।। ///। को२५गंडीकादर्लेमोहर्रु | ७ऽ२ | |||||
3 | जौपाथी१के | ।।।•।। | नरिव़लपगरीजोर३के | ।।।• | |||
4 | गणेशकेलालवस्त्रके | /। | सुपारिके | ऽ॥ | |||
5 | व्राह्मणकेधोतिउपर्नाकेनैन किलाट्गज९के | २।।//।।। | रेषिकेचाव़लपिठोमाना २के | //।। | |||
6 | सेतोवस्त्रगज।।के | // | पंचरत्नके | ऽ। | |||
7 | ⟪सर्वऔषधिके⟫ | ⟪ऽ।⟫ | |||||
8 | ऐनावट्टाधागोपोटेचुरास्मेतके | ///।।। | वाटेधुपके | / | |||
9 | तोरनकपडापाउ२के | // | गोकुलधुपके | // | |||
10 | सेतोपाउ१केरातोपाउ१के/ | वतिकेघ्यूके | १/// | ||||
11 | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | पंचपल्लव | ऽ। | ||||
12 | घटस्थापनागर्याकोटाउपुजाके | ।।• | वतीधागोके | ।•।।। | |||
13 | विसर्जन्पुजाके | ।• | तेल्कुर्वा१के | १ | |||
14 | निसान्पुजाके | ।• | अक्षेताचाव़ल्।१के | ।।/ | |||
15 | घडाकेरदियोकेकलस्केमोहरू | १।।।// | माटाकागाग्रो१के | /।।। | |||
16 | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | |||||
17 | मोहर्रु | १४।। | |||||
18 | मौलामाकाट्नाके | ८ | वोका२केदर२।।ले | ५ | |||
19 | रागा१केरू | ५।। | कुभिडो४के | ।।• | |||
20 | वोका१केरू | २।। | षरूव़ागज३के | १ | |||
21 | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ |
[table2]
1 | जिन्सी | ।१।१ | |||
2 | धान् | ।•।४ | चावल् | ।•।५ | |
3 | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ |
[1r]
871
no. 852
Signature: In the hand of Bhuvanarāja Josi3
Hail! A purjī of the venerable Commander-in-Chief General Deva Samsera Jaṅga Rāṇā Bahādura, a venerable prince born of a prince, to BiseṭḌiṭṭhā4 Jotirāja Śreṣṭha
Uprānta: "[Firstly,] Biseṭ Ḍiṭṭhā Jotirāja has given a report to our (lit. "this") office (i.e. the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā) stating: 'It appears that there is an order (sanada) in the name of the earlier Biseṭ Ḍiṭṭhā Dasanārā stating: "Appoint Harṣanarsiṃ, jamādāra5 of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā, as witness and write the expenses incurred for performing the worship (pūjā) for ghaṭasthāpanā and [the other] Dasaĩ [rituals] of the year [VS] 1943 at the site of the śrīiṣṭadevatā in the Pāñcāyana (text: pācāyaṇa) temple [at] Thāpāthalī—[namely] 30.2.0.2 mohararūpaiyā̃s in cash and 5 [mānās] of husked rice and 4 [mānās] of unhusked rice in kind—as expenses into the account book." If I were assigned the responsibility [by the C-in-C general] I would do the accountancy (āmdānī kharca) according to [what has been done] before, having incurred the expenses in [connection with] ghaṭasthāpanā and Dasaĩ worship for the year [VS 19]44 at this Pāñcāyana—with Cigaḍhī, the inspecting ḍiṭṭhā of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā, as witness—according to the appended details (tapasila), [namely] 21.2.0.2 moharrus in cash and 5 [mānās] of husked rice and 4 [mānās] of unhusked rice in kind. Whatever [is your] wish [I shall obey].' [Secondly,] when the year [19]43 was cleared there was a purjī in the name of the previous ḍiṭṭhā, Ḍiṭṭhā6 Dasanārān stating: 'Write the expenses for the Dasaĩ worship of the year [19]43 into the account book, having [the receipts]7 sealed and signed by [the witness and] those involved in the transactions.' In view of [all] this we have determined that a purjī from Your Highness needs to be issued in the name of the said Biseṭ Ḍiṭṭhā Jotirāja Śreṣṭha, stating: 'In accordance with this earlier [practice], record the expenses incurred in [connection with] the ghaṭasthāpanā and Dasaĩ worship for the year [VS 19]44—with Cigaḍhī, the inspecting ḍiṭṭhā of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā, as witness—according to the details [below, namely] 21.2.0.2 moharrus in cash and 5 [mānās] of husked rice and 4 [mānās] of unhusked rice in kind [thereby] adhering to the customs stated in the orders and directives (savāla) that have been issued to you. A reimbursement will be made when your accounts are cleared according to the account book and receipts that bear the signatures and seals of the witness and those involved in the transactions.' Whatever [is your] wish [we shall obey]."
[All this] came to our notice when KharidāraMehera Sīṃ [of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā]8 made the [above] petition to us. Therefore, in line with what has been determined [needs to be done,] we too have determined that it is proper, and [hereby] endorse it. Perform the task accordingly.
Details
[table1]
1 | cash, in total moharru | 21 [morus], 2 [sukās], 0 [ānā], 2 [paisās] | |||||
2 | for the sum [according to] the sohraganḍī [system]: 10 ru[pees], 3 [sukās], 3 [ānās], 1 [paisā]9 [=] in terms of paccīsaganḍīmorus | 7 [morus], 2 [paisās] | |||||
3 | for 1 pāthī of barley | 3 [sukās], 2 [paisās] | for 3 pairs of coconuts and turbans | 3 [sukās] | |||
4 | for Gaṇeśa's red cloth | 1 [ānā], 1 [paisā] | for areca nuts | 2 [paisās] | |||
5 | for 9 gajas of muslin [for] robes of honour (kilāṭ for khillāta?) for Brahmins' lower (dhotī) and upper garments (uparnā) | 2 [morus], 2 [sukās], 2 [ānās], 3 [paisās] | for 2 mānās of husked rice and wheat flour (pīṭho) for lines (rekhī) | 2 [ānās], 2 [paisās] | |||
6 | for ½ gaja of white cloth | 2 [ānās] | for the five jewels (pañcaratna) | 1 [paisā] | |||
7 | for sarvauṣadhi10 | 1 [paisā] | |||||
8 | for the set of consisting of mirror, beauty box (baṭṭā), (red) ribbons (dhāgo)11 , necklace (pote) [and] bangles (curā) | 3 [ānās], 3 [paisās] | for twisted incense sticks | 1 [ānā] | |||
9 | for 2 pāus of cloth [for the] torana12 | 2 [ānās] | for bdellium incense (gokuladhūpa) | 2 [ānās] | |||
10 | for 1 pāu of white [cloth and] 1 pāu of red [cloth] | for ghee for lamps | 1 [moru], 3 [ānās] | ||||
11 | --- | [for] pañcapallava13 | 1 [paisā] | ||||
12 | for worship [at] the site where the ghaṭasthāpanā is performed | 2 [sukās] | for wicks for lamps | 1 [sukā], 3 [paisās] | |||
13 | for the dismissal (visarjana) worship | 1 [sukā] | for 1 kuruvā of oil | 1 [moru] | |||
14 | for the banner (nisānā) worship | 1 [sukā] | for 1 [mānā] of husked rice for akṣatā | 2 [sukās], 1 [ānā] | |||
15 | for big water vessel(s) (ghaḍā) and for lamps and for small water vessels (kalaśa) | 1 moharru, 3 [sukās], 2 [ānās] | for 1 earthen jar (gāgro) | 1 [ānā], 3 [paisās] | |||
16 | --- | --- | |||||
17 | [for blood sacrifice], moharru | 14 [morus], 2 [sukās] | |||||
18 | for slaying at the sacrificial post (maulo) | 8 [morus] | for 2 goats at the rate of 2 [morus], 2 [sukās] | 5 [morus] | |||
19 | for 1 buffalo,14 Rs. | 5 [morus], 2 [sukās] | for 4 ash-gourds (kubhiṇḍo) | 2 [sukās] | |||
20 | for 1 goat, Rs. | 2 [morus], 2 [sukās] | for 3 gajas of red cotton cloth (kharuvā) | 1 [moru] | |||
21 | --- |
[table]
1 | [expenses] in kind (jinsī) | 1 [pāthi], 1 [mānā] | |||
2 | unhusked rice | 4 [mānās] | husked rice | 5 [mānās] | |
3 | --- |
Monday, the 3rd of the dark fortnight of Māgha in the [Vikrama] era year 1944 (2 January 1888). Auspiciousness.
The document concerns the rituals performed during the autumnal Dasaĩ festival at the Pāñcāyana temple in Thāpāthalī. It is the first in a series of similar documents (see K_0636_0036, K_0640_0019, K_0379_0073, K_0625_0006, K_0614_0029). The place where the worship is to be performed is referred to as "at the site of the śrī iṣṭadevatā of the Thāpāthalī Pāñcāyana" (thāpāthalī pācāyayaṇakā śrī iṣṭadevatākā sthānamā). Once, in K_0636_0036, kuladevatā occurs instead of iṣṭadevatā. The website of the temple informs us that it houses both the Kũvara Rāṇā family's lineage deity (kuladevatā), "Mahākālī residing in India's Vindhyācala range" (bhāratakā vindhyācala nivāsī mahākālī), and their iṣṭadevatā, Bālātripurasundarī, in the form of a yantra (http://www.panchayanranakunwar.org.np/pages/panchayan-parichaye). Apart from these there are other deities at the temple, five of whom are conceived as the pañcāyana group from which the name of the temple derives.15 The Rāṇās' Pāñcāyana temple seems to be in the tradition of the Parbatīya worship of kuladevatās, as a compulsory part of nityapūjā, and to be combined with worshipping the pañcāyana deities (Kropf 2005: 287 n. 12). The temple's homepage notes that the main worship at the temple falls on Caṇḍīpurṇimā, the full moon day of the month Vaiśākha, in every uneven year, when all members (kulabandhu) of the Kũvara Rāṇā family convene for devālīpūjā to worship the kuladevatā and offer blood sacrifices (http://www.panchayanranakunwar.org.np/yspujas/dewali-puja). According to the homepage, after the conquest of the Kathmandu Valley, the family, which traces its ancestry back to Ahirāma Kũvara, first performed this pūjā at the Guhyeśvarī temple at Deopatan, but moved to its present venue after Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā built the temple between VS 1900 and 1911 (1843–1854 CE).16 Nowadays worship at the temple is coordinated by the Śrī Jagananda Prakāśeśvara tathā Pāñcāyaṇa Saṃrakṣaṇa Samiti, founded in VS 2048 (1990 CE). From historical documents it is apparent that earlier, too, the temple was operated in concert with the Jaṅgānandaprakaśeśvara temple founded by Jaṅga Bahādura in VS 1903 (K_0054_0006). It fell under the Jaṅganandaprākāśeśvara Sadābarta Guṭhī, which administered different temples and institutions for ascetics and sadābarta17 at the ghāṭs of the Bāgmatī between Thāpāthalī and Ṭeku as well as at Deopatan.
From the present document it is not clear which office its addressee, Jotirāja Śreṣṭha, belonged to. His title biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā hints at his having been in charge of the temple accounts. As the appointment letter of a person named Siddhimāna (K_0476_0027) and a corresponding dismissal letter to Jotirāja (K_0476_0028) show, Jotirāja had indeed been in charge of managing the Jaṅgānandaprākāśeśvara Guṭhī's expenses. His tenure had ended in the month of Kārttika in VS 1944. The present document shows that some months after his tenure had expired he was still being ordered to make an accounting of expenses incurred during his term of office under the eyes of an officer of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā, which is here cited as the office initiating and coordinating the process of issuing the present purjī.
This purjī—which qualifies as a sanada,18 having been issued by the C-in-C general, the second in the Rāṇā hierarchy and head of the civil administration (Kumar 1967: 97)—merely confirms the correctness and validity of what it reports in the form of nested quotations. The Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā in the person of its secretary (kharidāra), Mehera Sīṃ, had apparently written the text—quoted verbatim before the final endorsement phrases—to the C-in-C general and ended with a plea to issue this endorsement. For one thing, the present document quotes a report by the concerned biseṭ ḍiṭṭhā on what had been done the previous year, VS 1943, and on what had been expended in the current year, VS 1944. The Guṭhī Bandobasta for their part added a reference to a purjī that had been issued the previous year ordering the previous holder of the post to do the accounts. Citing all these earlier documents, the present order from the highest level of power to the addressee, authorizes the latter to account for the expenses in early January 1888, several months after the budgeted money had been spent during the Dasaĩ festival in autumn 1887 and after the termination of his tenure, possibly as part of his final settling of accounts.