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NHDP_0001_0137

Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
Version with DOI and citation guidelines Editorial Principles

A bell inscription at the Karuṇāmaya Mandira in Bungamati memorializing the offering of the bell by Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā (VS 1927)

ID: NHDP_0001_0137


Edited and translated by Simon Cubelic
Created: 2020-11-28; Last modified: 2021-09-27
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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. The image(s) on which this edition is based on is/are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the copyright lies with NHDP. 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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

This inscription commemorates the offering of a bell at Karuṇāmaya Mandira by Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā on the 3rd of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in VS 1927.


Diplomatic edition

[1r]

[An ornamental relief depicting petals]

1१­स्वस्ति­श्रीमदतिप्रचण्डभुजदण्डेदत्यादिश्रीश्रीश्रीमहाराजजंङ्गवहादुरराणाजीशीवीप्राइममिनिष्टरयांदकम्यांडरईनचीफवाट­चह्रायाको­घंट­हो­इति­संम्वत्­१९२७­सा
2ल­मिति­वैशाष­सुदि­३­रोज­सुभं­

[An ornamental relief consisting of two dots and a wavy line]

Translation

[1r]

11

Hail! This bell was offered by the thrice venerable great king, GCB Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā, who is possessed of fortune, is very formidable, has arms like a staff etc.

[Tues]day, the 3rd of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in the [Vikrama era] year 1927.


Commentary

According John K. Locke, this bell was originally one of three along the northern front of the veranda surrounding the sanctum of the Karuṇāmaya Mandira, the other two dating from 1909 CE and the late Malla period (cf. Locke 1980, 245). It was at the veranda's north-eastern corner, whereas the other two were in the western half of the northern portion (ibid.). After the earthquake of 2015 the bell together with two pairs of lion statues were moved to a temporary shrine housing the deity of Buṅgadyaḥ at the dabū (dance platform) to the south of the temple.2 Although not explicitly stated, one can assume that the bell was dedicated to Buṅgadyaḥ.

Notes

1. This numeral is used to mark the starting point of the circular text. [⇑]

2. The temporary shrine was documented by the Nepal Heritage Documentation project as BUN0003. An image of the bell within its stone support can be accessed here. [⇑]