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A copy of a lālamohara from King Gīrvāṇayuddha appointing Raṇasura Thāpā as caretaker of the guṭhī attached to Śrī Kālī (VS 1866)

ID: RRC_0009_0002


Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2022-10-17; Last modified: 2023-03-01
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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, 2023. 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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

This copy of a lālamohara from the king, who according to the date must have been Gīrvāṇayuddha, appoints Subedāra Raṇasura Thāpā as the caretaker of a Śrī Kālī trust (guṭhī) with landed property at Purakoṭa. He is to ensure that accessories needed for worshipping the goddess are provided as before and is to clear accounts at the royal court annually.



Diplomatic edition

[1]

1⟪२३⟪२⟫४­नं­⟫

1श्री­काली­

1आगे­सुवेदार­रणसुर­थापाके­¯¯¯को­गुठी­तनहु­
2पुरकोट­सेरोफेरो­लगापातस्मेत­तलाई­अखती
3य़ारी­गरीवक्स्य़ौं­आफ्ना­खातीरज्मासंग­हिजोदेखि­
4गरीआय़ाको­पर्वपर्वमा­नित्य­नैमित्यक­ताव़ा
5पत्र­वमोजिमको­साराजाम­दी­पुजा­गराउनु­ज्मा
6खातिर­साल­पुग्य़ापछि­दर्वार­आई­ज्मा­खर्च
7को­वही­वुझाउन्य़ा­गर­ईती­सम्वत­१८६६­साल­
8मिती­पौष­वदी­१५­रोज­६­सु­¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

no. 2341

Śrī Kālī

Āge: To SubedāraRaṇasura Thāpā

We confer2 upon you the post of caretaker (akhtiyārī) for the guṭhī of [Śrī Kālī]3 together with the lands attached to it [in] the surroundings [of] Purakoṭa [in] Tanahu. Conscious of your duties, let the worship be performed—as it has traditionally been performed in yesteryears on the different festival days [both] regular [and] occasional—by supplying the accessories (sarjāma) according to [what was fixed in] the copperplate (tāmāpatra)4 . Whenever a year has passed come to the royal court (darabāra) and dutifully5 have the accounts containing total expenditures cleared.

Friday, the 15th of the dark fortnight of Pauṣa in the [Vikrama era] year 1866 (5 January 1810). Auspiciousness.


Commentary

This royal order, copied in the 9th volume of the Regmi Research Collection, was translated in the Regmi Research Series (Regmi 1974: 133). Being unaware of the larger context of the document, M.C. Regmi mistakenly took the document to refer to the "Guthi (lands) of Sri Kali temple in the Tanahusur area" (ibid.). As can be inferred from related documents, it concerns the guṭhī of Śrī Kālikā worshipped at Gorkha Palace that had been endowed with the administrative subdivision (thuma) Purakoṭa in Tanahun as its landed property by Queen Kāntavatī Devī. For the copperplate recording this endowment, pledged in VS 1856 (1799 CE), and further documents relating to the ensuing guṭhī, see K_0120_0020; for the attendant deed of gift reissued in VS 1942 (1885 CE), see K_0120_0024.

Raṇasura Thāpā, appointed in the present document to ensure the supply of worship material by tapping the guṭhi's revenue, was replaced in VS 1876 (1819 CE) by Tārānātha Arjyāla (K_0015_0022B). It is unknown whether he held the post of caretaker for the complete period of ten years between his appointment and Tārānātha Arjyāla's, or whether the post was held by anyone else in between. In VS 1874 (1817 CE) Raṇasura Thāpā offered a silver necklace to Śrī Kālikā of Gorkha Palace (K_0245_0011).

Notes

1. This number, added in the left margin, probably refers to the place of the document in the collection it was copied from. According to a note in the right upper corner of the page on which it is copied (the first in Volume 9 of the Regmi Research Collection), the documents stem from the Lagata Phā̃ṭa; for more on the provenance of the documents copied in theRegmi Research Collection, see Panta 2002: 70–74, Regmi 1978: 869. [⇑]

2. According to Regmi's translation of the document (see Commentary) the original document was issued by King Gīrvāṇayuddha. That the original must have been a lālamohara is also apparent from the use from the high honorific verbal form (garībaksyauṃ). [⇑]

3. Inserted from the space above. [⇑]

4. For a copy of the copperplate referred to, see K_0120_0020. The details of which accessories should be provided were, however, not listed in this copperplate but in the attendant deed of gift (dānapatra). The original dānapatra remains untraced so far, but in VS 1942 (1885 CE) it was reissued (K_0120_0024). [⇑]

5. It is here assumed that jmākhātira is a reversal of the commonly used khātirajmā. [⇑]