Documenta Nepalica

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

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A votive inscription on the front side of a silver copy of a representation of the sun on top of the Buṅgadyaḥ chariot recording its donation by Kularatna et al. [VS 2008]

ID: NHDP_0001_0166

Edited and translated by Simon Cubelic and Rajan Khatiwoda
Created: 2023-09-19; Last modified: 2023-12-19
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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. 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

Abstract

The votive inscription is engraved on the edge of the front side of a silver cover of a representation of the sun records its donors and specifies the date of the object's installation on the Buṅgadyaḥ chariot.

Diplomatic edition

[1]

1कुलरत्न:आसानारा:लतनारा:हरी:राम:चैत्यनारां:मङ्गलमाया:चीनीमाया:रत्नमाया:न्हुछेमाया:थुलीमिले[...]पक्षचङ्गथीयादिनेचन्दसुर्य़सूर्य़रथसंस्थापनाय़ायमाल शभ्मं :❀:[embossed image of the sun]

Translation

[1r]

[This object is] jointly [donated] by Kularatna, Āsānārā, Latanārā, Harīrāma, Caityanārāṃ, Maṅgalamāyā, Cīnīmāyā, Ratnamāyā, Nhuchemāyā. On the 14th of the [dark] fortnight of [Vaiśākha], the sun and moon [images] shall be placed on the chariot.

Commentary

The inscription is engraved on the edge of the front side of a silver cover of a representation of the sun. The object, together with a representation of the moon, is to be placed on the bāymvaḥ of the Buṅgadyaḥ chariot. On the representation of the moon, two inscriptions are engraved (NHDP_0001_0156, NHDP_0001_0157). The earlier-dated one on the backside refers to the object as moon (NHDP_0001_0156), whereas the later-dated inscription on the front side mentions sun and moon (NHDP_0001_0157), just as the present inscription. Therefore, it is likely, that the two objects are considered as a pair and both inscriptions refer to them collectively, though each object was donated by different individuals. Additionally, the covers of both objects are made of a similar style which indicate that they were produced around the same time, i. e. VS 2008 (1951 CE).