A stone jalaharī inscription memorializing the installation of a Sūrya statue by Gopati Mulami and Jayata Mulami in Nala’s Lagana Hiti premises (NS 517)
ID: NHDP_0002_0005
Edited and
translated by Shyam Sundar Rajbanshi and Rajendra Shakya
Created: 2025-07-24;
Last modified: 2026-11-02
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Abstract
Engraved on the stone jalaharī base of a Śrīdhara Viṣṇu statue above a row of three water spouts in Nala’s Lagana Ṭola, this inscription records Gopati Mulami and Jayata Mulami having installed a Sūrya statue in NS 517 (1397 CE) during the reign of Śivasiṃharāma Rāya.Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1᠀ॐनमोःभास्करायः।।श्रैयोस्तु।।सम्वत्५१७मार्ग्गशुक्ल।।सप्तमितिथौ।।अश्विनिनक्षेत्र।।शुभजोग।।2आचार्यउपाध्याविप्रश्रीजिवाजुस।।श्रीश्रीशिवशिङ्गरामरायसएकछत्र।।कनेष्टअमात्यश्रीश्रीसक्ती
3शिङ्गरामस्यउभयस्यविजयराज्य।।विसक्रमाराजमुलमिसवजयतमुलमिसउभयस्यक्रनि।।श्रीना
4लंउपरीमस्थाने।।जोजमानगोपतिमुलमिस,शमुचयनानालोकएकचेतन।श्रीश्रीसूर्यसदृय
5कंसप्तमिव्रत।संपोर्ण्णायङाजुरो।पुनिपात्र।।कल्यानशुभसर्व्वदाथजुरशुमस्तुसवादा।।
Translation
[1r]
[May there be] success! Om. Homage to the Sun! [May there be] welfare [for all].
On the 7th of the bright fortnight of Mārgaśīrṣa in the [Nepal] era 517 (1397 CE), [under the fortunate alignment of] the constellation [named] Aśvinī [and] the conjunction [called] Śubha, this auspicious event was carried out by the revered teacher, Upādhyāya Brahmin Śrī Jivāju.
During the victorious reign under a single parasol of twice venerated Śivasiṃharāma Rāya (text: Śivaśiṅgarāma Rāya) and [his] junior minister, twice venerated Śaktisiṃharāma (text: Saktīsiṅgarāma), and with the support of both Viśvakarmārāja Mulami (text: Visakramārāja Mulami) and Jayata Mulami, everyone came together with one mind at the sacred site of Nālaṃ Uparimasthāna. Patrons and donors, including Gopati Mulami, along with all others present, performed the saptamī vrata.1 Following this, a stone statue of Sūrya, the sun deity, was set up. May everyone always experience well-being and prosperity.
Commentary
This inscription—on Lagana Hiti in front of the Nālā Bhagavatī temple—is on the jalaharī base of a Śrīdhara Viṣṇu statue installed north-eastern corner above a row of three spouts. The inscription appears to be dated NS 527, though the middle digit is unclear. The inscription's description of Śivasiṃharāma Rāya and Śaktisiṃharāma as reigning "under a single parasol" seem to imply that the Malla kings in the capital exercised no authority over them. Ever since the Licchavi period, local chiefs of vassal states, known as sāmantas (kings who paid sirto tribute), had been managing their own regions, in both the eastern and western parts of Nepālamaṇḍala with the central king's approval, but a weak central authority often prompted sāmantas to seek independence (Vajrācārya VS 2026, 9-10).
Śivasiṃharāma, an eastern sāmanta, was evidently one such ruler. In his case, one may presume that the overlord’s weakness stemmed from the death of a formidable predecessor, King Jayasthiti Malla, in Bhādra (August-September) of NS 515 (Slusser 1982, app. III, table III-3). Śivasiṃharāma could have seized such an opportunity. But then the year inscribed should logically be NS 517, not NS 527. By NS 527 Jayasthiti Malla's sons had already consolidated their power over the central administration and its vassal states, making Śivasiṃharāma's claim highly improbable at that later date.
In an evident mirroring of the daily Vedic practice of offering a libation (arghya) of water to the sun in the morning, the establishment of a Sūrya statue at the hiti is probably an attempt to transform this water architecture into a sacred site. The statue, therefore, would have served as a permanent focal point for the arghya ritual, with every offering of water reinforcing the sanctity of the hiti itself, and the hiti becoming an altar for a devotee’s daily worship of the Sun. The performance of the saptamī vrata before the statue’s installation, in turn, is an act of sacralization officializing the hiti as a permanent consecrated site for daily libations.
A new Sūrya statue has since been installed on the hiti. Locals say that after the statue of Candra, the moon deity, which was originally placed in the niche next to the inscription, was stolen, a Sūrya statue was placed there in its stead. See DANAM NLA0030 for details.
