The Rānī Pokhrī Inscription, Kāṭhmāṇḍu1

T.W. Clark

doi:10.1017/S0041977X00061760

The Rānī Pokhrī Inscription, Kāṭhmāṇḍu1

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009

T.W. Clark

Article contents

Extract
Footnotes
References

Get access

Rights & Permissions

Extract

TheRānī Pokhrī (Queen Lake) is situated at the northern end of the Ṭuṇḍkhel, the large parade ground of Kāṭhmāṇḍu, and near Kamalāchiṭol, the north-eastern sector of the town. The lake is rectangular in shape, and the lines of its banks run roughly north-south and east-west. In the middle of the lake is a Śaivite temple, which is connected to the western bank by a straight causeway. A few years ago the lake was enclosed by a high metal fence, built some ten yards back from the edge of the water.

Type: Articles
Information: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 1957 , pp. 167 - 187

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00061760 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1957

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

It is necessary to acknowledge my great indebtedness to Thakur Lai Manandhar, who has worked with me throughout the preparation of the material for this article, both in the exploration of the site and in examination of the text. He discovered for me three of the coins to which reference has been made, and the vaṃśāvalī I have called TL. I am also indebted to Janak Lai Sharma, of the Archaeological Department of the Government of Nepal, who made possible the excavation of the stones, and the rubbing and photographing of the inscriptions.

References

^{page 167 note 2} Footnote to an article by Major-General Mrigendra Shamsher J.B.R. in Bhānubhakta Smārak Granth, Darjeeling, S. V. Jñāvalī, 1936, pp. 102–3; Nepālī gadyasaṁgraha, ed. Pushkar Shamsher J.B.R., for the Nepāl Bhāṡā Prakāśinī Samiti, Kāṭhmāṇḍu, 1954, pp. 4–6. Lines 36–41, in Newari, are omitted from this version.

^{page 167 note 3} Transliteration note. The two devanāgarā diphthongs are transliterated -əy and -əw. Where in the text characters are written with a subscribed dot, and , they are transliterated as ý and . A subscribed bar under a single consonant indicates a virām in the devanāgarī; a subscribed bar under two or more consonants indicates a conjunct character in the devanāgarī.

Punctuation note. The original has three marks of punctuation: two down strokes, reproduced by a full stop; four down strokes, reproduced by two full stops; a stroke, running diagonally downwards from left to right, and slightly below the level of the script, reproduced by a comma. The purpose intended to be served by the third mark is not always apparent, but it has in all cases been retained.

^{page 168 note 1} A personal epithet of Pratāp Malla.

^{page 168 note 2} B, niyama.

^{page 168 note 3} . the word is unexpected here. The words in the clause being without inflections are difficult to translate. The' are part of an established formula.

^{page 168 note 4} B, .

^{page 168 note 5} It is to be noted that gods are given three śrī's, royalty two, and tirthas one.

^{page 168 note 6} There is a fifth figure on the stone, but it is undecipherable. It is illegible also on B and D. A conjectural reading would be either 1 or 9.

^{page 168 note 7} , confluence of the Bāgmatī and Manaurā.

^{page 168 note 8} panati, mod. Nep. patəwti. South of Dhulikhelin East No. 1. It is a triveṇī, being the confluence of the Līlāvatī, Rūpāvatī, and Sacī.

^{page 168 note 9} , flows into the Bāgmatī at Sundarijal.

^{page 168 note 10} vahāikana, lit. having caused to flow. Water was brought from Sundarijal by canal.

^{page 168 note 11} , may be Gosainkuṇd, the source of the Triśul Gaṇḍakī; but is more likely to refer to Buḍhanīlkaṇṭh, the famous shrine of Viṡṇu, north of Kāṭhmāṇḍu.

^{page 168 note 12} The number 63 is from B. A is not clear. Both Nepali versions read 635, which must be an error, as there is nothing on the stones to suggest the presence of a third figure. Neither is there space for one.

^{page 168 note 13} , reading from D. A and B are illegible. This tirtha, has not been located.

^{page 168 note 14} Water is taken in the right hand, and after a recitation of mantras is offered to the deity.

^{page 168 note 15} tecāpa, not located. Mentioned by Lévi, III, 175.

^{page 168 note 16} , between Bhātgāon and Nāgarkot.

^{page 168 note 17} manamati, the river Manaurā.

^{page 168 note 18} , south of .

^{page 168 note 19} , south-east of Sundarijal. Lévi, III, 175.

^{page 168 note 20} , source of the Bāgmatī.

^{page 169 note 1} , north of Tokhā, on a tributary of the Viṡṇumatī.

^{page 169 note 2} komati, B has , which is the Skt. form. A lake in PāṬan.

^{page 169 note 3} , not located. It may be south-west of Kirtipur, at base of Campadevī.

^{page 169 note 4} , mod. Nop. bālājyu.

^{page 169 note 5} , mod. Nep. tikabhəyrab; south-west of Cāpagāon.

^{page 169 note 6} ma∫ila, not located. Lévi, III, 175, has maṇiɛilā. One suggestion places it near Gorkhā.

^{page 169 note 7} thaýavi, not located; but may be in East Nepal between Barabise and Dolakha. The reading may be thaýapi.

^{page 169 note 8} təwdaha, near Pharping. Abode of the Nāga Karkoṭak. See Lévi, index.

^{page 169 note 9} , south-east of Pharping on Bāgmatī.

^{page 169 note 10} , west of Kirtipur, at base of Candragiri.

^{page 169 note 11} , near Deocok. Visited by Newārs during the Indrajātrī.

^{page 169 note 12} , the name of the tirtha is , on the Bāgmatī. Lévi, III, 55, 169.

^{page 169 note 13} , probably on the Dhobikholā, and the original location of an image of Viṡnu, which Pratāp Malla transferred to his palace in Kāṭhmāṇḍu.

^{page 169 note 14} , in Guhyeśvarī, near Paīupatināth.

^{page 169 note 15} , not located, but may be in Guhyeīvarī.

^{page 169 note 16} , confluence of the Bāgmatī and the Viṡṇumatī.

^{page 169 note 17} , south of Bhātgāon.

^{page 169 note 18} , may be near Deopāṭan. gola is the Newārī name for Deopāṭan. Lévi, II, 124.

^{page 169 note 19} , doubtful. It may be a sulphurous river in Dailekh; or it may be a hot spring in the Valley which Pratap Malla visited secretly, but refused to divulge later.

^{page 169 note 20} , near Muktināth.

^{page 169 note 21} , not located. One suggestion is that it is near Pokhrā.

^{page 169 note 22} , the river Gogrā.

^{page 169 note 23} mālikā, uncertain; possibly in Duti-Acām.

^{page 169 note 24} , near Badrināth, Garhwāl.

^{page 169 note 25} , uncertain, possibly in Garhwāl.

^{page 169 note 26} , site of the dam now being built on the river Kośī.

^{page 169 note 27} , Lévi, III, 175, has . In the village of the same name at the confluence of the Kauśikī and the Līlāvatī, in Dumjā.

^{page 169 note 28} ∫ipāɖola, may be an error for Sipāgol, to the east of Bhātgāon.

^{page 170 note 1} Reading uncertain. May be .

^{page 170 note 2} tusāgāla, reading from D. A and B illegible.

^{page 170 note 3} -hā dha-, from B. A is not clear.

^{page 170 note 4} , the reading is reasonably sure, but the word has no known meaning. The same word occurs in a similar context in the Śivalaya inscription in Makhanṭol.

^{page 170 note 6} The vowel -e- is from B.

^{page 170 note 6} B and D have .

^{page 170 note 7} , from D. A and B are illegible.

^{page 170 note 8} . B's spelling in all four words is .

^{page 170 note 9} The comma after sira is from B. It is not in A.

^{page 170 note 10} B, .

^{page 170 note 11} B has no .

^{page 170 note 12} ta, from B.

^{page 170 note 13} the, in this character the e-kār is written before the consonant as in Bengali.

^{page 170 note 14} , from B. Illegible in A.

^{page 171 note 1} the, written as in n. 13, p. 170.

^{page 171 note 2} -thəw, in this character the əw-kār is written part before and part after the consonant as in Bengali.

^{page 171 note 3} -ge, written as in n. 13, p. 170, and n. 1 above.

^{page 171 note 4} B has somavāra.

^{page 171 note 5} , a conjectural reading suggested by the context. The entire name in B is indecipherable, except that computation of space indicates that the name is different from that in A. The name is indecipherable in D also.

^{page 171 note 6} No translation is made of the words fri and , as they have no equivalent in English. The former is an honorific title; the latter is a place of special pilgrimage.

^{page 171 note 7} The line numbers given in brackets in the translation have only an approximate correspondence with the line numbers given in the text.

^1. confluence of Kauśikī and Līlāvatī in Dumjī.

^2. —in Dolakha.

^3. —in Kaping.

^4. ; in Madan.

^5. .

^6. —in Banepa.

^7. ; near Banepā.

^8. ; near Banepā.

^9. —in Panautī.

^10. —east of Goḍāvarī.

^11. —in Phulcok.

^12. —in Lele.

^13. ; in Lele.

^14. —near Prabhāvatī.

^15. —in Mriguco.

^16. ; in Dyatalāco.

^17. ; in Pharping.

^18. —in Pharping.

^19. —in Chitlong.

^20. —in Tistung.

^21. .

^22. ; in Kuehāl.

^23. —in Pālung.

^24. ; in Agnigāon.

^25. —in Khāsī.

^26. —in Nuwākoṭ.

^27. —in Kapilās, north of Nuwākoḍ.

^28. —in Yatāgung.

^29. .

^30. ; in Gāgal.

^31. ; in Sānkhu.

^32. ; in Sānkhu.

^33. ; (?)

^34. —in Sānkhu.

^35. ; in Mahādeo Pokharī, east of Valley.

^36. ; (?)

^37. ; in Cāngu.

^38. —in Bhātgāon.

^39. ; in Bhātgāon.

^40. ; Sipāgol.

^41. .

^42. ; (?)

^43. .

^44. —in Goḍāvarī.

^45. ; in Sunāguṭhī.

^46. ; in Pāṭan.

^47. ; in Pāṭan.

^48. ; in Pāṭan.

^{page 178 note 1} The published sources referred to in this historical note are: Wright, History of Nepal; Sylvain Lévi, Le Népal, vol. II; Oldfield, Sketches from Nipal; Landon, Nepal.

^{page 178 note 2} yantra: an angular geometrical figure. The figure in this case is a rectangle.

^{page 179 note 1} January to March 1957.

Article contents

The Rānī Pokhrī Inscription, Kāṭhmāṇḍu1

Extract

Access options

Footnotes

References

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests