The Kathmandu Valley—one of Nepal’s oldest civilizations— has for centuries been a melt­ing pot for people from different ethnic, cultural and geographical backgrounds. The ancient towns of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan have a history of ancient civilizations dating back at least a 1,000 years. And it was the indigenous Newar community that traditionally shaped the valley’s cultural mosaic. The reign of the Malla confedera­tion, the historic rulers of the valley, ended with King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s conquest of Kathmandu in 1768. With this started the pro­cess of undermining Kathmandu’s indigenous heritage, the historians APEX talked to for this article said. Later, the Rana Regime (1846-1951) made Nepali the de facto official language of Nepal, a change that was later given legal approval by King Mahendra. This has a profound impact on Kathmandu.

“The declaration of Kathman­du as the country’s capital and enforcement of Nepali as official language started the process of neglect of the unique Newari dialect and script,” says Kashinath Tamot, a historian and script specialist. Although the Newari dialect is still much in use, the Newari script is on the verge of disappearing.

 

 

Migrant tongues

With the spoken dialect limit­ed to the community and cultural encroachment of the multitudes of migrants who made later Kathman­du their homes, the ethnic names of the small towns and villages within Kathmandu also changed. “Mod­ern-day place names like Thamel and Ason are shortened and cor­rupt versions of the original Newari names,” Tamot says. “With time, people started mispronouncing and shortening the original names, and now some of the names are unrecog­nizable,” says Tamot.

It is normal for the names of plac­es and festivals to change or short­en with time, Tamot adds, but the derived names can often mislead. The stories and the histories behind these places are lost and the short­ened names give wrong meanings. “Khwopa: became Bhaktapur or Bhadgaon, the latter name derived from a combination of Newari, Sanskrit and Nepali dialects. Similar­ly, the Bishwagat Ketu jatra became Bisket jatra, losing the original meaning,” he says.

“The Newari names of places around Kathmandu are not just nouns, they are adjectives as well. If you understand the meaning behind the name, you know the story behind the place as well,” says Alok Siddhi Tuladhar, a documen­tarian of Kathmandu’s traditional culture. “The names given to var­ious ‘toles’, ‘bahals,’ ‘gallis’ and towns define the places based on their unique characteristics.”

He gives the example of the modern-day Thamel, whose origi­nal Newari name is “Than Bahee,” roughly translated as “the small temple above.” (As the Bishnu­mati river settlement by the side of Thamel is at a lower altitude, Thamel is referred to as being ‘above.’) “There are many more instances when the original names and the meanings have been com­pletely changed just because people from ruling communities found them difficult to pronounce,” Tuladhar complains.

Many permanent residents of Kathmandu will be surprised to know that the original name for Thapathali was “Nwakhusicho”. The name was changed after the Thapa families in the area rose to power. Similarly, the Durbarmarg we know of today was called “Jamala Khwata” before the Shah dynasty took over Naaran Hitii (traditional water sprouts of Newa settlements) to the north and built the Narayan­hiti Royal Palace that still stands today. The area with the Parliament House in New Baneshwor was called “Khuntoo,” a name that is now used only by some senior citizens of Yala (Patan), specifically residents of Gachhen, Chyasal and Lunkhusi.

“With the loss of the original names of our localities, we’re slow­ly losing our identity. The only hope of reviving our history is raising awareness and making the govern­ment aware that the kind of cultural encroachment we are witnessing will one day completely banish the history of the Newar community,” Bajracharya says. Tamot agrees that the state should take the lead in preservation and revival of ethnic names of localities. “They call Nepal a republic but where is the prior­ity to indigenous communities it entails? Why are provincial languag­es so neglected?” he asks.

 

History and origin

Newa activist Rukshana Kapa­li, who also runs a Facebook page called “Reviving native names in Nepa Valley & Nepal Mandal,” has a more radical view on the ‘standard­ization’ of traditional Newari names. “It is a part of the ethno-lingual hegemony started by the foreign rul­ers in Kathmandu. There is a history of systematic suppression of indige­nous people in Nepal,” Kapali says. “For a long time they made the use of our language illegal and with that our names fell out of common use.”

Although Kapali admits that many localities have had Sanskrit names side by side, the old names have been systematically and intentional­ly replaced. “The Newar names are also associated with the history and origin of the place,” she says. “But people have given new names to these places which have no relation to their origins. For instance, Thimi is being replaced by Madhyapur, a name that has got nothing to do the rich history of the place.”

The cost of modernity has been the loss to Kathmandu’s rich tradi­tions. While talking to many peo­ple of the Newari community for this story, we found many of them were dissatisfied with the “suppress­ing” of their culture and tradition. From people expressing their open hostility to the proposed “mod­ernizing and beautification” of the Newari heritage sites destroyed by earthquakes to community leaders working to preserve the Newari fes­tivities that are becoming extinct due to lack of funding, the Newar community of the Nepa: Valley final­ly seems to be in a mood to reclaim their lost heritage.