Monday, April 14, 2014

Bodey: The town of tongue piercers

Razen Manandhar
Though situated in the middle of the Kathmandu Valley, a small town of Bodey, which stands as a border between Kathamndu and Bhaktapur is one among the seldom visited destinations in the valley. Still, people remember this ancient town at least once in a year, during the famous festival of tongue-piercing that takes place on the second day of the Baisakh, in April.
The 6,000 ropani of fertile land, that used to supply vegetable for the capital is occupied by a compact settlement of Newar community with some 8,000 population. It was a separate village until it became a part of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in 1996.
Except the nucleus settlement at the centre of the region, the city is more or less plain with green farms, where the villagers plant rice, wheat and vegetables all through the calendar. The silvery range of Himalayas in the background and with tile-roofed houses and temples, the whole settlement is a bulk of ancient and mediaeval history, culture and tradition.
The historians have not yet found the exact date of Bodey’s origin. But they believe there has been a big town like settlement as early as 7th century and has developed as a beautiful and cultured settlement.
There is a big jungle in the north eastern part of the town where the temple of Nilbarahi lies. Over two thousand years ago, according to the legends, the actual city of Bodey was situated at Sankhakot, the very place where now the jungle is stretching. In those days, it was a very fertile land and the gods used to assist the locals for good harvest. But after the demos started disturbing the peace-loving people, they shifted their settlement to the present Bodey. The locals believe that one can find pieces of bricks and other archaeological remains from the jungle. It was legendary King Bikramaditya or Bikram Sen who acquired the land from King Dharmagat and discovered the hidden god of Nilbarahi 2388
years ago.
The oldest evidence the historians have found in Bodey dates back to the days of King Jishnugupta (around 633AD). They believe Bodey was called Yapringram and was the second capital of the Kathmandu Valley in around 4th century. It was called Bodyan, Bodda, Bosingram, Bude, Dhammapur, Jayadhammapuri etc. in different historical evidences. Nilbarahi temple of Tigni is one of the main destinations for Nepali visitors in Bode. It lies some two kilometres away from the main town that it gives the pilgrims and visitors a fresh air of the green jungle and peaceful environment. It has become a cozy picnic spot for the locals as well as the campus students of the capital city in these days.The monuments are located in a dozen of squares of the town. Lachhi Tole has Bhairav, Bhimsen, Saraswati, Kalika, Ganesh, Mahadev, Big chaitya, Narayan and Mahakali temple. Bhangu Tole is proud to have Mahalaxmi, Ganesh, Natyeshwor, Sleeping Narayan, Big Chaitya. Khanshi also has big and small temple of Nilbarahi and chaitya.
Laykoo, that literally means the royal palace, now has no significance of its name but it still possesses temples of Kalika and Ganesh. Similarly, Bishnughat has Narayan temple with Garuda and Krishna temple there. In Chanko, there are big chaitya, Chandeshowri and others temples while Khapla has small Chaitya and Dyomaiju temple. On the other hand, the temples of Nilbarahi, Ganesh, Dwarpal, Saraswati, Chaitya, Mahadev and others are there in the hill of Tigni.
The makers of Bodey has also made a scientific management of water bodies that recharged the underground water for the whole year that also provides water for over a dozen wells, used by the locals for drinking and other purposes. There are small ponds in Lacchi, Nachhu Tole, Laykoo, Khanshi and Koyapukhoo. The ponds also support half a dozen of traditional stone spouts too. Similarly, there are 15 patis, 4 sattals and 3 platforms, where locals spend their leisure time and communicate with others.
Different streets from Bodey can lead to Sancho, Sankhu, Mulpani, Jungle of Nilbarahi, Gakhu, Nagadesh and Bhaktapur through interesting winding tracks.
The locals are not aware of the significance of possessing the monuments that give the town of Bodey its identity. But they are proud to have them in their locality. Among the Newars too, the people of one locality feel themselves superior than others who have less temples in theirs. This is the deep-rooted attachment to the cultural heritage they own. If worked in proper way, it won’t be difficult there to make their realize the value of the monument and need to conserve them.
April 14, 2014