Te Bahal

Te Bahal (also called Raja Kirti Mahavihar) is the largest bahal in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is home to the famous deity Sankata, worshiped by both Hindus and Buddhists.

Unlike other Bahals of Kathmandu, Te Bahal has two dyochhes (house for gods) indicating the existence of two bahals which were later merged into one.

Legend / History

Wright’s chronicle credits the Licchavi king Narendradeva with the building of a baha here for his guru and setting up the shrine of Sankata. Narendradeva built a bihar near Lomri-devi, whom Bandhudatta Acharya had brought and placed there for the protection of the country. After naming it Tirtha, because the Acharya came from Tirtha, he gave it to the spiritual guide of his father. He had three sons, the eldest of whom was named Padma-deva, the second Ratna-deva, and the youngest Bar-deva. The Raja sent the eldest to become a bandya in the Pingala Bahal, where there were at one time six hundred bandyas. The second, he put under the guidance of Bandhudatta in the Tirtha Bihar. The third was appointed as Raja.^[1]

Bandhudatta placed Padmantaka (Sankata) in the Tirtha-bahal, and then brought ten Krodha-devatas, or avenging deities, from Kamuni, and also placed them there, along with Asta-pithas and Astasmashans. At the north-east corner of the Tirtha-Bahal he placed Mahakal, whom he brought from Bhot (Tibet). Having thus placed gods on all the ten sides, the Raja and Acharya lived happily. This attribution of the foundation to Narendradeva may refer only to the Bandhudatta Baha. If it intends to indicate the foundation of Te Baha itself, it does not correspond to the evidence we have.

Coming to dated evidence, there are seven ‘Lichhavi’ chaityas within the compound of Te Baha and one outside. There are two Licchavi inscriptions at Te Baha. The first is near the main entrance. At the present time it serves as a pedestal for an image of Surya. The inscription dated in the year 402 (Saka Sambat A.D. 480-81), says that one Guha Mitra, a leader of a trading caravan, set up an image of Surya in this year. The second inscription located on the southern wall of the compound on the remains of a water spout is undated but on the basis of the epigraphy has been dated to the period between the two kings Amsuvarma and Narendradeva, i.e. A.D. 640-642. The inscription says that one Sakya by the name of Priyapala, invoking the Three Jewels, set up this water tap for the use of all living beings in order to obtain blessings for his parents. Neither of these inscriptions gives us any information about the present institution of Te Baha, but the second gives an indication of definite Buddhist connections by the middle of the seventh century A.D.

There is, however, an early medieval reference to this baha. There is a Vajracharya crown inscribed with the following verse.

On Friday, the fifth of the bright half of Bhadrapada, Nepal Sambat 265 (i.e. A.D. 1145), (during the reign of) King Sri Narendradeva, (this) crown, beautified by the five Buddhas and decorated with gems was consecrated by Srimat Sivadeva. The craftsman was Bhiksu Bhaskara Gupta.

The authenticity of this reference is confirmed by the fact that the reign of a kind by the name of Narendradeva from at least A.D. 1134-45 is confirmed by other sources, and the name Tedo Vihara is confirmed by other later reference, some of them within the baha complex. Besides giving us an early medieval date for this baha, the inscription has a number of interesting points. The Sanskrit name of the baha. The inscription has a number of interesting points. The Sanskrit name of the baha is usually given now as Rajakriti, which would indicate that it was founded by or in honour of a kind to the glory of the king. Local oral tradition usually says that the kind in question is Gunakamadeva. Ratna Kaji Vajracharya speculates that it was either Dharmadeva or Amsuverma, but it is clear form this inscription that a much earlier tradition attributed its foundation to Sivadeva. This is alsoone of the earliest dated reference to a Vajracharya in connection with a still existing foundation.

The next historical record is the inscription on the Surya image in the centre of the complex. It was erected in the year N.S. 582 and gives the name of the place as Tedo Vihara and the reigning king as Yaksa Malla. There is a palm leaf land deed recording the gift of a field or garden by Hrdaya Raj Bharo to Teja Thakali of Tedo Vahara in the year N.S. 583. In the year N.S. 640, during the reign of Ratna Malla another image of Surya was donated and thi inscription givens the first reference to the current Sanskrit name of the baha, Sri Rajakirti Mahabihara. An inscription at the Sankata shrine records repairs made in the year N.S. 836 during the reign of Mahindra (Bhaskara) Malla. The baha is referred to as Sri Rajakriti Mahabihara. Two manuscripts, one a copy of the Kalpasangraha, and the second a copy of the Jnansiddhi were copied in the year N.S. 948 by one Vajracharya Siddhinanda of Rajakirti Mahavihar in Kantipur.

References

1. ↑ Wright, Daniel (1877). History of the Kings of Nepal – A Buddhist Chronicle.