Nepal Lalitpur: seven newari villages

Lalitpur/ Paran/ Yala: the beautiful medieval city of art and culture is situated in the southeast part of the magnificent Kathmandu valley which is located between the latitudes 27o 32' 13" and 27o 49' 10" North and longitudes 85o 11' 31" and 85o 31' 38" East. The valley lies at a mean elevation of about 1350 m. above sea level.

The city spread over an area of 15.43 sq.km. and is politically divided into 22 wards. Of the twenty two wards, area wise ward no 15 is the largest with an area of 2.43 sq.km. and with an area of 0.09 sq.km ward no 21 is the smallest.

1.Thecho:

Bal Kumari Temple in Thecho  

1. Thecho is a village development committee in Lalitpur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal censusit had a population of 7140 living in 1216 individual households.

Lakhey (Mask) Dance in Thecho during local festival

Thecho is a Newari village which is located at the south of Kathmandu Valley.

2. Harisiddhi:

Harisiddhi is a village development committee in Lalitpur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. According to the census 2058 BS, the total population is around 5939  in 754 individual households

This village is about 4400ft high from the sea-level. Its latitude is 270 38' north and longitude is 850 21' east.

History of Harisiddhi-

As per local belief  the origin of Harisiddhi is in India. Indian emperor Bikramaditya is the founder of "Bikram Sambat" who came to Nepal and brought his beloved goddess Harisiddhi and establish in Baneshwor (Near by Kathmandu airport). He started the dance of god and goddess. After some year, the dance is discontinued. At the Lichhabi dynasty (745 B.S), Goddess Harisiddhi is transferred to Harsiddhi village and started the dance. Again the dance is discontinued for some years. At the time of Amar Malla, the famous incantatory Gayojuju brought the disappeared dance and Yog Narendra Malla provided 310 ropanies land for the purpose of daily worship and 294 ropanies land to continue the dance.

The temple of goddess Harsiddhi is established at the middle of the village. This goddess is also known as Tri-Shakti, Tri-Devi, Maheswori, Amba Maa, Baishnavi and Jagdambba.

According to the main priest Tri-Bikram Jwalananda Rajopadhya: goddess Harsiddhi is the creator of the world. She created "Bhairab and Kumari". .

Mask Dance of Harisiddhi-

As per history of Nepal, the mask dance of goddess Harsiddhi is the "First Mask Dance" of Nepal. The charm and attraction of this mask dance is unbelievable and great joy to watch. At the same time the dance includes stories related with Harisddhi goddess. The dance is performed on various types of  instruments and the songs.

In the old age, mask dance used to be performed for three month but sadly these days its performed hardly two days in a year. only during the main festival day or special occasions. (the festival of "Yomari Purnima" and the festival of  "Holy Purnima").


HIGHLIGHTS
Local People and culture
Living Gods
A festival celebrated once in a12 years
Animal Sacrifices

3. Chapagaun:

 Chapagaun is a village development committee    in Lalitpur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 9600 in 1643 individual households.

Chapagaon is the village which is spread in 68 km2 with the shape of conch shell. It is located 10 km south from Kathmandu. The biggest highlight of this village is Bajrabarahi temple. As per locals belief in ancient days the village was a big forest with the trees of ‘Chanp’. The village got its name ,Champapur as it was established by clearing the forest of Chanp trees. Later the name changed into Chapagaun.  




Bulu is one of the major village of Chapagaon and it is to be believed that it was established in 1614 by King Sidhi Narsingh Malla of Patan.   Pyangaun is another important village which was named as the residents here adopted the profession of making PYANG, the special pots made from reeds , the plants. Another important village is Champapur is a city which has been designed in a systematic way. Therefore, the promotion of organizational and excellent cultural society can be seen here. It has been found that during the old days ( period of ancestors of Shivadev, the Lichhavi King) Chapagaon was a business centre or a market to buy stuffs from salt to gold (in local language- soon to noon bazaar).
  

Thaiba:

Thaiba is a village development committee in Lalitpur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal censusit had a population of 4500 living in 805 individual households among which most of the population is inhabited by newars, the dominant population group of kathmandu valley


Bungamati:
Bungamati is a village development committee in Lalitpur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 4813 in 886 individual households

There are more: coming soon...