Bhaktapur
Bhaktapur, known locally as Khwopa and historically called Bhadgaon, is a city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal located about from the capital city, Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is the smallest city of Nepal as well as the most densely populated. Along with Kathmandu and Lalitpur, Bhaktapur is one of the three main cities of the Kathmandu Valley and is a major Newar settlement of the country. The city is also known for its Newar tradition, cuisine and artisans. Bhaktapur suffered heavy damage in the April 2015 earthquake.
As part of the Kathmandu Valley, it shares its history, culture and language with the other cities of the valley. Although chronicles like the Gopal Raj Vamshavali put the foundation of Bhaktapur in the 12th century, it has been the site of numerous settlements since at least the Licchavi dynasty. The capital place of Kasthamandu was Bhaktapur Nepal during the first half of Malla dynasty from the 12th century to 1482 when Nepal split into three independent kingdoms. The Malla dynasty is considered a golden period for Bhaktapur and even after its division in 1428, Bhaktapur managed to stay as a wealthy and a powerful Newar kingdom, mostly due to its position in the ancient India-Tibet trade route. In 1769, Bhaktapur was attacked and annexed into the expanding Gorkha Kingdom. After its annexation, Bhaktapur remained largely isolated from other parts of Nepal which led to stagnation in the development of its economy and arts and to allowed it to remain as a homogeneous Newar city. Due to being isolated and overlooked by the central government in Kathmandu, its infrastructure and economy deteriorated and the 1934 earthquake further exacerbated the situation. Bhaktapur's economy and infrastructure would only improve from the 1980s, largely due to tourism and aid provided by West Germany as part of the Bhaktapur Development Project.
Compared to other Newar settlements, Bhaktapur is predominantly Hindu and speaks a distinct dialect of Nepal Bhasa. Bhaktapur is one of the most visited tourist destination of Nepal with the city attracting 301,012 tourists in 2014. The Nyatapola, a five roofed pagoda completed in 1702 is the most famous structure of Bhaktapur and along with the former royal palace, it forms the tourism center of Bhaktapur. The city is also famous for its numerous festivals and carnivals like the spring festival of Biskā jātrā and the carnival of Sāpāru both of which are significant part of the local culture and contribute well to tourism. Bhaktapur is also called the "Capital of Music and Dance" in Nepal due to presence of over 200 types of traditional dances, most of which are masked dances and expect for a few, are a part of the annual carnival of Sāpāru. It is also famous for its cuisine with the jūjū dhau, a type of yogurt made from buffalo milk being the most popular. Bhaktapur's potters and handicraft industries are also known nationwide. Due to its well preserved medieval nature, UNESCO inscribed Bhaktapur as a World Heritage Site since 1979.
Etymology
The earliest use of the name "Bhaktapur" is from an inscription from 928. It is widely accepted that the name is a Sanskrit translation of the city's name in the native language, an early form of the Newar language, Khōpring. The earliest use of this name is from a Licchavi dynasty inscription from 594. The name Khōpring is a combination of two words from an early form of the Newar language, "kho" and "pring" which translate to "cooked rice" and "village," respectively. The city was also sometimes referred as Bhaktagrāma instead of Bhaktapura where grāma denoted a village as opposed to pura which denoted a town in Sanskrit.From Khopring also evolved, Khwopa, the name of the city in the classical and modern form of the native Newar language. Khwopa as the name for the city, appeared for the first time in a manuscript from 1004. The term Khwopa was used to describe the city in almost all of the inscriptions, manuscripts and documents from the Malla dynasty.
Another popular name for the city was "Bhatgaon", the Hindustani and Khas translation of "Bhaktagrama". This name became particularly popular after the conquest of Bhaktapur by the Gorkhali armies of Prithivi Narayan Shah in 1769. It is believed that the official name was changed back to Bhaktapur in the 1930s by the decree of the Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Rana, after witnessing the numerous temples in the city and the devotion of the locals towards it, decreed that the city should be referred as Bhaktapur as in "City of devotees" instead of Bhatgaon. "Bhakta" in Bhaktapur also means cooked rice in Sanskrit.
History
Antiquity
The folklore of the Kathmandu Valley states that the entire valley and as such Bhaktapur itself was once an enormous lake. Geological surveys conducted by Swiss geologist Toni Hagen proved that the Kathmandu Valley was in fact a lake which formed when the Lower Himalayan Range was being created due to the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plate. The lake water started eroding the limestone hills of Chobhar and starting from around thirty thousand years ago, the lake started to drain. Plain lands appeared in the valley and between 30,000 and 15,000 years, most of the valley was drained. In folklore, the credit of draining the valley is given to the Bodhisattva Manjushri. Believed to be a saint from Greater China, Manjushri is said to have cut a gorge from his sword in order to drain the valley so that he could worship and gain wisdom from Swayambhunath Buddha who resided in the lake. Manjushri is believed to have entered the Katmandu Valley from the east and his resting place has been made into a shrine where the people of Bhaktapur make a pilgrimage to every year during late winter and before the festival of Shree Panchami.Apart from above, much of the early history of Bhaktapur is largely unknown. It is clear that people started to settle in the Kathmandu Valley after it was drained due to its fertile soil owing to it being a lakebed. The Gopal Raj Vamshavali, a 14th-century Newar language manuscript states that a clan known as Gopāla first settled the Kathmandu Valley. The manuscript further says that Gopāla, who were cow herders, were overthrown by the Mahispāla, who were buffalo herders. Soon, the Kirata King Yalambar conquered the valley and established his own Kirānta dynasty. Although no direct proof of the existence of the first three ruling dynasties as mentioned in the Gopal Raj Vamshavali has been found, indirect proof such as place names and mentions in the inscriptions of the Licchavi period has been used to support the existence of at least the Kirānta dynasty. For Bhaktapur as well, the existence of a non-Sanskrit name, Khopring, in the Sanskrit language stone inscriptions of the Licchavi dynasty supports the existence of a settlement before the arrival of the Licchavi clan from Vaishali. The modern day Jyāpu community of the Newars is believed to be the descendants of the Kirānta clan and the modern day Newar language is believed to derived from the language that he Kirānta clan spoke.
Licchavi dynasty
Three stone inscriptions from the Licchavi dynasty has been recovered so far in Bhaktapur. One of them dated to 594 was recovered in Gomārhi district in the eastern part of Bhaktapur was made during the reign of Amshuverma. Another similar inscription from 594, recovered from Tulāche district in the central part of Bhaktapur was also made during the reign of Amshuverma. The Gomārhi inscription contains a decree from Amshuverma that "people from Mākhopring draṅga should be given more rights for a self rule." Similarly, the Tulāche inscription contains a similar message but the settlement has been referred as "khōpring grāma". During the Licchavi dynasty, settlements with a minimum of 100 houses and a maximum of 500 houses were classified as "grāma" and wealthy settlements were classified as "draṅga". So, the settlements around the present day Gomārhi district were wealthier than the settlements around the present day Tulāche district. In Nepal Bhasa, Mā is a prefix meaning "main or principal", meaning Mākhopring was a sub-division of Khopring, most likely the main part of Khopring. Finally, a third inscription recovered at Tālako district in the southwestern part of Bhaktapur mention the place name as "mākhoduluṃ" which was probably a separate village from Khōpring.Bhaktapur's oldest hiti is also dated from the Licchavi dynasty. It is said that the Rajkulo canals, which supplies water in hitis were built and managed by Tulā Rāni, a mythical queen who is believed to have lived in Bhaktapur during the Licchavi dynasty. In folklore, Tulā Rāni made and repaired the Rajkulo canals as she is said to only weigh a single tola or 11 grams and hence float on water.