Rani Pokhari : Its History
Rani Pokhari
Rani Pokhari .The temple in the middle of Rani pokhari, built three hundred years ago, is famous by the name of Balagopaleshwar or Yamaleshwar. But new facts have recently revealed that the temple is not called Balgopaleshwar. According to the red seal of Bhadau in 1871 BS, there is a temple of Gauri Shankar in the middle of Rani pokhari. The temple is also mentioned in the Guthi as a temple of Gaurishankar.
The temple behind the elephant on the south stone of Rani pokhari is mentioned as Koti Lingeshwar Devalaya and the temple on the north side is called Kileshwara Devalaya.It is mentioned in the archives of the Guthi that there are four temples in the four corners of the temple. There are temples of Bhairav in the north-west and northeast, Mahalakshmi in the south-west and Ganesh in the south-east. The records also state that there is a bridge to the Gaurishankar temple in the middle of Rani pokhari.
As mentioned in the inscription, the idol of Gauri Shankar i.e. Shiva-Parvati is not seen today. However, most of the records of the Guthi mention that the temple in the middle of Rani pokhari is ‘Gaurishanka .The name of the temple in the middle of Ranipokhari was found in the Guthi’s records.There is no temple called Yamaleshwar or Balgopaleshwar in the records, ‘says Dahal.’ The temple between Ranipokhari is called Gaurishankar. The records are based on the red seal of August 1871. The records also state that Rani pokhari has eight properties.
There is a temple of Mahadev in the womb of the temple at present. He speculates that the Shivalinga there may have been called Gaurishankar. The Jha family is the ancestral priestly family of the temple in the middle of Rani pokhari.God and Goddess are mentioned in the inscription established by King Pratap Malla in 1725 BS on Triodashi (Nepal 790 AD).Cultural experts believe that God and Goddess can be Shiva and Parvati i.e. Gaurishankar. It is mentioned that Pratap Malla erected a statue of Madhav in the name of his son Chakravatendra on the full moon day of Magh Shulka in the year 790 A.D. Only a few records mention Baleshwar or Balgopaleshwar in the middle of Ranipokhari.
The temple, which is open only on Bhaitika’s day, has many idols in the middle of the now-famous Balagopaleshwar and Ranipokhari. There are also idols of Shivalinga, Parvati and Lakshmi in half form. The half-formed idol of Parvati and Lakshmi is called ‘Harishankari’.The half-shaped idol of Parvati and Lakshmi in the middle of Rani pokhari is rare in the world. Priest Jha calls Balagopal and Shivalinga as Balagopal and Ishwar Balagopaleshwar .The temple in the middle of Ranipakheri was also damaged after the earthquake on April 29, 2072 BS. After the temple was damaged, most of the idols are now housed in the National Museum. The idols of Shivalinga and Harishankar are still there. The temple is also Gauri Shankar. “There is a statue of Shivaji, next to it is the temple of Balgoleshwar,. The idols of Shiva and Harishankari are the idols of Gaurishankar. Rani Pokari
There are idols of Ganesh, Suryanarayana with five heads, Bhagwati with five heads and Vishnu in the middle of Ranapokhari.During the construction of Ranipokhari, King Pratap Malla had brought water from Bagmati to the sea.The inscription carved at the base of the stone idol of Madhav on the west side of Rani pokhari mentions that sea water was brought from Ganga, Shona, Savarmati, Yamuna, Gandaki, Kaveri and Koshi. Pratap Malla’s Nepali inscription does not mention anything about the waters of Shona and Kaveri. In some records, water has been found in Ranipokhari by bringing water from seven tanks including Gosainkund, Muktinath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Bagmati and Mansarovar. There is a legend that water is filled by Tantric lore. It is claimed that there are diamond jewels in Ranipokhari.
There was a big plate behind the statue of Pratap Malla. It was called Chakla Falcha. The historic Chakla fruit has dried up. People from outside used to sit in that party. Ranipokhari was also the land of Ratna Park, Saraswati Sadan and other areas. Many structures are being eroded when Juddhashamsher laid wires in Ranipokhari. Many lands of Ranipokhari have been encroached now. Many idols are also missing.Even culturologists and archaeologists say that there has been little study of Rani pokhari. He is of the opinion that the study team should be informed to find out the historical significance of Ranipokhari. The idol of Balgopaleshwar in the middle of Ranipokhari. Gauri Shankar says that the statue of ‘Uma Maheshwar’ in the middle of the Aryal temple may be the former head of the Department of Nepali, History, Culture and Archeology at Tribhuvan University.
“Gauri Shankar is also Shiva-Parvati, Uma-Maheshwar is also Shiva-Parvati a culturologist. However, he said that a study team should be formed as no conclusion can be drawn without a study. Gauri Shankar is not mentioned anywhere in the four inscriptions at Ranipokhari that he studied. Gaurishankar is Mahadev-Parvati, but now there is no idol of Mahadev-Parvati.Of course, the structure of the temple may have changed over time, as cultural expert Amatya estimated. No in-depth study of Ranipokhari has been done so far. “There has been no in-depth study of Ranipokhari so far.
Earthquakes in Nepal in 1865 and 1990 destroyed many structures. According to heritage and cultural experts, many statues could not have been lost during the earthquake.
History of Ranipokhari
Ranipokhari is a man-made pond located in the center of Kathmandu city. To the east of this beautiful pond is the clock tower built by Rana Prime Minister Shri 3 Birshamsher, Trichandra College built by Shri 3 Chandra Shamsher and to the west is Durbar High School, the oldest school in Nepal. Similarly, Vishwajyoti Cinema is in the north and Ratna Park is in the south.Pratap Malla had built Ranipokhari in 1725 BS to please the mourning queen after the death of his son Chakravartendra. A peak-style temple was also built in the middle of the pond. Before the earthquake of 2072 BS, Ranipokhari was dome style.
The shape of Rani pokhari has changed during the previous reconstruction. Juddhashamsher had restored the Ranipokhari temple after it collapsed in the 1990 earthquake. Juddhashamsher laid wires at Ranipokhari and rebuilt the ruined temple in the style of Shikhar.Cultural expert Aryal says that the originality of Ranipokhari was lost during the Rana period. “Juddhashamsher lost his originality while laying the wire. Even before that, Rani pokhari was repeatedly rebuilt,” says Aryal, a cultural expert. Jung Bahadur had Ranipokhari built in Mughal style. Jung Bahadur had introduced Mughal culture in Nepali culture under the influence of the British.
Ranipokhari is known as Nhu Pukhu Pokhari in Nepali language (Newari). In Nepali language, nhu means new, that is, new pond. King Pratap Malla also erected a statue of himself and his two sons Mohipaten and Chakravartendra on an elephant statue on the south bank of the pond. Ranipokhari is spread over an area of 62 ropanis and 13 annas. The pond is 180 meters long and 140 meters wide.
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