Posted by: raju161 April 10, 2010
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i don't know much about kirat, but someone provided me with this info
| | hi hi re: Civilization and Culture during Kiratas -------------------------------------------------------- When the Roman Empire was at the zenith of its power in Europe, the Kiratas were ruling vast swaths of the mountainous land in the Himalayas from their capital in Kathmandu valley. The Kiratas cleared the forest and started the human civilization in the valley. The Kirat dynasty was a Golden period in Nepal's history. The presence of non-Sanskrit speaking in the Kathmandu Valley since long before its Lichchhavi takeover around the first century AD is now accepted as proof of developed state of the valley during the Kirat rule.The Department of Archaeology is currently excavating an ancient Kirati religious site near Kwalakhu in Patan. Here's the civilization and culture during Kiratas: During the rule of the Kiratas, Nepal made considerable progress in the field of art and architecture, trade and commerce. The Kiratis were not only good warriors but also good administrators. Men and women were treated equally. Criminals were given severe punishment. For the administration of justice, law-courts were established at several places-Kuther, Shuli, Lingual, Mapchok, etc. Trade and commerce flourished under the Kiratas. Nepal had trade relations with Tibet, China and India. The exports of Nepal mainly consisted of wool, woolen goods, wood and herbs. Kautilya, in his 'Arthasastra', says that Nepali woolen blankets were very popular in the market of Magadha (Bihar in modern India). This is how the term Nepal came to exist. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, the Chairman of the Asiatic Society and a professor at the Calcutta University in India, has verified this historical fact that the term Nepal is derived from the Tibetan language Nebal meaning "a house of wool". People took more interest in business than in agriculture. Because of its economic prosperity, people from different places, of different tribes and races came to Nepal and settled down. Thus, the people having different customs and practices all merged into a nation. This resulted in the development of a new culture of its own. The cultural and religious life of the people was highly developed under the Kiratas, The main religion of the Kiratas was Shivaite. They worshiped Lord Shiva, serpents, trees, stones etc. The images of Kirateswar Mahadev and Birupakshya show the standard of architecture of the Kiratas. There was also no sign of caste discrimination under the Kirat administration. Buddhism also flourished under the Kiratas. Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Lord Buddha) visited Kathmandu valley with his several disciples during the rule of the 7th Kirati King Jitedasti. The stupas, pagodas, and temples were all built on the model of Buddhist art. The Kiratas developed a number of towns. The thickly populated centers were Malatirtha, Shankhamul, Thankot, Khopung (Bhaktapur), Khopase, Sanga, Teku, etc. Nepal exchanged its culture and civilization with India, Tibet and China. The introduced of Buddhism brought intellectual awakening among the people. In this way, the foundation of the vast structure of the Nepalese culture was laid down under the Kiratas. Indeed, this period can be regarded as the forerunner of the future development of the Nepalese society in all aspects. Historical record and closely studied on city & town planning, layout and old buildings in the Kathmandu valley showed that Kirat were civilized people of ancient Nepal. Kirati people used Brick-stone-metal-wooden to build unique architectures like "Kailaskut Bhawan". Kirat have 18 unique skills like brick, wood, metal, textile, farming, bamboo, building builder, livestock, fish farming, homeopathy, medicine, weaponry, pottery, carving, paper producing etc. Professor Sudarshan Raj Tiwari (The brick and the bull: an account of Handigaun, the ancient capital of Nepal, 2002 ) said that Kirati people used to have Law & Order, rules &r regulation, government & justice systems. Tiwari wrote, "When the Kiratas arrived in the Kathmandu Valley from their ancestral homeland(Sapta Sindhu), they brought along with them the knowledge of the 18 building trade groups, among these the art of brick building, water tanks, drainage system etc. that build ancient Kathmandu." The discovery of 2nd century BC brick construction by the Italian excavation team near the Satyanarayan temple gives conclusive proof that the Kiratas had advanced knowledge of brick construction. They also brought their religion. Terracota figurines of humped bulls and matrika sculptures suggest Saiva and mother goddess worship was prevalent among the local population. Whereas the Gopalas and Mahispalas were thought to have followed Vedic Hinduism with Vaisnavite inclination, the Kiratas were thought to be the followers of Shiva. Kirateswore Sivalinga and proto-Lichchvi Kali of Aryaghat are indicative of Sivaite following among Kiratas. (Tiwari, 2002) Sudarshan Raj Tiwari (Temples of the Nepal Valley, 2009) states the Bal Kumari mandir of Chyagal, Patan, was originally a Kirati temple. Apparently, there are many temples around Patan that date back to Kirati times and are rectangular in shape. They usually house Bhairav and Bhimsen, as well as Bal-Kumari Ajima and other mother goddesses which the Kirants worshiped. They are said to have been renovated during the Malla times. This was uncovered by the design and the materials used to make the temple which was studied extensively by the researchers led by professor Tiwari himself and the UNSCEO team. Historically pre-Chistian era the Pasupatinath Temple have its origin away back to the early Kirat period. Stone sculptures found in the vicinity support the antiquity of this place. The Pashupatinath temple was later renovated and modified during the Licchavi period after overthrowing the Kirat dynasty. Pashupatinath temple is surrounded by a many other temples like the Kirateswore Mahadev, Bhairav, Guheswori also link to Kirat period. Patan is famous for its collection of masterpieces, the fantastically carved temples, palace courtyards, water spouts, public baths and houses with their elaborate wood, stone a and metal carvings. Newar scholar Mr Amrit Ratna Tuladhar mentions based on the ancient Nepali history "Kirat king Yalambar founded the city of Patan. During his time the petty kingdom was known as Yala, a nomenclature presented or given in praise of the Kirat king. However the term of "Yala" has today entered the Nepal Bhasa (Newari) vocabulary referred to or addressing the city nestled in the southern part of Nepal Valley". The city was later later expanded by Lichhavis in the sixth century. It was further expanded by the Mallas during the medieval period. Today Patan is listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is the knowledge produced by a particular cultural group or any loosely defined resource users group in a given area. The researches have found that around 1,600 plant species have been used for the treatments of diverse ailments and that Kirat Nationalities alone use about 400 medicinal plant species for treatment. Kamal Maden and the team carried out research on IK and this was based on the study conducted between the Kirat clans - Rai, Yakkha, Limbu and Sunuwar. For more access about Indigenous Knowledge (IK), Google "Documentation of Indigenous Knowledge, Skill and Practices of Kirata Nationalities with Special Focus on Biological Resources" or check at this site http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/rarebooks/downloads/Maden_Indigenous_Knowledge.pdf Kirat also gave the Nepalese the festival of Tihar & Deusi Bhailo which the Kirati King Balihang is accredited with. source: http://www.balagokulam.org/teach/syllabus/Y1_Q4_5-8.pdf This clearly demonstrates that Kirat period(900 BC to 300 AD) was a Golden Period in Nepal history. But today Nepal is in a verge of being a failure state. The New Constitution of Nepal that is currently being drafted must give equal opportunities regardless of race or your caste. Only then Nepal will succeed. Source: Temples of the Nepal valley By Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, 2009 Namah Shivaya Shantaya By Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, 2005 The brick and the bull: an account of Handigaun, the ancient capital of Nepal, By Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, 2002 The ancient settlements of the Kathmandu Valley By Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, 2001 A Cultural History of the North-East India: [The Kiratas (Bodo etc.) By B. Chakravarti, 2000 "In The Kingdom Of The Gods" By Desmond Doig, 1999 Politics of Culture: A Study of Three Kirata Communities in the Eastern Himalayas By Tanka Bahadur Subba, 1999 Social history of Nepal By Tulasi Rama Vaidya, Triratna Manandhara, Shankar Lal Joshi, 1993 The Kiratas in Ancient India By G.P Singh, 1990 Kirata-jana-krti By Suniti Kumar Chatterji By 1974 Ancient Nepal By D. R. Regmi, 1969 History of Nepal By Shew Shunker Singh, Gunanand and Daniel Wright, 1966 Read some of this and you will have more clarifications and knowledge of Kirat and history of ancient Nepal. Here's one Kirati culture that has survived the 5000+ years. But importunately this is also fading away with times. This is of weaving textiles.  Limbu women from the eastern part of Nepal used to be great fabric-artist entrepreneurs and very hard working a couple of centuries ago. There were no imported threads available for weaving then, therefore they used to grow cotton themselves in | |
Last edited: 10-Apr-10 01:40 PM