नेपाल सम्वत

From Wikipedia

नेपाल सम्बत एक चन्द्र सम्बत हो| यो सम्बत नेपालको मौलिक सम्बत हो|

[परिवर्तन्] ईतिहास

यस सम्बतका प्रवर्तक शंखधर् साख्वा हुन्| उहाँले नेपालका सबै जनताको ऋण तिरेर नेपाललाई ऋणमुक्त बनाउनु भएको दिनको सम्झनामा यो सम्बत थालिएको हो| नेपालमा औपचारिक रूपले य सम्बत चन्द्रसम्शेर राणाको कार्यकालसम्म प्रचलनमा रह्यो| Introduction:

History has shown that Nepal Sambat is the indigenous era of Nepal. It's significance lies in it's humanitarian and just nature, unlike other eras, it was not based on religion, birth or death or victory in battles, but rather on day to day human needs and livelihood of the ordinary Nepalese people.

However, misunderstood and misinterpreted this era might be, when fact and figures come to light it will be clear to all that this is Nepal's own era that We as Nepalese should be proud of. 

It is important to know that Nepal has registered Nepal Sambat introduced by Shankadhar Shakhwaa as Nepalese era, and Ranjana script as the Nepalese script in the United Nations when Nepal took the UN membership. The History:

According to many historians and on basis of the information contained in Bhasa Vamsavali and Rajbhogmala Vamsavali, during the reign of Raghav Dev , merchant named Samkhadhar paid of all the debt of the people of then Nepal and thus a new era called Nepal Era was instituted by royal decree some 1123 year ago on October 20, 879 AD, 304 Manadeva Sambat. Before the Nepal Sambat, Manadeva Sambat was in use. Balchandra Sharma, in his "Nepal Ko Ruprekha" writes, Nepal Sambat was started during Raghav Dev’s reign. He quotes the findings of Prof. C. Bendall and A Cunningham, and concludes that Nepal Sambat began in 879 AD. The Founder:

Samkhadhar Shakhwaa is considered the founder of Nepal Sambat. It is clearly written in the Vamsavalis as: " Sham-khadhar krita Nepal sambat". The famous historian Surya Bikram Gyawali also writes in his "Medieval History of Nepal Valley" that Shakhwaa started a new era called Nepal Era on 20th October 879 AD (1st of Kartik 936 BS).

The Legend:

The legendary story goes as follows: About 1123 years ago, during King Raghava Deva's rule, the royal astrologer calculated that at a special and auspicious time of floating sand in the holy river Lakhu Tirtha in Teku Dobhaan, Kathmandu, the sand would turn to gold. This forecast was informed to the king and he made a special arrangement to bring the sand to the palace. When the group of Maharjan farmers were carrying the sand to the palace, a local merchant named Shankhadhar Saakhawala saw them bringing the sand and asked them to sell it to him for his construction work. He convinced them to sell the sand and take another batch for the palace. The sand taken to the palace did not turned into gold and the king became upset at the astrologer's wrong calculation. On the other hand, the astrologer was also upset because of mathematical truth turned out to be a wrong one. So, he burned all the text books and later died with shock. On the other side, the merchant who bought the sand was amazed looking at the shiny heap of golden sand in his basement. He could not believe his eyes. This miraculous event was informed to the palace and the King inquired whether the sand was taken from the holy river at the designated time period. He blamed himself for his bad luck of not having the golden sand. With the golden sand the merchant decided to help poor people and pay off all their debts throughout the country, and made them debt-free once and for all. Freedom from debt is a very special event in the lives of the people and was decided with the permission of the king to establish a new era for the people free from debt. Since then the era of Nepal Sambat appeared in the history of Nepal. Now it is already 1123 years since this significant event Nepal Sambat had ever since been revered and respected for alleviating human sufferings.

The Rationale:

Even if we don’t believe the legend of the changing of sand into gold, it is quiet conceivable that grains of gold could be panned from rivers as gold grains are washed downstream in rivers. In another scenario, Sankhadhar could have earned the money from trade which he utilized in paying off the debt of the poor. Whatever the case, the fact remains that this man spent his money paying off the debt of his fellow countrymen and made them debt-free. He really deserves all the respect one can give, and rightfully, a new era was named after him for his humanitarian action. On the way from Singhsatal to Bhimsenthan, in Kathmandu, there is a place called Lakhu Falcha at which the people carrying a heavy load of sand had taken rest. The ruins of this resting place are still found. At the same time, Sakha had established his own stone-image side the temple of Pashupatinath, at its southern gate. This stone-image of Shankhadhar Shakhwaa is still there at the southern gate of Pashupatinath temple to corroborate the story of his great deeds.

Nepal Sambat changes to Bikram Sambat:

Since 879 AD, or 304 Manadeva Sambat, or 802 Shaka sambat, Nepal Sambat was used as a official, business or cultural, calendar. It was used in the Thakuri period, the Malla period, the Shah period, and in the Rana period until the year 1903 AD ( 1960 BS ). Rana prime minister Chandra Shumsher dropped Nepal Sambat and adopted Bikram Sambat as official calendar. He did not want to pay the thirteenth month salary every three year as Nepal Sambat was a true Lunar calendar.

Nepal Sambat Calendar:

Nepal sambat Calendar is a Lunar Calendar, it contains 354 days on the basis of lunar calculations. So, every 3 years in comparison to Bikram Sambat there was an extra month. The employees has to be given 13 months salary once in every 3 years. The calendar was very convenient and practical as all religious events were calculated by the full moon.

Eras of Nepal:

Bikram Sambat was started by King Vikramaditya of India in Ujjain U.P. Shaka Era was started by Shaka dynasty King of India. Mandeva sambat started by King Manadeva, a Lichhavi King. Nepal Sambat was started by Shankhadar Shakhwaa

[परिवर्तन्] हालको प्रयोग

अहिले आधिकारिक रुपमा प्रयोग नभएतापनि यो सम्बत जनमासमा प्रचलित छ| नेपालको प्राय: चाड तथा जन्मदिन चन्द्रसम्बतको आधारमा मनाउने तथा नेपालमा यो बाहेक अरु चन्द्रसम्बतहरु धेरै चलनचल्तीमा नरहेको हुनाले यसको प्रचलन व्याप्त छ| नेवार समुदायले यो सम्बत धेरै प्रयोग तथा प्रवर्धन गर्ने हुनाले मानिसहरु यो सम्बतलाई नेवार सम्बत भन्ने भूल गर्दछन्|