The Lord Buddha was born at Lumbini Nepal in 623 B.C. and attain enlightenment at the age of 35 and known as the Buddha, the awakened one. He entered to Mahaparinibbana at the age of 80 after 45 years of promoting Buddha Dhamma for the benefit, welfare and peace of all beings.
Buddhism widen at the time of Emperor Ashoka the great of India, who send Buddhist missionary groups to different countries among Nepal was one of them. He didn’t only send missionary groups but also visited Nepal himself with his daughter princess Charumati. Princess Charumati was married with prince Devpala and stayed in Kathmandu valley. Later age, she built Charumati Stupa and Charumati monastery, which is still alive in Kathmandu valley.
Similarly, the historical Charumati Stupa too has been found to heave undergone several repairs, reconstructions and renovations from time to time in its historical life of twenty three centuries in Kathmandu. The available chronicles, stone inscriptions and order records indicate that the famous Charumati Stupa was first repaired by King Dharma Dev during which time he deposited a lot of precious stones and other property in it, as a consequence of which the local people began to call the Stupa as Dhana Dwon Chaitya meaning thereby an abundance of riches. The Stupa was again renovated in and around fourth century A.D. some 14 hundred years ago by a pious Buddhist King Brikha Dev who ruled Nepal from 390-415A.D. His own grandson, King Dharma Dev too, undertook its repair and renovation later during his time after which local people, it seems, began to call the Stupa as Dharma Dev Chaitya or simply as Dhando Chaitya as it is popularly known at present, after the term was miss pelt in course of time. In consideration of the magnificent glory and the great historical significance of the Stupa built by the great personality like Emperor Dharmashakya’s own daughter princess Charumati some local people began to call the Stupa as Dhanye Bhagban or Dhanye Chaitya in local dialect, meaning Great Lord or Great Stupa. Some local people still popularly address the Stupa as Dhanye Bhagwan. In course of time, a lot of smaller Stupas, Mahayana Bhuddhist Chaityas and Vajirayana Bhuddhist shrines sprang up in and around Charumati Stupa and its adjoining monastic areas built by various devotees at various times in the sacred area for their merit making. However, with the passage of time, even Charumati Vihara and Charumati Stupa could not be freed from mischievous unauthorized encroachment and mishandling by people. As a result, by the beginning of1990’s, this holy Stupa was largely lying virtually ignored, unattained and neglected, while the open space of the Stupa area surrounding the sacred monument was wrongly being misused as open taxi park and garbage dumping site. As a consequence, if several natural decay and destructions in the hands of nature, a lot of old images of archeological significance had simply been disappearing from the spot.
Recent Renovations
However, in the month of August 2002 A.D. the Stupa suddenly developed a very large crack in the middle of the shrine. Even the central basic wooden pillar of the Stupa was found to be rotten as a constant heavy rainfall, requiring immediate replacement of the central wooden pillar and urgent renovation and repair of the Stupa as a whole. So, with the help of religious devotees and like minded people efforts were started for its thorough renovation, reconstruction and repair works from November of 2002 A.D. under the supervision of the Department of Archeology of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. In course of the renovation, a lot of things of old archeological value and significance were found inside the Stupa and around it such as ancient gold, silver, metal and clay coins, old metal Buddhas, Bodhisatwas and other Buddhist deities, metal chaityas of old Sri Lankan design, old bricks containing Dharma Chakras etc. The greatest finding of the immense archeological significance were a few old bricks containing letters Charumati, Charumati Stupa, Charumati Dhande engraved in them in ancient Bhrami Script of 23 hundred years ago and ancient Newari Bhujimol script alike the script used by Emperor Ashoka in his Ashoka stone pillar at Lumbini was of the greatest historical value. Those archeological findings in general and the ancient clay bricks containing the names of Princess Charumati engraved in the ancient Brahmi script in particular indisputably proved the Nepalese belief about the personal visit of Emperor Ashoka to Kathmandu Valley 2300 years ago and the construction of Charumati Stupa by his daughter Princess Charumati in Kathmandu. It was a matter of immense delight and satisfaction for the Nepalese Buddhist Communities, which it can be fairly presumed that the World Buddhist Fraternity also would not lag behind in sharing those rejoicing of the Nepalese brethren. Interested people can see for themselves by contacting Bhikkhu Tapassi Dhamma those rare photographs of the recent renovations from his Monastery Shree Ashoka Charumati Vihara and few glimpses of the recent archeological findings there.
Legendary of Kathmandu valley
Kathmandu valley, the capital of Nepal, was once upon a time, it is believed, a great deep lake where later Swoyambhu Buddha appeared in the form of light on lotus as wished and predicted by the prehistoric Vipassi Buddha long-long ago. As per Nepalese ancient religious texts like Swoyambhu purana and other Nepalese chronicles, all the seven previous Buddhas from the time of Vipassi Tathgata onwards, viz, Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabbhu, Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa and even Shakya-Muni visited Kathmandu Valley from time to time to pay their due respect and homage to the Swoyambhu Buddha. The water of the lake was later drained off by Manjushree Boddhisatwa and the valley was made inhabitable.
Although Tripitke texts are silent about the personal visit of Lord Shakya Muni Buddha to Kathmandu Valley, Original Moon Sarvastivad Vinaya text, one of the ancient denominations of Theravadin Buddhism, however, puts forth the travel details of personal visits of Most Venerable Ananda Mahathero, the Principal Private Secretary of Lord Buddha and the cousin, to Kathmandu Valley on foot to visit his Shakya kiths and kins residing in Kathmandu at that time during the lifetime of Buddha, indicating that Buddhism was spread to Kathmandu Valley twenty five centuries ago itself. As per the Nepalese Jataka source of the Buddha and ancient Nepalese texts, the existence of Sinha Saarth Bahu, Vihar, Manichuda Hill and Namo Buddha Stupa in Kathmandu Valley indicates that Lord Shakya Muni was not only born in Nepal and even visited Kathmandu Valley in person during his life time, held take birth in Nepal as Bodhisattva in his at least three previous births as Sinha, Saarth Bahu, King Mani Chunda and Prince Maha Satwo in Kathmandu Valley.
The Lord Buddha was born at Lumbini Nepal in 623 B.C. and attain enlightenment at the age of 35 and known as the Buddha, the awakened one. He entered to Mahaparinibbana at the age of 80 after 45 years of promoting Buddha Dhamma for the benefit, welfare and peace of all beings.
However, in the month of August 2002 A.D. the Stupa suddenly developed a very large crack in the middle of the shrine. Even the central basic wooden pillar of the Stupa was found to be rotten as a constant heavy rainfall, requiring immediate replacement of the central wooden pillar and urgent renovation and repair of the Stupa as a whole. So, with the help of religious devotees and like minded people efforts were started for its thorough renovation, reconstruction and repair works from November of 2002 A.D. under the supervision of the Department of Archeology of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. In course of the renovation, a lot of things of old archeological value and significance were found inside the Stupa and around it such as ancient gold, silver, metal and clay coins, old metal Buddhas, Bodhisatwas and other Buddhist deities, metal chaityas of old Sri Lankan design, old bricks containing Dharma Chakras etc. The greatest finding of the immense archeological significance were a few old bricks containing letters Charumati, Charumati Stupa, Charumati Dhande engraved in them in ancient Bhrami Script of 23 hundred years ago and ancient Newari Bhujimol script alike the script used by Emperor Ashoka in his Ashoka stone pillar at Lumbini was of the greatest historical value. Those archeological findings in general and the ancient clay bricks containing the names of Princess Charumati engraved in the ancient Brahmi script in particular indisputably proved the Nepalese belief about the personal visit of Emperor Ashoka to Kathmandu Valley 2300 years ago and the construction of Charumati Stupa by his daughter Princess Charumati in Kathmandu. It was a matter of immense delight and satisfaction for the Nepalese Buddhist Communities, which it can be fairly presumed that the World Buddhist Fraternity also would not lag behind in sharing those rejoicing of the Nepalese brethren. Interested people can see for themselves by contacting Bhikkhu Tapassi Dhamma those rare photographs of the recent renovations from his Monastery Shree Ashoka Charumati Vihara and few glimpses of the recent archeological findings there.
