Ashok visits Kathmandu.

I have already mentioned that following his Master's footsteps Ashok the Great had arrived at Kathmandu Valley and worshipped Swayambhunath. Ashok's visit to Kathmandu, just like the Buddha's visit nearly three centuries earlier, has a historical provenance; both these instances are found mentioned in the Bungsawali of the Kiratis as well as in the Swayambhu Puran.

The Sage of the Sakyas was a Kirati Prince and so was Ashok.

King Sthunko was the ruling monarch of Kiratdom of Kathmandu when Ashok had come calling. To commemorate this visit Ashok had founded the City of Deo Pattan (now known as Patan) and given his daughter Charumati in marriage to a nobleman of the Kirati Court. (Many pseudo-historians are now busy spreading a disinformation that the nobleman was a Rajput, whereas the term Rajput itself was not even created until some fifteen centuries later).

Upon returning to his capital city Pataliputra, Ashok wasted no time before determining the central point of his empire and there at Sanchi, Central India, he created the most majestic replica of the Temple of Swayambhunath. However, after his demise, his successors lacked his dynamism and drive and gradually his empire broke up fragmented. None of these local chiefs who emerged from the vacuum were followers of the Enlightened One, instead they championed the cause of Deota worship (later identified as Hinduism).

Thus the magnificent Temple of Swayambhunath at Sanchi fell into disuse and decay where it remained forgotten for nearly two millennium until the British Archeologists discovered the ruins deep in the jungles of tropical India. Credit must go entirely to the Archeological Survey of British India for having preserved the ruins from further plunder but the archeologists could do no more than leaving the site status quo.

The magnificent ruins of Swayambhunath at Sanchi is surrounded by exquisitely carved gates and facades, which after these many centuries of neglect are still left in reasonable shape. These carvings depict Emperor Ashok arriving at Sanchi in a chariot with great fanfare while the royal entourage bring up the rear on elephants. These carvings show with great precision that Emperor Ashok and bulk of his subjects were Kirati-Mongolians.

It remains to be seen when the time comes, and it surely will, when the superstructures will be added to the hemispherical remains to bring Swayambhunath of Sanchi back to its former glory.

The Buddha is a Kirati-Mongolian Prince.

The word Kirati seems to demand some explanation: although the term is generally understood to mean only the Khambu-Rai, Limbu-Yakthumba, Dewan-Rai, Sunuwar and Lapche (now spelt as Lepcha)-Rong-pa who inhabit Eastern Nepal, it is meant to include all the Mongolian people who dwell in the southern slopes of the Himalayas. The endemic population of the region further beyond geographical boundary of Nepal eastwards include Koche, Meche, Kachari and Bodo tribes who identify themselves as Kiratis. Although, it may not be a politically correct claim right now but their physiognomy can not lie, all of them look one hundred percent Mongolians and I have used the term Kirati-Mongolians, to distinguish them all from Mongolians elsewhere.

And hence, Newar, Magar, Gurung, Tamang, Sherpa and Sakya are all ethnic Kirati-Mongolians.

It is a universally acknowledged fact the Kirati-Mongolians place no restriction in inter-racial marriage, neither with the Tibetans from the North nor Indo-Saracenic race from the South. The outcome of such union is very distinctly visible in Nepal today. Of particular interest however, is the subject of arrival of Brahmins in Nepal which I intend to discuss in my subsequent blog.

This is where we branch off to read a sacred book of the Buddhists Swayambhu Puran, which is written in Sanskrit, considered by scholars to have been written more than two thousand years ago, which reads: "bande'ham tattwarupam tatabhitatabhawam bhabyahabhya swabhawam....." etc etc. This is how according to the sacred book The Sage of the Sakyas, The Enlightened One paid homage to Swayambhunath after he circumambulated the temple thrice. The ruling monarch of the land according to Swayambhu Puran, was Jite Dasti, the King of the Kiratis and this name as well as this incident are found recorded in the Kirati Bungsawali.

I have quoted the sacred book of the Buddhist to emphasise the aspect of The Buddha's visit to Kathmandu Valley: that the Sage of the Sakyas was aware of the concurrent practice of paying homage to the Temple of Swayambhunath. This incident reinforces the belief that as a Kirati-Mongolian Prince, Siddhartha Gout'm was familiar with contemporary custom and tradition of his people.

Two centuries later, following the footsteps of the Enlightened One, his disciple King Ashok arrived in Kathmandu, which is also found recorded in the Swayambhu Puran. The Puran makes a positive mention of King Sthunko, to be the King of Kiratdom of Kathmandu during the Ashokan visit which is also corroborated by the Kirati Bungsawali.

The Legend of Yellung Hang.

Still existent in Kathmandu, there is a terra cotta figure of Yellung Hang, circa 3rd Century B.C. Uninformed sources would readily comment that the statue of Yellung Hang is in unfinished form, that is to say, its lower limbs have not been sculpted out.

The legend of Yellung Hang, according to Kirati Folklore goes like this:

Yellung Hang as has been alluded earlier, enjoyed a divine nature and would often walk in and out of Paru, at will. He was welcome in Paru and often times known to have been seen walking with Paru Hang around countryside. Yellung Hang was a good King, he was a benevolent man and would approach Paru Hang with problems of his people, the Kiratis, which he found to be too complicated to resolve himself. And, the Kiratis loved him.

The Kiratis were very fond of their King, Yellung Hang.

According to Kirati folklore, one day the Pancha-Kirat decided to install a statue of Yellung Hang so that they may never be left without their Hang. Although his absence from Kathmandu during his journeys to Paru was never unduly long, they feared their King may one day decide not to return to the mortal world at all. That is the reason the sculptor is known to have left the feet of the statue incomplete to prevent him from walking away from their midst.

Kiratdom of Kathmandu

All went well as the Kiratis began their pastoral life in the Valley of Kathmandu. They prospered during the peaceful reign of Yellung Hang and their "deota" was Paru Hang, the Lord of Paru. The Kiratis knew of the mythical land called Paru, tucked high in the Himal-Chuli where one could reach after crossing one mountain range after another snow clad mountain until one day when the fog lifted, they could behold the blissful eternal land of Paru. In this mythical land Paru resided their nameless deota, known simply as Paru Hang.

This divine land of Paru of Kirati legend is what that gave impetus to the western writers who got it transformed into Shangri-La vividly romanticised by the over simulated imagination.

Paru Hang was not a distant God, but shared the daily pace of the Kiratis' life, often appearing in the guise of a Kirati hunter, dressed in a single wrap-around of tiger or panther-skin and armed with bow and arrows and a trident. Centuries later, when Paru Hang was brahminised and given the new name of Mahadeo or Siwa or Shankar, they retained not only his attire and look of a Kirati huntsman but also his skin colour; he appears fair among dark skinned Hindu divinities.

Some two thousand six hundred years ago, a Kirati Prince, named Siddhartha Gout'm became The Buddha, or The Enlightened One, and began preaching his doctrine of Four Noble Truths. The Buddha chose to convey his message of Nirwan to his Family and the Kiratis of Kathmandu first before beginning his Universal Teaching.

The Buddha arrived at Kathmandu according to Swayambhu Puran during the reign of Kirati King Jite Dasti and offered worship to Swayambhunath, the Primordial Buddha. This is an historical tradition visible till todate as Hangpa Jite Dasti is known to have decreed that his people retain the freedom to continue to worship Paru Hang while following the Four Noble Truths. Ever since, the Kiratis have worshipped the Buddha and Paru Hang together as are seen everywhere in the temples of Kathmandu.

We Kiratis are true to that culture established two thousand and six hundred years ago by our noble King Jite Dasti.

Invitation to the Kiratis

I am a Kirati and invite all my Kirati-kins to this blogpost. I will not write any controversial or offensive blogpost and am certain none of you would.

If you are hearing rumours or any viewpoint expressed to the contrary to what you are familiar with, in other words, that the Kiratis belong to Hindu India, you may wish to check up on the source, which will undoubtedly turn out to be non-Kirati. And, this is an excellent opportunity for you to invite the source to post his or her comments on this blogpost. We may benefit from the constructive comments or throw the acrimonious arguments back to its source and profit from the exercise.

Please write on whatever episode of history or folklore connected to the Kiratis or Kiratdom of antiquity you are familiar with, with the single purpose of enriching our culture while enlightening our non-Kirati readers.

Let us get started. Let us start at the very beginning.

In the beginning, it was a lake where dwelt Basuki Naag, the King of all the Serpents. There came one day Manjusri, the Celestial Architect, accompanied by multitude of his devotees and followers. He circumambulated the lake thrice and worshipped Adi Buddha, the Primordial Buddha of Agnishtha Bhuwan, the Heavens. With one mighty stroke of his sword, Manjusri is believed to have cut an outlet for the lake to be drained out. Manjusri is hence, depicted iconographically, with his right arm holding a sword, raised in anticipation of that strike.

Thus, in a symbolic act of creation, dry land appeared where Manjusri beckoned his people to settle down to lead pastoral life. Before ascending to heavens, Manjusri created by his divine hands the Temple of Swayambhunath, which stands there in Kathmandu till this very day. It is also believed that Manjusri appointed Yellung Hang to be the very first King of his people.

Tradition has it and the Kiratis believe Yellung Hang was divine in nature and used to at will walk in and out of Paru, the mythical abode of Paru Hang. Apprehending, Yellung Hang may one day leave the mortal world forlorn, the Kiratis have caused lower limbs of his statue to be left incomplete to prevent him from walking away. A 3rd Century B.C. statue of Yellung Hang supports this ancient Kirati folklore.

These form the bedrock upon which the Kirati heritage rests, that is to say, Swayambhunath and Manjusri are the cornerstones of ancient pre-brahminic Kirati Culture. The brahminic elements therefore, have been working hard to dispraise these two; by derisively calling one The Monkey Temple and ignoring the other. Understandably, they do so more due to ignorance than acrimony.

Here we come.....

A great deal of intellectualization of the word "Kirati" or "Kiranti" is taking place, both inside and outside the country, clearly not with the intention of simple identification of the people rather than to create disinformation on the subject. It becomes evident when we scrutinize the process that greater emphasis has been placed upon the etymology of the word than on the identification of the people. Creation of this confusion has been possible by the simple fact that all authors of this anomaly are non-Kirati writers.

So, let a Kitai begin writing the accounts of Kiratis of Nepal.

The study of the Kiratis must begin by identifying ourselves as distinctly Mongolian people in contrast to the brahminic elements who belong to Indo-Saracenic race.

As a race, we the Kiratis, as are all Mongolians, fall outside the purview of the brahminic caste system and the Kiratis are not obligated to recognise the brahminic prejudices and may not employ a brahmin to conduct our religious ceremonies.

Although the term Kirati is employed to mean the Rais (or Khambus or Zimdars), Limbus (or Subbas or Yakthumbas), Yak-khas (or Dewans), Sunwars or Sunuwars and Lepchas (or Lapches or Rong-Pas); all inhabitants of Eastern Nepal. However, a careful scrutiny of the term Kirati encourages us to include the entire Mongolian population of Nepal less the brahminic elements.

It is emphasised here that outside Nepal, several tribal peoples residing in areas eastward of the country also traditionally address themselves as Kiratis; tribes which include the Koches, Meches, Bodos and Kacharis of Assam (India) who bear not only distinctive Mongolian features but share several common pre-brahminic vocabulary with the Kiratis of Nepal.