Madhyapur Thimi

Madhyapur Thimi मध्यपुर थिमि
Municipality
Madhyapur Thimi Location in Nepal
Coordinates: 27°40′50″N 85°22′55″E / 27.68056°N 85.38194°ECoordinates: 27°40′50″N 85°22′55″E / 27.68056°N 85.38194°E
Country	Nepal
Zone	Bagmati Zone
District	Bhaktapur District
Population (2011)
• Total	83.036
• Religions	Hindu, Buddhist
Time zone	Nepal Time (UTC+5:45)
Postal code	44811
Area code(s)	01

Madhyapur Thimi is a municipality in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. Thimi lies between Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley. It is one of the ancient, cultural and historical places along the trade route from Bhaktapur to Kathmandu. Like other old cities this city is also situated on elevated land and therefore one has to climb up to reach this city. Thimi occupies an area of 2 square kilometers and is administratively divided into 17 wards.

Archaeology

There are now indications that the city may be as old as 3000 BC. A recent work by Mohan Pant and Shuji Funo compared the very regular grid layout of Thimi to other very ancient cities in Indus valley and Nepal. The details of the grid dimensions of city blocks are very close to those of Mohenjo-daro and Sirkap (part of Taxila) in Pakistan; also Patan, Nepal. The authors found that plot dimensions measure 9.6m by 19.2m, and are very uniform. These dimensions correspond to Indus Valley civilization.^[1]

Etymology

Madhyapur Thimi is located in between Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. It is how it got its name Madhyapur as "Madhya" means centre and "pur" means city and therefore Madhyapur means city located in the centre

Demographics

Madhyapur Thimi is an ancient Newari town and is a centre of Newar culture. In Chaitra 18 2053 B.S the Government of Nepal merged it with five different VDCs to form Madhyapur Thimi municipality.

History

According to legends Lichchavi king Narendra Dev kept his youngest son Bal Dev in the palace of Madhyapur Thimi and still today also the palace is considered to be the main place of goddess Balkumari.

Places of Interest

Balkumari Temple

The people of Kathmandu valley have been worshiping four Ganesh, four Kali, four Kumari, four Varahi, four Mahalaxmi and four Ganga. Among the four Kumaris, one is Balkumari of Thimi. The temple of Balkumari is said to be about three hundred years old. Goddess Balkumari is regarded as the guardian of Thimi and she is the beloved goddess of Thimi. Ceremonial rituals in relation to important events of life including marriage, bratabanda etc. cannot be done without propitiating this deity.

The present three storeyed temple of goddess Balkumari was built probably around the 17th century. This temple stands in the brick-paved rectangular courtyard with rest houses around it. There is a temple of lord Bhairab and some small shrines of different gods and goddess spread around the courtyard.

Mahalaxmi

Among the four Mahalaxmi of the kathmandu valley, one is located in Bode of Madhyapur Thimi. Mahalaxmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and fortune. The people of Bode consider goddess Mahalaxmi as their Ajudeu, mother goddess. This pagoda style two storeyed temple is located in the center of Bode. This temple was constructed around 17th century.

Thimi Durbar (Layku)

Thimi durbar is the ancient palace of Thimi. This is the palace where Bal Dev stayed. This palace is an ancient palace located in the heart of Thimi. The main idol of goddess Balkumari which is taken out only in Bisket Jatra to perform jatra is kept here. Similarly, Lyaku Bhairab dance of Thimi is also started from four days. There are many shrines of gods and goddesses kept in this ancient palace.

Other Heritages

Madhyapur Thimi is an ancient town rich for its temples. Many temples dedicated to different gods and goddesses are located here which include Siddhikali temple, Dachin Barahi temple, Vishnu Bir temple, Prachanda Bhairab temple, Machhindranath (Nepal Bhasa: Janamaadya) temple, ancient monastery and many temples dedicated to lord Ganesh and so on are some important heritages of Thimi. The Siddhi Ganesh temple and the Nagadesh Buddha Bihar are the important places of Nagadesh of Madhyapur Thimi. Similarly, the Bode Lyaku, Pacho Ganesh, Kalika temple, Neeel Barahi temple etc. are some important heritages of Bode.

Population

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 83.036. It is famous for its pottery and cultural programs like Bisket Jatra, Gai jatra and other dancing jatra.^[2]

Aerial view

Culture and Festivals

Being the ancient newar vilification the town celebrate various festivals such as Bisket jatra which falss on the mid April, to mark the end of the year and beginning of new year according to Bikram Samvat. Specially the Jatra celebrated all three major towns of Thimi Municipality. The chariot carrying the statues of different Devtas are circulated carried on the shoulders of the youngsters. Altogether 32 charioits are circulated. Similarly there is unique tradition in Bode to pierce the tongue of a young man to mark the day of escapement of the evil and Jatra begins nest to that. Although the Bisket Jatra celebrates in whole of Bhaktapur it has special importance and influence that those celebrated in other places of Bhaktapur. Similarly Neeplbarahi Naach of Bode Bhaktapur , which is celebrated in Bode during August month after there days of Gaijatra.The people wearing of the masks of various faces to mark as the reincarnation of the gods.They would dance with the traditional spiritual music .during the performance they are not allowed to speak, eat and even to drink water. Another important traditional dance in Madhyapur Thimi is the Bhairab Naach of Thimi which is also performed in the month of August in Thimi after four days of Gaijatra. Altogether five men dance in this traditional dance with four youth and one child. The men wear masks of Bhairab and Daagi ( Kumari). There are two Bhairabs and Daagis and one Jyapugacha (the child artist). They dance with traditional spiritual music and after dancing they start shivering (except the child artist) because of the spirit of gods. When they are shivering they lose their sense and know nothing about what happened. Which shows the community has strong devotion toward their tradition and culture. The people of Thimi also used to pierce tongue the night after Indra Jatra but since it is a difficult task to pierce the tongue, it has not been done since the past decade.

References

1. Mohan Pant, Shūji Funo, Stupa and Swastika: Historical Urban Planning Principles in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. NUS Press, 2007 ISBN 9971693720, citing Allchin: 1980
2. "Nepal Census 2001". Nepal's Village Development Committees. Digital Himalaya. Retrieved 2008-08-26.