Alko Hiti

Alko Hiti, also known as Alkwo Hiti, Aluko Hiti or Alok Hiti is a 15th-century dhunge dhara (drinking fountain) in the city of Patan, Nepal. Thanks to the active involvement of the people who rely on this dhunge dhara for their drinking water, Alko Hiti has remained operational from the time it was built to the present day.

History

Alko Hiti was built in 1415 AD by Tumha Dev Bajracharya, a famous Tantric Buddhist and healer, next to the north-western gate of the old city of Patan.UN-HABITAT, 2007. Water Movement in Patan with reference to Traditional Stone Spouts
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Tumha Dev Bajracharya also established some regulations to ensure its proper use and maintenance. Some parts of the dhunge dhara were never to be touched and the surrounding area had to be kept clean. Soap, wastewater, honey or litter should not be thrown there. Furthermore, menstruating women and people from low castes were not allowed entry and it was forbidden to wear leather shoes.

Maintenance was in the hands of a guthi and the yield from a stretch of land, reserved especially for the purpose, provided the funds. In the early sixties major maintenance took place. This not only concerned the hiti itself, but also its surroundings. Routine maintenance is still done every year during Naga Panchami and Sithi Nakha.

According to local residents, maintenance of the drains used to be left to fish, toads and snakes living in the drainage pit. The fish would eat the moss growing in the pit, keeping it from getting clogged, the toads would eat the fish and the snakes would eat the toads, while sliding through the drainage channel.Disaster Risk Management for the Historic City of Patan, Nepal
by Rits-DMUCH, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan and Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University,Kathmandu, Nepal, 2012, retrieved 16 September 2019

In 1963 a renovation of Alko Hiti has taken place, led by the Baidya family, who claim to be descendants of one of the original donors.Dhunge-Dharas in the Kathmandu Valley. Continuity and Development of Architectural Design by Raimund O.A. Becker-Ritterspach, Change and Continuity, 1996

Architecture

Courtyard

Alko Hiti can be found in a rectangular courtyard, a few steps down from street level,Water & Culture by Saphalya Amatya, Jalasrot Vikas Sanstha (JVS), Nepal, 2006, where three sides are bounded by brick walls and the fourth, north-western side by a shelter, which is part pati (left, with one floor) and part sattal (right, with two floors), and the entrance to the courtyard.Google street view
retrieved 6 February 2022 In the eastern corner of the courtyard there is a Ganesha temple.

Basin

The basin (or ''hitigah'') of the hiti is a rectangle of by and about deep.Water Conduits in the Kathmandu Valley (2 vols.) by Raimund O.A. Becker-Ritterspach, , Published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India, 1995 The main, north facing, staircase has six steps. The basin is surrounded by a brick parapet on three sides. On the fourth side, there is a row of five chaityas between two short stretches of railing and a smaller staircase, flanked by a shrine. In the northern corner of the basin there is a disused tutedhara (overflow reservoir).Jarunhiti
by Akira Furukawa (ed.), Sukra Sagar Shrestha, Amrit Bajracharya and Kanako Ogasawara, Vajra Books, Nepal, 2010,

Spouts

Alko Hiti has five spouts: three makara (''hitimanga'') spouts facing south and two smaller, lower spouts facing west and north respectively. The north facting spout also has the shape of a makara.
Contrary to what can be seen in the majority of dhunge dharas, there is no sculpture of Bhagiratha beneath any of the spouts.Dhunge Dhara: A Case Study of the Three Cities of Kathmandu Valley
by Riddhi Pranhan, Ancient Nepal 116-118, 1990

Votive sculptures

Most of the votive sculptures in and around Alko Hiti are Buddhist, but there are some Hindu sculptures as well. This combination Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, for instance a chaitya next to a lingam, can be found in many dhunge dharas of Nepal.Living Traditions: Aquatic Architecture and Imagery in the Kathmandu Valley by Julia A. B. Hegewald, in: Deepak Shimkhada (ed.), Nepal: Nostalgia and Modernity. Mārg Publications, Mumbai, 2011, p. 37-45,

Above the middle of the three makara spouts there is a niche with a sculpture of Buddha Dharma-Chakra. The makara spout on the left has a Lakshmi Narayan sculpture in its niche, with a Buddha statue in front of it. The spout on the right carries a Visnu sculpture (as Vaikuntha Kamalaja) as well as a Buddha.

Apart from the five chaityas on the edge of the basin, there is another larger chaitya on the bottom. The north-western wall of the hiti basin is dominated by a lifesize statue of a seated Buddha in Bhumisparsa Mudra. The shrine next to the eastern stairs contains a linga. Finally, there is a small shikhara temple, dedicated to Padmapāṇi.

There is also a number of votive sculptures built into the brick walls of the courtyard.The Lotus Pool: Buddhist Water Sanctuaries in the Kathmandu Valley
by Julia A. B. Hegewald, South Asian Studies. No. 13, 1997, pp. 145-159

Modern additions

Since the beginning of the 21st century several elements have been added to Alko Hiti, like a water tower, underground pipes, rainwater recharge pits and ponds. The first recharge well was installed in 2008, the second in 2009.Artificial Groundwater Recharge Method to conserve stone spouts in Lalitpur Sub Metropolitan City Kathmandu, Nepal
by P. Amatya, S. Duwadi and N. Bhandari, Nepal Rainwater Harvesting Alliance, Kathmandu, Nepal & Society For Climate Change Study Nepal, SFCCSN, Galkopakha, Thamel Kathmandu & Tribhuvan University, Kritipur, Kathmandu. Retrieved 8 March 2022

The water

Sources

The five spouts of Alko Hiti give water from three different sources. The two makara spouts on the left are fed by an intake located at around 15 metres north-east of the basin. The makara spout on the right is the most productive. The Ganesha temple next to Alko Hiti is believed to have been built above the source to protect it. The two lower spouts are fed by an aquifer to the south of the hiti. The water is transported from the sources to the spouts through wooden underground channels (''hitidun'').

Rainwater harvesting

Apart from the three original sources of water a system is in place to harvest rainwater in the area and use this to increase the available amount of water. Runoff from an ariea of 310 square metres is captured in sedimentation chambers on the side of the street. From there it is transported to two recharge wells, where it passes a filter system using three media (fine sand, coarse sand and boulder) to eventually recharge the groundwater.Ponds. Traditional Water Management System of Kathmandu Valley: Challenges and Opportunities by Padma Sunder Joshi, UN-Habitat, Nepal, 15 October 2014, retrieved 14 March 2022

Production

In 1998, Alko Hiti produced between 267494 and 361152 litres of water per day.Restoration of traditional stone spouts
in Sourcebook of Alternative Technologies for Freshwater Augmentation in some Asian Countries (UNEP-IETC, 1998), retrieved 11 September 2019

In 2014, the average discharge of water from Alko Hiti was 499402.1 litres of water per day. The quality of the water was within the standards of the World Health Organization for drinking water, with only mild disinfection required. Stone Spouts : Possibility of Water Availability as Revived, at LSMC
7 August 2014, retrieved 6 February 2022

For 2015, an average daily flow of 683105 litres was measured.Traditional Infrastructure, Modern Flows: Cultural Politics of Modernization in the Kathmandu Valley
by Olivia Molden, Thesis presented to the Department of Geography and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon, June 2015

Distribution system

Since 2004, a distribution system has been put in place by the Aalok Hiti Conservation and Water Supply Users’ Committee (AHCWSUC). For several hours every day, water from the makara spouts is pumped up to a water tower next to the entrance of the courtyard. From there, it is transported to the homes of some 250 households in the area. For one hour a day they can fill their containers to a total of 250 to 300 litres of water. For the service an entrance fee must be paid, along with a modest monthly fee. During the rest of the day Alko Hiti is available to the other users.Traditional stone spouts restoration, Alkohiti, Lalitpur, Nepal
by Prakash Amatya, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), November 2013, retrieved 25 February 2022

During the approximately two months of the dry season the water is supplemented by Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), the company dedicated to supplying drinking water in the Kathmandu Valley, using the same distribution system.Small-scale Community Water Supply System as an Alternative to Privatized Water Supply: an Experience From Kathmandu
by Hari Krishna Shrestha, May 2010, retrieved 31 March 2022

Since this scheme was shown to be successful, it has been copied by other neighborhoods using their own water sources.Save what you have
Rajdhani, Nepali Times, 2 March 2011, retrieved 26 Februari 2022

Challenges

Protecting the sources

The main challenge to the water supply of Alko Hiti is protection of the sources. This requires constant vigilance and the willingness to take action.

A clear example of this has become known as the "Bone mill incident", which took place in the year 2000. The water from two of the five spouts had gotten a strange color and a bad smell. Some of the people who used it had to be taken to a hospital. The problem turned out to be caused by a bone processing plant to the south of the hiti. Water from the factory seeped into the aquifer and eventually came out of the spouts. Only after media attention and prolonged action (like complaining to the municipality, demonstrations and picketing), were the industrial activities at the mill discontinued.

During the maintenance in the sixties, two houses had to be removed from the intake area in the north-east. Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear who owns the land and would be responsible for anything built there.

Agricultural activities have to be monitored, because any deep rooting vegetation, irrigation or fertilization directly affects the aquifers.

Volunteerism

Another challenge is the fact that all the work has to be done by volunteers. Volunteers accomplished a lot so far, but some form of payment will be needed in the long run. This was true in the 15th century, and it still is true today. In 2014 the interest in performing routine maintenance was already waning. Aalkohiti blesses no more!!
Tunza.eco-generation.org, 16 June 2014, retrieved 29 March 2022

See also

* Dhunge Dhara
* Nagbahal Hiti
* Tusha Hiti
* Tutedhara

References

External links

{{Commons category, Alko Hiti

Alok Hiti
Nepalese tv item about the bone mill incident

Blood falling from hiti
Clip showing the bone mill and dirty water coming from two spouts

Alok hiti Samrachana
Nepalese tv item showing the installation of the distribution system

360 degrees view of Alko Hiti

Newa architecture
Lalitpur District, Nepal
15th-century establishments in Nepal
Drinking fountains in Nepal
Water supply infrastructure in Nepal