Chandra Kanta Devi Malla () was a Nepalese activist and teacher. In 1897, Malla was born in Lalitpur, Nepal to

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

reformist Madhavraj Joshi. She is also the sister of Shukraraj Shastri, a democracy activist, and a martyr. At the age of 18, she married Umeshwar Lal Malla, later he left her. She worked at Kaiser Mahal as a maid. In 1933, Malla received permission from the

Ranas Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...

to open a girls' school. She later recalled that "while walking to the school and coming back home, people used to stare at me, as if I was a princess". The school was inaugurated by Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana. In 1941, her brother Shukraraj was sentenced to death by hanging by the state, which devastated Malla. In 1961, she opened Shukraraj Shastri School, named after her brother. She died in 1986. Malla is also referred to as the first guruama (feminine guru) in Nepal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malla, Chandra Kanta Devi 1897 births 1986 deaths Nepalese activists Nepalese women activists Nepalese schoolteachers 20th-century Nepalese educators People from Lalitpur District, Nepal Nepalese Hindus Nepalese educators