Dharmaditya Dharmacharya ( ne, धर्मादित्य धर्माचार्य) (born Jagat Man Vaidya) (1902–1963) was a Nepalese author, Buddhist scholar and language activist. He worked to develop

Nepal Bhasa Newar (), or Newari and known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, is a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surro ...

and revive

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

when Nepal was ruled by the

Rana dynasty 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 ...

and both were dangerous activities, and was consequently jailed. Dharmacharya campaigned for

Nepal Era Nepal Sambat, also spelled as Nepala Sambata, (Nepal Bhasa: , Nepali: ) is the lunisolar calendar used by the Newari people of Nepal. The Calendar era began on 20 October 879 AD, with 1142 in Nepal Sambat corresponding to the year 2021–2022 ...

as the national calendar. He also wrote and published the first magazine in Nepal Bhasa and was a major influence in the

Nepal Bhasa renaissance Nepal Bhasa renaissance (Nepal Bhasa: नेपालभाषा पुनर्जागरण) was the movement to revive and modernize the Nepal Bhasa language during the period 1909 to 1941. The movement was spontaneous and not orchestrated. ...

. Because of his service to the language, he has also been called the "fifth pillar" of Nepal Bhasa along with the

Four Pillars of Nepal Bhasa Four Pillars of Nepal Bhasa ( ne, नेपालभाषाका चार स्तम्भ, Newar: नेपाल भाषाया प्यंगः थां) are the four leaders who spearheaded the campaign to revive the Newar lang ...

Early life

Dharmacharya was born at Chikan Bahi, Lalitpur District to father Vaidya Vrishman Vandya and mother Muni Thakun Vandya. He studied at

Durbar High School Durbar High School () or Bhanu Higher Secondary School, opened in 1854 is the oldest modern school in Nepal located near Rani Pokhari, Kathmandu. The school was originally built to teach sons of Ranas exclusively but was opened to public citizens i ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and did his matriculation from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and enrolled at the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

for higher studies.

Buddhist activist

On his visits to Kathmandu during the holidays, he organized Buddhist programs and exhibitions of religious pictures he had collected in Kolkata. In 1924, he established the Buddha Dharma Support Association at the home of

Dharma Man Tuladhar Dharma Man Tuladhar ( ne, धर्ममान तुलाधर) (August 4, 1862 – August 24, 1938) was a Nepalese trader and philanthropist best known for the renovation of the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu, one of the holiest Buddhist shri ...

. He encouraged its members to read Buddhist books and translated articles in English and

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

into Nepal Bhasa. Upon his return to Kolkata, he established the Nepalese Buddhist Association to help Nepalese traders who had fallen into difficulty, besides teaching them Buddhist principles. In 1928, he helped organize the All India Buddhist Conference. In an effort to promote Buddhism among the Nepalese in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

, he brought out ''Himalaya Bauddha'' in the

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

and ''Buddhist India'' in English in 1927 which he and B. M. Barua (

Benimadhab Barua Benimadhab Barua (31 December 1888 – 23 March 1948) was an Indian scholar of ancient Indian languages, Buddhism and law. He was a prominent educationist and writer. Early life Barua was born on 31 December 1888 in Chittagong. Among the sch ...

) edited.

Language activist

Dharmacharya was a cultural nationalist and dedicated himself to promoting Nepal Bhasa and obtaining international recognition for it. In 1925, he published ''

Buddha Dharma wa Nepal Bhasa Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

'' (बुद्ध धर्म व नॆपाल भाषा "Buddhism and Nepalese") from Kolkata, India. It was the first ever magazine to be published in Nepal Bhasa. It contained articles on Buddhism and also provided writers in Nepal a place to publish their compositions which they couldn't do at home because of the government's dislike of the language. In order to support the emerging Nepal Bhasa movement in Nepal and promote the language at home and abroad, he established the first Nepal Bhasa literary organization Nepal Bhasa Sahitya Mandal ("Nepal Bhasa Literature Organization") in Kolkata in 1926. Dharmacharya returned to Kathmandu with a master's degree in Pali. He joined the Industry Council as an administrative officer and married Asta Maya and settled down into the life of a householder.

Imprisonment

In 1940, Dharmacharya was arrested in a crackdown against democracy activists, writers and social reformers. He was jailed for three months with other Nepal Bhasa writers. Following the incident, he remained inactive in social work for more than five years. He spent the later part of his life lecturing and writing.

Legacy

In 1956, Dharmacharya was decorated with the title of Patron of the Language by Chwasa Pasa.Hridaya, Chittadhar (1982, third ed.) ''Jheegu Sahitya'' ("Our Literature"). Kathmandu: Nepal Bhasa Parisad. Page 192. A statue of Dharmacharya has been erected at Pulchok, Lalipur.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmacharya, Dharmaditya 1902 births 1963 deaths People from Lalitpur District, Nepal Newar people Nepalese Buddhists Nepalese male writers Nepalese journalists Theravada Buddhism writers Newar-language writers Nepalese scholars of Buddhism Nepalese activists Newar studies scholars Nepal Bhasa movement 20th-century journalists Durbar High School alumni