Nagbahal Hiti

Nagbahal Hiti, also known as Elhānani Hiti is an old, presumably 8th-century, dhunge dhara (drinking fountain) in Nagbahal, a former Buddhist monastery in the city of Patan, Nepal. In spite of efforts to restore this dhunge dhara, the water is no longer used by the majority of people in the area. However, the space is still being used for cultural events.

History

Not much is known about the history of Nagbahal Hiti, but there is one indication of its age: A stele in a corner of the hiti basin, with four reliefs of different Buddhas, dates from the 8th century.Inspection & Inventory Report On: Dyalko Bhagawan Temple, Golden Temple (Kwa: Bahal), Nag Baha: Hiti
by Pukar Bhandari, 4/16/2073, retrieved 26 July 2019

Architecture

The basin (or ''hitigah'') of the hiti is a rectangle of deep, surrounded by a parapet. There are terraces on two levels, the lowest of which is from the bottom. The spout area is long. This includes a spout niche of about deep. The spout area is wide, with the niche being wide.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 walls of the hiti are made of brick, with the edges lined with stone. The two terraces have their floors covered with telia tiles (traditional brick tiles from Nepal), while the bottom floor has stone tiles. The walls and floors of the basin have been made waterproof by coating them with an almost foot-thick layer of a special type of black mud. This prevents water from the surrounding soil from seeping in.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

The entrance to the hiti is at the south corner: Behind a covered gate, a flight of stairs leads to the level of the lowest terrace, where it turns left to the bottom of the basin.

Three makara spouts are protruding from the east facing wall; one in the niche and two on both sides next to the niche. A chaitya can be seen above the middle spout. The south facing basin wall has a tutedhara (overflow reservoir) with two taps; one has the shape of a lion and the other of a lioness.Jarunhiti
by Akira Furukawa (ed.), Sukra Sagar Shrestha, Amrit Bajracharya and Kanako Ogasawara, Vajra Books, Nepal, 2010, The Lotus Pool: Buddhist Water Sanctuaries in the Kathmandu Valley
by Julia A. B. Hegewald, South Asian Studies. No. 13, 1997, pp. 145-159

The staircase of the hiti is dominated by a life size statue of the Buddha in Abhayamudra. The walls of the basin carry several reliefs, for instance a relief of Ganesha and two Lokeshvara sculptures.

The water

The source of Nagbahal Hiti is the Khwayebahi aquifer southeast of the hiti, which in turn was fed by the Tikabhairav Canal, a long rajkulo (royal canal) that transported water from Lele and Naldu rivers to the city of Patan.
The water is led from the source to the spouts through a more than long underground channel made of brick, to feet underground, to inches deep and about inches wide. At places where the channel makes a turn, there is a stone or brick bowl, filled with pebbles.

In 1998, Nagbahal Hiti could produce up to 143424 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 Nagbahal Hiti was 103542.85 litres of water per day.Stone Spouts : Possibility of Water Availability as Revived, at LSMC
7 August 2014, retrieved 6 February 2022

For 2015, an average daily flow of 108343 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

Restoration

After having been almost completely dry for over 10 years, the Nag Bahal Hiti Rehabilitation project restored the hiti, funded by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and supported by the Nagbahal Hiti User Group.Preserving the Nagbahal Hiti
by Ar. Jharna Joshi, SPACES Nepal NOV-DEC 2008, retrieved 16 April

The works included repairing the inlet channel, while at the same time mapping it, not only for future maintenance, but also to be able to monitor future building activities that could damage the channel. Because the channel runs beneath a denselsy built area of the city, it could not be mapped entirely. Eight manholes were dug along the way for maintenance as well. The outlet channel of the hiti was unclogging and also fixed.

The renovation was completed in September 2008. It resulted in a marked increase of the water flow. More than 100 households in the area would reap the benefits of the project.Nag Bahal Hiti Rehabilitation Project
Press Release by Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, SPACES Nepal NOV-DEC 2008, retrieved 16 April

Unfortunately, the water has since been contaminated by sewage from a broken sewer line. Only people who do not know this are using the water now.Shortage in the Mountains of Plenty: Water Supply in Mountain and Hill Cities throughout the Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region
by Abigail Snyder, 2014 Borlaug-Ruan International Internship, ICIMOD, Lalitpur, Nepal and The World Food Prize Foundation, Des Moines, Iowa, retrieved 30 September 2019

Nagbahal Hiti in popular culture

The terraced space of Nagbahal Hiti has been used as a music venue on several occasions.

On 5 September 2015 there was a concert of Mohani Dhun at Nagbahal Hiti.

On 12 March 2016 and 26 February 2020 Group Dhaa (Drum) gave a concert inside Nagbahal Hiti during the Samyak Mahadan celebrations.

From 23 November to 7 December 2018 the Micro Galleries global arts initiative organised an event in the Nagbahal, Nakabahil and Swotha areas of Patan. A music workshop titled "Singing by a Water Fountain" in Nagbahal Hiti was part of the program.MG Live Kathmandu
Micro Galleries, retrieved 11 April 2022

See also

* Alko Hiti
* Dhunge dhara
* Tusha Hiti
* Tutedhara

References

External links

{{Commons category, Nag Bahal Hiti, Patan

Online edition of SPACES Nepal NOV-DEC 2008
with an illustrated story about the restoration of Nagbahal Hiti

Hiti System In Patan
short documentary about the restoration of Nagbahal Hiti

Nagbahal hiti #27
a look around Nagbahal Hiti in December 2020

360 degrees view of Nagbahal Hiti

Newa architecture
Lalitpur District, Nepal
8th-century establishments in Nepal
Drinking fountains in Nepal
Water supply infrastructure in Nepal