Nisthananda Bajracharya ( ne, निष्ठानन्द बज्राचार्य) (9 December 1858 – 29 November 1935) was a Nepalese author who marked a turning point in

Nepal Bhasa literature The Newar language of Nepal has the fourth oldest literature tradition among the Sino-Tibetan languages (after Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese). The earliest known document in Newar is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates from 1114 duri ...

by breaking away from the classical style and writing prose in colloquial language. He was one of the leaders of 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. ...

, and also a pioneer of printing with

moveable type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...

in Nepal. He is honored as one of 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

Bajracharya was born in Om Bahal,

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

to father Muktananda and mother Thakumati Bajracharya. He belonged to a family of hereditary Newari Buddhist priests, who engaged in performing sacred rituals. His first wife Ratna Prabha died in 1901, and he subsequently married Dyah Mayju.

Career

In 1901, after completing

Buddhist studies Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarianism, Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the natur ...

, Bajracharya began giving religious discourses. His storytelling sessions were held in sacred courtyards and other open spaces and lasted four months. Bajracharya had a clear style of narrating stories which made him greatly popular. He adapted the ancient texts into easy-to-understand everyday language, as the old writing style had become complex to listeners. The written and spoken forms of Nepal Bhasa had begun to grow apart as its development came to an end around 1850 with the advent of 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 ...

. The Ranas did not like Nepal Bhasa and suppressed its use. By the time literary activities were revived during the Nepal Bhasa renaissance, the old style of writing had become difficult to follow. Bajracharya modernized the language by discarding the traditional spelling rules and writing it as it was spoken. He also brought a new style into prose writing by simplifying sentence construction.

Publications

In 1909, Bajracharya published ''Ek Bishanti

Prajnaparamita A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā ( sa, प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda B ...

'', the first book in Nepal Bhasa to be printed with moveable type. ''Lalita Vistara'', his most famous work which is based on the Buddha's life story, and ''

Swayambhu Purana Swayambhu Purana or ''Svayambhū Purāṇa'' (Devanagari: स्वयम्भू पुराण) is a Buddhist scripture about the origin and development of Kathmandu valley. Swayambhu Purana gives details of all the Buddhas who came to Kathmandu ...

'' were published in 1914. Bajracharya travelled to

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 ...

, India to procure

letterpress Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker comp ...

type as printing facilities were not available in Kathmandu. He did the typesetting and printing himself. ''Lalita Vistara'' also contributed to the revival of Buddhism in the 1920s.

Legacy

A bust of Bajracharya was erected at his birthplace Om Bahal, Kathmandu on 23 November 1998 by Olympus Club (Nisthananda Memorial Trust). A street in central Kathmandu was named Nisthananda Marg in his honor by

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajracharya, Nisthananda 1858 births 1935 deaths People from Kathmandu Newar people Nepalese Buddhists Nepalese male writers Buddhist writers Buddhist spiritual teachers Newar-language writers Nepal Bhasa movement