Dharamshalas

A dharamshala, also written as dharmashala is a public resthouse or shelter in the Indian subcontinent. Just as sarai are for travellers and caravans, dharamshalas are built for religious travellers at pilgrimage sites. In Nepal there are dharamshalas especially built for pilgrims as well as dharamshalas for locals.

Etymology

''Dharamshala'' (Devanagari: धर्मशाला; ITRANS: Dharmashaalaa; IAST: Dharmaśālā) is a word (derived from Sanskrit) that is a compound of ''dharma'' (धर्म) and ''shālā'' (शाला). A loose translation into English would be 'spiritual dwelling' or, more loosely, 'sanctuary'. Rendering a precise literal translation into English is problematic due to the vast and conceptually rich semantic field of the word ''dharma'', and the cultural aspect of India.

In common Hindu usage, the word ''dharamshala'' refers to a shelter or rest house for spiritual pilgrims. Traditionally, such ''dharamshalas'' (pilgrims' rest houses) were commonly constructed near pilgrimage destinations (which were often located in remote areas) to give visitors a place to sleep for the night.

Transcription and pronunciation

Due to a lack of uniform observance of transliteration and transcription conventions for Hindi (and the Devanagari script in which Hindi is written), the name of the town has been transcribed into English (and other languages using Romanic scripts) variously as ''Dharamshala'', ''Dharamsala'' and, less frequently, ''Dharmshala'' and ''Dharmsala''. These four permutations result from two variables: the transcription of the word धर्म (''dharma'')—particularly the second syllable (र्म)—and that of the third syllable (शा).

A strict transliteration of धर्म as written would be 'dharma' . In the modern spoken Hindi of the region, however, there is a common metathesis in which the vowel and consonant sounds in the second syllable of certain words (including धर्म) are transposed, which changes 'dharma' to 'dharam' (pronounced somewhere between and , depending on the speaker). Thus, if the goal of the transcription is phonetic accord with modern spoken Hindi, then 'dharam' and 'dharm' are both legitimate options.

Regarding the third syllable, the Devanagari श corresponds to the English ''sh'' sound, . Thus शाला is transcribed in English as 'shala'.

Therefore, the most accurate phonetic transcription of the Hindi धर्मशाला into Roman script for common (non-technical) English usage is either 'Dharamshala' or, less commonly, 'Dharmshala', Devanagari transliteration#Consonants both of which render the ''sh'' () sound of ''श'' in English as 'sh' to convey the correct native pronunciation, 'Dharam''sh''ala' or 'Dharm''sh''ala' . Nonetheless, the alternate spelling 'Dharamsala' continues to be used in some cases despite its inaccuracy, and all four spelling permutations can be found in the English language materials of the local and state governments, in publications, and on the Internet.

Regardless of spelling variations, however, it is that the correct native pronunciation is with the ''sh'' sound (). Therefore, the spelling variant that is most common and most concordant with standards of transcription and native pronunciation is 'Dharamshala'. The official Indian English spelling is 'Dharamshala'.
It is both written and pronounced as ''Dharmaśālā'' in Nepali.

Community-specific dharamshala

Sometimes a dharmaśālā is built at religious pilgrimages for a specific community, caste, ethnic group, profession or persons from a specific region. The specified pilgrims are generally charged minimal or allowed free stay for a limited duration at a Dharamshala specifically built for them but other pilgrims may be charged higher amounts.

File:Seth Sadasukh Gambhir Chand Kothari Dharamshala, estb. 1822 (V.S. 1978), Haridwar.jpg, Seth Sadasukh Gambhir Chand Kothari Dharamshala, Haridwar. Donated by a businessman in 1822
File:Dharamshala (Rest House for pilgrims), Haridwar.jpg, Dharamshala at Haridwar
File:Sawarankaron ki Dharamshala (Goldsmith Resthouse), Railway road, Hariwar.jpg, Sawarankaron ki Dharamshala (Resthouse for Goldsmiths), Railway road, Haridwar.
File:Nepali Dharamshala Varanasi.jpg, Dharamshala for Nepali students and religious pilgrims in Varanasi.

Nepalese dharmashalas

In Nepal dharmashalas can be found in every village and city. More often than not they have a social and cultural significance rather than a religious one.

Usually there is a source of drinking water (a well, a dhunge dhara or a tutedhara) nearby.Dhunge-Dharas in the Kathmandu Valley. Continuity and Development of Architectural Design by Raimund O.A. Becker-Ritterspach, Change and Continuity, 1996

There are three different types of dharmashala: a pati, a sattal and a mandapa.

Patis

''Patis'' or ''palchas'' are the simplest of the three types. They consist of a platform made of stone and brick, with wooden floorboards. Wooden pillars support a sloping roof. The back of the pati is a brick wall. The other sides are usually open. Patis can be either free standing of connected to another building, like a house or a dhunge dhara. Patis can be rectangular, L-shaped, T-shaped, U-shaped, curved or circular. The rectangular shape and the L shape are the most common. Patis are the smallest of the dharmashalas but some can be up to 32 bays long. Patis are found within cities and villages, but also on the side of the road, often near a source of water.Building conservation in Nepal; a handbook of principles and techniques
by John Sanday, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris 1978, retrieved 31 January 2020Phalchas Much More Than Just Resting Places
by Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha, ECS Nepal, Issue 181, December 2016, retrieved 30 October 2019Study of Architecture Style and Construction Technologies of Public Rest House - Pati with Discusssion of Case – MATAYA PHALCHA
by Saurav Koirala, Department of Architecture, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, February 2018, retrieved 30 October 2019

In Patan fourteen patis house parts of the chariot used for the Rato Machindranath Jatra. Preparations for the festival begin with the construction of a 60-foot tall chariot at Pulchok at the western end of the city.

Sattals

''Sattals'' have one or two extra, usually closed, storeys on top of a pati-like structure. The ground floor is mostly open on three sides. Sattals are resting places, not just for the day, but also for overnight stays.

Mandapas

''Mandapas'' are square, freestanding buildings, much like patis, but they are open on all sides. The simplest mandapa is a platform with a roof, which rests on sixteen wooden pillars. Two of such mandapas can be found on either side of the entrance stairs of Manga Hiti in Patan. Mandapas can also have multiple storeys, like the Kasthamandap in Kathmandu and the Chyasilin Mandap in Bhaktapur.

Chyasilin Mandap was built in the eighteenth century, but completely destroyed during the 1934 earthquake. Architects Götz Hagmüller and Niels Gutschow rebuilt it, using old paintings and early twentieth century photographs as a reference. With the help of locals who had survived the 1934 earthquake, they managed to locate eight of the original pillars and some other fragments of the old building. Dr. Walther Mann, an expert on earthquake proof architecture, created an internal framework of steel and concrete. Craftsmen from Bhaktapur and Patan recreated all the other parts. The work was completed in 1990. Thanks to the controversial choice to use contemporary technology to strengthen the structure, Chyasilin Mandap survived the 2015 earthquakes without damage.The Eight Cornered Gift: Why was the Mandap not destroyed this time?
by Götz Hagmüller and Suresh Shrestha, Asianart.com, June 14, 2015, retrieved 5 February 2020

File:A pati in Bhaktapur.jpg, Typical pati in a street in Bhaktapur
File:Kotpati of Patan Durbar Square 01.jpg, The long Kotpati in Patan
File:Bhaghbhairab Temple Kritipur-IMG 4010.jpg, L-shaped pati in Kirtipur
File:Bhaktapur 20180919 130345.jpg, Pati at dhungedhara in Bhaktapur
File:Sankhu 0295.JPG, Sattal in Sankhu
File:Bhaktapur Durbar Square t 11.jpg, Hari Shankar Sattal in Bhaktapur with earthquake damage
File:Patan Durbar Square, Patan.jpg, The two mandapas at Manga Hiti in Patan

During the past century many dharmashalas have been converted into shops, restaurants and other private spaces.

See also

* Dak bungalow, the resthouses of the British Raj
* Kasthamandap
* Singha Sattal

References

{{Reflist

Hindi words and phrases
Hindu temple architecture
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Architecture in Nepal