Nepal is a mystical country in which there exist many religions and, de facto, many Gods. As Hinduism was the state religion until the abolition of monarchy, Hinduism is more popular and revered. There are innumerable Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism, and various sects worship and please each God. Among them, both mystical and mysterious one is the God of Wind ( वायु देवता ) of Gorkha.
History of वायु देवता :
After the separation of Gorkha and Lamjung, there was an unrest in both states. Separated by the Daraudi River ( दरौदी खोला ), the people of Lamjung seemed to advance and were trying to capture Gorkha . In such a crucial time, King Prithvipati Shah ( राजा पृथ्वीपति शाह ) , thought of renouncing the throne to become an ascetic, which would result in the crowning of Crown Prince Bir Bhadra Shah (युवराज बिरभद्र शाह ). In such a crucial time, Prince Ranashardul Shah (राजकुमार रणशार्दुल शाह ) created a plot to eliminate and capture Lamjung. According to the plan, all the courtiers except the Crown Prince were banished. Prince Ranashardul Shah went to Liglig, which was then under the control of Lamjung. There, Crown Prince of Lamjung Dawanal Shah ( युवराज दावानल शाह ), the son of King of Lamjung Kehari Narayan Shah (राजा केहरी नारायण शाह ) gave asylum to Ranashardul Shah. During Dashain (दशैं ), Dawanal Shah went to Lamjung Durbar, leaving Ranashardul Shah in charge of Liglig. Then, Gorkhali soldiers, under the command of Ranashardul Shah attacked Nuwakot and became victorious. All the people of Gorkha worshipped Ranashardul Shah while returning and he became the apple of the eye of everyone. The Crown Prince of Gorkha, Birbhadra Shah, was jealous of his brother's popularity and started to plot against him, even though Ranashardul Shah never thought of anything bad against his own brother. The Crown Prince insulted Ranashardul Shah badly, which left him speechless. Then, full of patriotisn and love for his motherland, he committed suicide in his room with a special knife called Katar (कटार). In that very room, a temple of God of Wind ( वायु देवता ) was established. That room , situated in Gorkha Durbar , is always locked. That room has been opened twice, once by Maharaj of Kaski and Lamjung Shree Teen Jung Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, and another time by Her Majesty the Queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah shortly before the Durbar massacre. The room is always closed because it is considered to make extremely bad things happen to people who open the room. It is because of the bad air which fills that room.
Present temple:
After King Prithvi Narayan Shah (महाराजधिराज पृथ्वीनारायण शाह ) defeated Kathmandu, the temple of God of Wind was moved to Hanumandhoka Palace. The palace was destroyed by the infamous earthquake of 1934 AD (1990 BS). After that, that section of palace was destroyed and the temple was relocated to a small room to the west of the palace and its westernmost room. The mysterious temple of God of Wind has not yet been reconstructed. It is worshipped in all Dashains, Poornimas. The Shraddha (श्राद्ध ) of Ranashardul Shah is still being done in Sorha Shraddha (सोह्र श्राद्ध ).
Playwright Bhimnidhi Tiwari has written a play based on this event entitled माटो को माया (Love for motherland).
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| This is the first edition of the printed book, which is in my collections. |
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