Product Code Database
A tutedhara (Nepali language) or jahru (Newar language) is a traditional drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is a water reservoir built out of stone with a tap that can be opened and closed. These structures are either free-standing or integrated into the wall of another building. They depend on a water well or a dhunge dhara to be filled. Only a few of them are in use today, but some of the stone parts have been put to other uses, and there are contemporary equivalents. The best known tutedhara is the one built into a wall in the royal palace on Kathmandu Durbar Square. It is inscribed with a poem dedicated to the goddess Durga, written in fifteen different languages.
What is known of the tutedhara comes from inscriptions that can sometimes be found on the stone. These do not always describe its creation, but some other dated event, indicating that the tutedhara would have already been in existence at that time. Such inscriptions have been found with dates up to the middle of the 19th century.
One jahru in Khapinchhe in Patan shows an inscription dated 530 AD. This is believed to be the oldest jahru in Nepal. 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 In Bhaktapur, the oldest jahru is dated 1175 AD.
One of the oldest known inscriptions in the Newar language (1232 AD) is an inscription on a tutedhara.
Only in the city of Patan has there been a comprehensive survey of all the tutedharas. A total of 106 of them have been found. A few of these had been kept operational in the traditional way and two were connected to the municipal water supply.
The front of the tank is sometimes decorated with symbols connected to water, like , snakes and (water pots). These decorations can either be sculptures or paintings.Living Traditions: Aquatic Architecture and Imagery in the Kathmandu Valley by Julia A. B. Hegewald, in: Deepak Shimkhada (ed.), Nepal: Nostalgia and Modernity. Mārg Publications, Mumbai, 2011, p. 37-45, Below the spouts, there is almost always a relief depicting Bhagiratha, the mythical sage whose efforts helped bring the waters of the Ganges to earth. Nepal Mandala A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley, Vol. 2 Plates by Mary Shepherd Slusser, Princeton University Press, 1982, retrieved 11 March 2020
The sizes of the stone tanks vary considerably. The largest tank in Patan can hold 2,200 litres.
The first two types of jahru depend on an external source to be filled, so they are always found in the vicinity of a dhunge dhara or a well. Often, they are also close to a shelter of some kind, if they are not actually built into one. Freestanding jahrus are sometimes found in succession on important routes in the Kathmandu Valley. The way from Lele Village to Patan is an example of such a route.
Traditionally, filling and cleaning the tutedharas was the work of the surrounding community, sometimes organised into a guthi (local community group dedicated to certain tasks), or the owner of the building the jahru was built into. Filling was done daily or as often as the tank would run dry.
Maintenance would be done during special days, like Naga Panchami, Newar New Year and Sithi Nakha. Sithi Nakha is the day still used to clean water sources like wells, ponds, hitis and tutedharas. Sithi Nakha celebrated in valley, The Himalayan Times, 9 June 2019, retrieved 20 March 2020 Sithi Nakha, Traditional way of Celebrating Environment Day by Monalisa Maharjan, ICHCAP, 4 July 2018, retrieved 21 March 2020
The third type of jahru does not need to be filled manually; the tank is filled by excess water that flows into the dhunge dhara. Cleaning and maintenance would likely be combined with the work on the hiti as a whole.
Father Giuseppe, an Italy Capuchin missionary, Prefect of the Roman Mission, described the jahru in 1799 in his "Account of the Kingdom of Nepal": Account of the Kingdom of Nepal by Father Giuseppe in Asiatic Researches, Volume 2, p. 313, Asiatick Society, Calcutta, India, reprinted for Vernor and Hood, 1799, retrieved 7 February 2020
On the outside, the stone is inscribed with a poem dedicated to the goddess Durga, written in 15 different languages, including Nepali, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic. King Pratap Malla (1624-1674 AD), renowned for his linguistic abilities, set up this inscription in 1654. From the end of the 5th to the beginning of the 6th line the inscription reads: AVTOMNE WINTER L'HIVERT (French for autumn, Dutch, English or German for winter and French for winter). According to legend, people who could understand the poem would receive milk, instead of water, from the tutedhara. According to another popular belief, a large treasure is hidden beneath the palace and the key to obtaining this treasure is hidden in the inscription.
Close by, there are more tutedharas inscribed by Pratap Malla. These were already out of commission by 1654: eight stone tanks were used as steps to the Jagannath Temple. These too carry poetry dedicated to Durga.
Some jahrus were destroyed to make room for other buildings, but many of the solid stone tanks have been put to other uses. Kathmandu's Jagannath Temple is not the only place where old tanks are used as steps. The secondary stone steps on the north side of Krishna Mandir in Patan contain one old jahru among the stones, for example. One of the temples in the Kumbheshwar temple complex also has an old jahru as a stepping stone.
Some of the old tanks function as a bench, a planter, a dustbin or a trough. In Patan, two are used for the pigeons on Durbar Square. Something similar can be seen in Kathmandu.
|
|
