NepaliSongs.org

The Newar People of Nepal

The origin of the Newars has been a matter of considerable speculation. Certain authorities have stated that they came into Nepal in the eleventh century a.d., from southern India, in the train of a Karnatic king. This theory has, however, been exploded by the deductions of subsequent students of Indian ethnology. It is now conclusively demonstrated that they emigrated from Tibet and its vicinity, and settled down in Nepal when the world was in its making. This is supported by their cast of features, their character, their customs, and their language, all of which point to their Mongolian extraction. Centuries of intermarriage with other tribes from an Indian stock have reduced the strong traces of their origin, but a careful sifting of facts and records has proved that the Newars are the aborigines of Nepal. They constitute the largest section of its inhabitants, and form the bulk of the population of the ancient capitals of Patan and Bhatgaon. As carpenters, masons, metal- workers, and painters, they are ingenious and skilful, and the strikingly picturesque appearance of old Nepal is largely due to the aesthetic temperament of the Newars. In two particular branches of artistic embellishment these people excel in the decorative treatment of their houses and palaces, and the enrichment of their temples and shrines. The streets and squares of Patan and Bhatgaon bear eloquent testimony to their success with the former, while the riot of carved wood and embossed metal on the sacred buildings in all parts of the valley is one of the most instructive features of the State. It is hardly necessary to add that this great field of artistic expression is so closely associated with the religion of the country, and so imbued with its symbolism, that to understand it some reference to the cult of those responsible for its production seems essential.

The origin of the Newars has been a matter of considerable speculation. Certain authorities have stated that they came into Nepal in the eleventh century a.d., from southern India, in the train of a Karnatic king. This theory has, however, been exploded by the deductions of subsequent students of Indian ethnology. It is now conclusively demonstrated that they emigrated from Tibet and its vicinity, and settled down in Nepal when the world was in its making. This is supported by their cast of features, their character, their customs, and their language, all of which point to their Mongolian extraction. Centuries of intermarriage with other tribes from an Indian stock have reduced the strong traces of their origin, but a careful sifting of facts and records has proved that the Newars are the aborigines of Nepal. They constitute the largest section of its inhabitants, and form the bulk of the population of the ancient capitals of Patan and Bhatgaon. As carpenters, masons, metal- workers, and painters, they are ingenious and skilful, and the strikingly picturesque appearance of old Nepal is largely due to the aesthetic temperament of the Newars. In two particular branches of artistic embellishment these people excel in the decorative treatment of their houses and palaces, and the enrichment of their temples and shrines. The streets and squares of Patan and Bhatgaon bear eloquent testimony to their success with the former, while the riot of carved wood and embossed metal on the sacred buildings in all parts of the valley is one of the most instructive features of the State. It is hardly necessary to add that this great field of artistic expression is so closely associated with the religion of the country, and so imbued with its symbolism, that to understand it some reference to the cult of those responsible for its production seems essential.