Reference Nepal Sambat 1147 : Achievements of the Bhintuna Movement <\/strong><\/p>\n Malla K. Sundar<\/p>\n Cultural Worker\/Language Activist<\/p>\n Achievements of the Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n Finally, the autocratic regime had to bow before the people’s dissatisfaction, anger, and movement. With the abolition of the non-partisan Panchayat system, there was a change in the mentality of the state and all the mechanisms under it, the behavior changed. The attitude of the ruling force towards the Bhintuna movement of Nepal Sambat changed. With the new changes, the environment itself was felt new. <\/p>\n On the occasion of Nepal Sambat New Year, N. S. On the day of 1110 Mhapuja, the Prime Minister of the interim government, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, voluntarily participated in the general meeting held in Basantapur. Other members of the same cabinet, ministers Sadhana Pradhan, Mathura Prasad Shrestha, Yog Prasad Upadhyay and Marshall Rally Shakya were also present. For the first time in history, the Prime Minister of the country stood in the public meeting held on the occasion of Nepal Sambat New Year and gave a message of congratulation. After that, the tradition of conveying greetings to the Prime Minister every year as the chief guest at the Nepal Sambat New Year General Meeting continues. <\/p>\n Due to the change in the political situation, various political parties and their sister organizations started actively participating in the Nepal Sambat New Year Bhintuna procession carrying their flags. At the same time, the practice of political organizations also started gathering their supporters and cadres on this occasion. In this way, the Nepal Sambat movement became a major issue for the political parties as well. <\/p>\n As a common representative organization of all the Newars of the country. 1115 Yanlathwa: 7 and 8 days after the formation of Newa Dey Dabu under the leadership of Bhakti Das Shrestha from a national conference held in Kathmandu for two days, its first eastern regional gathering was held at Birtamod in Jhapa. According to the decision of the meeting, a declaration was unanimously issued on the day of Nepal Sambat 1116 Chaulaga 2. The main purpose of the declaration was to celebrate the new year of Nepal Sambat and to exchange greetings by celebrating the new year of Nepal Sambat on the day of Mhapuja. In this way, after the national organization of the Newars unanimously adopted the Nepal Sambat and the exchange of greetings as the characteristics of the national culture, it had a long-term and positive impact among the Newar community. <\/p>\n The year when Krishna Prasad Bhattarai became the Prime Minister, N. S. On the 10th day of 1120, the government declared Shankhadhar Sakhwa, the founder of Nepal Sambat, as the national luminary of Nepal. On this occasion, a public festival has been observed as Shankhadhar Memorial Day every year. <\/p>\n An intellectual discussion was held on the topic of strengthening the movement of Nepal Sambat and what plans should be brought in the coming days. The discussion held on the day of Nepal Sambat 1124 Kaulaga: 14 was held to document the work of the movement so far and to formulate a strategy on how to move forward for tomorrow. Which are as follows: <\/p>\n \u25cf To press for the compulsory use of Nepal Sambat in government documents etc. <\/p>\n \u25cf To collect information throughout the country whether the Nepal Sambat is in practical use in the government bodies as a national calendar and to respect the bodies that have been used by them and to put pressure on those bodies which have not been used. <\/p>\n \u25cf To make public an annual report on the status of the use of Nepal Sambat by the state. <\/p>\n \u25cf To establish a research institute at the state level for study and research on Shankhadhar Sakhwa and Nepal Sambat. <\/p>\n \u25cf The tradition of celebrating Nepal Sambat as ‘Nepal Day’ in the United Nations has been closed for now, and it should be continued. <\/p>\n \u25cf To arrange national level awards and honors in memory of Nepal Sambat and Shankhadhar Sakhwa. <\/p>\n \u25cf To arrange budget from the state to celebrate the Nepal Sambat New Year. <\/p>\n \u25cf To make use of Nepal Sambat in financial transactions and banks. <\/p>\n \u25cf Nepal Sambat should also be mentioned in Nepal’s currency. <\/p>\n \u25cf Planned publicity on the topic of using Nepal Sambat through modern electronic technology. <\/p>\n \u25cf To celebrate the Newars according to Nepal Sambat in their own rites\/festivals. <\/p>\n \u25cf When festivals are held according to the date, the traditions of one community should be respected by another community and the information of festivals throughout the year should be made public without being the subject of arguments or debates on the cultural issues of a particular community. <\/p>\n \u25cf Nepal Sambat should be compulsorily mentioned on the banners of public programs. <\/p>\n \u25cf To launch a campaign to build statues of Shankhadhar Sakhwa everywhere. <\/p>\n Dr. When Baburam Bhattarai was the Prime Minister, he participated in the Bhintuna program in Basantapur as the chief guest and announced that an expert group would be formed to study the use of Samvat. According to this announcement, N. S. 1123 Kachlaga: 11, a three-member working committee was formed under the coordination of Padma Ratna Tuladhar. The working committee submitted its report to the government four months later on Sillathwa 11. The report recommended to give continuity to the practice of the AD calendar in line with the international calendar, to use the Nepal Sambat in the government calendar and official work, and to form a high-level working committee to carry out an in-depth study on other calendars prevalent in Nepal. Similarly, the report has also suggested that the Shankhadhar Sakhwa National Academy should be formed soon. <\/p>\n The Government of Nepal, Postal Department, by inscribing the picture of the national luminary Shankhar Sakhwa. In 1124, a postage stamp worth five rupees was published. From that year, the date of the Nepal Sambat started being used in government newspapers as well. <\/p>\n When Pushpa Kamal Dahal was the Prime Minister, In 1128 B. S., the Nepal Sambat was recognized as the national calendar by the forum of the New Year’s Bhintuna Rally held in Basantapur. <\/p>\n The Government of Nepal has approved the inclusion of the text with the introduction of Shankhadhar Sakhwa in the school level curriculum. It was accepted in accordance with the Education Policy of 1130. <\/p>\n Similarly, when Dahal was the Prime Minister, the government started mentioning the date of Nepal Sambat in the book of government decisions. From 1144 Mhapuja, the date of Nepal Sambat was mentioned in the government decision booklet. <\/p>\n Achievement of the Bhintuna Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n The Newar community was the most active in the Bhintuna movement led by the Nepalbhasa Manka Khala. At first glance, it was natural to see that this movement was a matter of concern only for the Newar community. The Newars themselves also showed their affinity for it. But the national heritage issues put forward by the Bhintuna movement were mainly the issues of concern of the entire Nepalese \u2013 national culture and national independence. <\/p>\n In fact, the question of how and in what manner Nepal’s history, its originality, national culture\/heritage can be respected or recognized by the state has been raised publicly.<\/p>\n In another sense, the issue put forward by this movement is a very sensitive issue related to the independent existence and sovereign identity of Nepal and Nepalis. As the movement progressed, and it took a larger form, the society gradually understood the matter of Nepal’s nationality and self-respect associated with the Nepal Sambat. Many personalities from the intellectual field came forward publicly in support of this movement, which in the course of time forced the political people and the state power to understand this movement in a positive way. <\/p>\n It was felt that Nepal is a sovereign and independent country, Nepal Sambat is the fundamental heritage of Nepal nation and the basis of Nepal’s collective identity. From the point of view of heritage and culture, the importance of Nepal Sambat was established as a unique identity of Nepalis. On the other hand, even within the Newar community, the Nepal Sambat movement became the initial spark of the movement for their communal identity and spread everywhere. <\/p>\n Regarding the importance of our own original culture, festivals, language, literature and heritage related to the context of Nepal Sambat, a kind of self-pride was awakened among the new generation. Therefore, they became more attracted to this movement. In this way, participating in the Bhintuna program was not only a moment of entertainment for the younger generation. Rather, who are you? What is your identity? They raised the awareness of this. In order to express this kind of consciousness of ethnic self-respect, they wore Newar costumes, wore Newar traditional ornaments and proudly embraced cultural music\/dance. This created an unprecedented enthusiasm among the new generation to participate in the festival with their own cultural identity. In a way, the increasing attachment and attraction among the new generation towards their original culture has become like a period of cultural renaissance in a way. All these things can be said to be the result of the Nepal Sambat Bhintuna movement that has been going on for the last four decades. <\/p>\n Another positive result brought by this movement is that the organization of the Newars who was once shrunk in the valley was spreading in different parts of the country and at different levels and forms through the Nepal Sambat. Wherever there were Newars, there was a growing trend of forming Newar organizations to organize the program of Nepal Sambat at the district level, town level and village level. From Mechi in the east to Mahakali in the west and from the hills to Madhes, the Newars learned to organize by forming organizations according to their convenience. The Bhintuna movement of Nepal Sambat became a good background for this. Eventually, as the Newar organization expanded across the country, a good ground was laid for the formation of a national level organization of Newars. <\/p>\n On the other hand, the impact of the Bhintuna movement resulted in the creation of the Nepal Matri Bhasha Parishad, the Sarva Jatiya Adhikar Manch, and finally the formation of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities. <\/p>\n From the outside, even today, the Bhintuna movement may seem to be a matter of concern only for the Newar community. However, the way the Bhintuna movement publicly brought to the fore the issues of cultural preservation, self-pride in the original heritage and self-identity, and the way this movement gained widespread success, it also attracted the attention of all other indigenous communities of the country. And they also started coming out on the streets as Lhosar, learning, understanding, and inspired by the Bhintuna campaign. They started celebrating a big festival of the community called Ubhauli\/Udhauli. In the Terai region, the excitement of Chhath was seen. In the western Khasan region, the season of Deuda started. They started promoting the Maghi of the Tharus, the Toran of Thakali, the Bhumya Puja of the Magars as their own originality and pride. In other words, encouraged by the Newars, other indigenous tribes also started taking pride in their cultural originality and uniqueness. In the true sense, this movement awakened the consciousness of their identity among the indigenous communities of Nepal. It can be understood that the cultural wave created by the Bhintuna movement was behind the inclusion of Panchan as a major issue in the political field. <\/p>\n Folk Welfare Social Values <\/strong><\/p>\n While studying the Nepal Sambat in depth, many important aspects of Nepal’s history come up with it. The nails and flesh of Nepal Sambat have been interrelated with the cultural, social and life of the people within Nepal Mandal for centuries. In this sense too, it is a living cultural heritage. This Sambat has become the basis of self-pride for all of us as it is establishing the unique identity of the whole of Nepal. <\/p>\n Shankhadhar Sakhwa: He is always remembered and admired as the promoter of this heritage. Therefore, we honor and remember him as a national luminary. <\/p>\n In the context of Nepal Sambat, the ongoing Bhintuna movement in the country and the thinking of this issue at the civic level is in its own place. Scholars have also been doing intellectual studies on Shankhadhar and Nepal Sambat for a long time, and it is possible that more studies and research will be done. <\/p>\n But it is not enough to understand the contribution of Nepal Sambat and Shankhadhar only as a heritage, an event of historical importance or a specific person related to it. The historical work of initiating the Nepal Sambat was not just an incident, but it also contained the deep philosophy of life and social values in the society of the then Nepal Mandal. There was such a certain faith, tradition and way of life within the Nepal Mandal that it became the basis for building an ideal society, which was motivating the entire human consciousness to repeat itself on the right path. Such an ideal person, Shankhadhar was actually just a character in that social milieu. <\/p>\n At the time when Shankhadhar was born, the very strong social structure and form of Nepal Mandal is a community thinking and social initiative. Social organizations like Guthi, Sarva Sangh, Bihar\/Bahil were the strong social systems within the ancient Nepal Mandal. Good climate, good farming, no problems of food and drink. But they did not say that they should eat only themselves. During festivals and fairs, there was a basic social style of sharing with one’s neighbors, enjoying and drinking.<\/p>\n On the occasion of various festivals like Samay Bajji, Dahichiura, Yomari, Chhusyamusya (roasted beans), Pau (sour), Sakha (sweet pot), etc., it was the communal way of life to share with everyone. <\/p>\n In the good spirit that people should be saved and good, there was a social belief that the construction of falecha, sattal, chapa, tap, well, pond was the proper use of one’s treasury and wealth. Temples, chaityas, baha ledgers, big charity deeds like Samyak, Panjara, Nara are examples of philanthropic work done at that time. Not only that, there was also a practice of arranging farms (Dattabhoomi) as an unquenchable income so that it would be easy to celebrate festivals, festivals, festivals, etc. <\/p>\n There are many instances in history of strong diplomatic relations with Tibet and the merchants of Nepal Mandal who amassed immense wealth through the trade of Lhasa. The adventurous journey of the Sarthavahas who went to Kathmandu-Tibet for trade with hundreds of people, is our history. Such characters like Simhasarthbahu, Keshachandra, Ratnasangha, Prabhu Sangha, etc. are found in history. Most importantly, those who became rich by doing business in this way never lived only for their wealth or the comfort, convenience or enjoyment of their families. They showed the noble attitude that the wealth earned should be used for the society, for the salvation of the people. In fact, it was a continuation of the philanthropic values established as an ideal at the social level within the Nepal Mandal of that time. <\/p>\n According to the Vedic beliefs, there is a lot of discussion about donation. It was followed a lot in the society of Nepal at that time. We find that the Shaiva Margais arranged many types of charity. On the other hand, the philosophy of life of Das Paramita, which is deeply rooted within the Mahayana Buddhist sect, and the best of them is what kind of donation is the Paramita. Bodhicitta is a lifestyle and value that is followed for the welfare of others, understanding that there is a desire for happiness, comfort and peace, and that others should also have the same desire. This social value and belief was not only spread to the Nepal Mandal of that time but also to India and Tibet. <\/p>\n The Chinese traveler Huan Tsang used to sit in front of a huge statue of King Buddha of Kannauj, India, and distribute wealth to the people who were struggling to make a living in their own country. Sang writes that this charity, which was called Moksha, was performed by the king for 11 days. Similarly, according to the Buddhist scholar Rahul Sankrityayana, in Tibet, a king named Mu-Ni-Vachanpo distributed the property of the palace to the subjects of his country three times. This is called economic communism by Sankrityayan. The Mahayana Buddhist scholars Shantirakshita, Acharya Karmasheel, Bhikkhu Gyanendra, Srijnana, Atisha etc. used to travel from India to Tibet via Nepal, and stayed in the valley on the way for months.<\/p>\n Siddhas like Padmasambhava, Naropa and Tilopa also used to reach the valley for meditation and penance. From this, the Nepali society got an opportunity to get direct knowledge of philosophy of life, spirituality, Buddhism, etc. from those Mahayana Buddhist scholars. Probably in the same period, the feeling of public welfare was established as a basic life philosophy in the society within Nepalmandal, which grew up in a positive environment of knowledge and philosophy of life. Since the society of that time had reached an advanced stage, historians have unanimously praised that period as the golden age of Nepal. When the consciousness of the society was high, the people of that time did not get entangled in the individuality of eating and drinking and living only for themselves, but adopted a way of life of public welfare that was good for all the people and all classes. In this way, social welfare and public welfare became a major social trend and established belief of the then Nepal Mandal. <\/p>\n Shankhadhar Sakhwa, a Nepalese of the same time, who adopted this attitude, put into practice this ideal of welfare, took the initiative of salvation of his wealth, people, and free him from debt. <\/p>\n Clearly, the basic philosophies and beliefs associated with Nepal Sambat and Shankhadhar are the welfare of the people. We should remember this and emphasize this. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reference Nepal Sambat 1147 : Achievements of the Bhintuna Movement Malla K. Sundar Cultural Worker\/Language Activist Achievements of the Movement Finally, the autocratic regime had to bow before the people’s dissatisfaction, anger, and movement. With the abolition of the non-partisan Panchayat system, there was a change in the mentality of the state and all theContinue reading “Nepal Sambat 1147: Achievements of the Bhintuna Movement”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":127532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-samachar-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/web-post_f419b05b.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127555,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127554\/revisions\/127555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/127532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}