Chiva Chaitya - Respect, Promote, Protect

As each Chiva part depicts some meaning, Gaju-Pinnacle also depicts many meanings from the Buddhist teachings.  A pigeon enjoying the new Pinnacle at Shreegha, Kathmandu The pinnacle consists of multiple parts namely: Harmika-The cube with eyes, Toran- Four symbols of Chakra Bajra, Ratna, Padma and BishwoBajra respective to the four Buddhas on a Chiva. Then on top of that : Triyodasha Bhuwana- depicting 13 stages to enlightenment. On top of that there are three more stages namely: Padmawali, Ushnish Chudamani and RatnaChhatra. Gaju(pinnacle) gives so much meaning and needless to say the importance of each part of the whole of Chiva. An old sketch of Gaju-Pinnacle(source S Bajracharya, Pakanajwo) Shreegha at center of Kathmandu, is a beautiful place with more than 30 Chiva in the courtyard. But due to various reasons many of the Chiva (12) were with missing Gaju-pinnacle. And thus those Chiva were incomplete and the aesthetics of the place was not as it should be. Because of this re...

Chiva damaged from Gorkha Earthquake of 2015 restored at Ason Cleaning After completion There is an ensemble of three Chivas at BodhiChuka, Ason. During the earthquake of 2015 nearby houses fell over those Chivas. And all the three Chivas tumbled and fell down damaging parts like the finial. After the earthquake the community their after clearing the debris could salvage parts of the Chiva. ने सं ११३५ सं वगु त-भुखाचं असं बोधि चुके च्वंगु ३ ग चिभा या द्योने छें दुना ल्हागु जुया च्वन। व ३ग चिभा त  कुतुं वना स्यंगु जुया च्वन। छें दुना ल्हाना च्वंगु चिईके धुंका त्वालय च्वंपिनिसं चिभा यात मुना तगु जुया च्वन। गजु त फुक्क त्वधुगु जुया च्वन। Thus the Chivas needed proper positioning, making of new finial(pinnacle) and fixing properly with correct directions. During the restoring coordination and help was received from local community specially Bikash Ratna Tuladhar Dai. चिभा यात सफा याना मिले जुईक थासे तया गजु न्हुगु दयका ल्ह्वनेगु ज्या जुल। Part of the Chivas, which were not positioned pr...

April 18 or Tomorrow Sunday is the 'International Day of Monuments'.  The  International Day for Monuments and Sites   is an  international observance  held on  18 April  each year around the world with different types of activities. अप्रिल १८ -(कन्हे  आईतवार) अन्टर्राष्ट्रिय स्मारक दिवस ख। चिभा चैत्य थें जागु सम्पदा या लागि ज्या याना वया च्वंगु संस्था या फेसबुक पेज Like व पासा पिनित नं Like यायत अनुरोध याना दिसं। थ्व  अन्टर्राष्ट्रिय स्मारक दिवस दिवस कुन्हु चिभा या फोटो post याना दिसं। On this day for Chiva Chaitya, we can: 1) notice a Chiva somewhere and post a photo on your facebook. 2) Ask your friend to like chivachaitya facebook page.  

Chiva at Dhokatwa restoration completed by Chiva Chaitya Organization ढोकात्वा यें-१९ सं च्वंगु चिभा या ल्ह्वनेगु ज्या जुगु दु। Chiva was damaged and many parts were missing and idols(4 of them) were missing probably stolen. चिभा तसकं स्यना च्वंगु व गुलिखे भाग त मदया च्वंगु अबस्था जुया च्वंगु जुल। द्यो पिं नं मदया च्वंगु जुल। (Talking with community about restoration) (After Restoration) The whole process of restoration passed through major 4 stages: preparation, making missing parts, dismantling and restoration. चिभा ल्ह्वनेगु ज्या तयारी, मदुगु भाग दयकेगु, लिकायगु व पुनर्निर्माण या चरण त पार याना ल्ह्वनेगु ज्या जुई। Preparation works : The site visit is done and many rounds of meeting with community, descendants of the establishers, preparing measured drawing of the Chiva, arrangement of finances and arranging required materials are all part of the preparation phase. Architect prepare measured drawings for reference. Photographs from all sides and parts are taken. मु ज्या न्ह्याकेन्ह्...

Chiva Chaitya Organization restoring number of Chivas at Shrigha making them complete with pinnacle(Gaju). Chiva in itself carries philosophy and thus each part depicts some meaning. The Pinnacle is the top most part of the Chiva. चिभा यागु हरेक भागं थ थ गु महत्व क्यना च्वंगु दु। छुं नं भाग स्यना च्वन वा मदया च्वंगु दसा व पु वंका चिभा यात पुर्ण याय मागु नं तसकं महत्वपुर्ण जु। (photo courtesy: S Bajracharya) The pinnacle or Gaju consists of many parts depicting multiple things. The parts are named as Harmika, Chhatrawali, Varsasthali, Griva and Ushnish. A Chiva without pinnacle is not complete in their aesthetics and meanings. Therefore if pinnacle is missing in a Chiva, should be our intention to make it right and protect our heritage. Restoration of Chiva also includes making a Chiva complete with Pinnacle. चिभा यागु गजु नं अथेहे महत्वपुर्णगु भाग ख। गजु छगुलि नं हर्मिका, छत्रावलि, बर्षास्थाली, ग्रीवा व उष्निष भाग तया पुर्ण यानातगु दई। In Shrigha also known as Shantighat Mahavihar ther...

Community engagement through heritage protection. “The people in Chiva Chaitya are doing great work of conserving the uniqueness of the Valley and re-strengthening people’s relationship with the shrines that have surrounded us,” he said. “These shrines are an important part of Kathmandu’s inheritance and culture, one that needs to be preserved,” said Shahi. (Extracts from The Kathmandu Post) This is the comment form the activist at Dallu after restoration of an endangered Chiva at Dallu and the words were enough for us to continue our heritage preservation efforts. Source: https://kathmandupost.com/art-culture/2021/03/18/they-started-by-recording-stupas-now-they-are-restoring-them

What is the Motivation? Where does the inspirations come from? Well, the story told by Bharat Shahi as published in the popular daily The Kathmandu Post is an inspiration in itself. The impact the Chiva Chaitya organization has on the heritage protection and on communities has been our true motivating factor. Read on... Three years back, Bharat Shahi remembers every day being a whirlwind of confusion. He was trying to restore a worn out chiva chaitya in front of his house at Dallu Chowk and his days would always be busy. For the restoration process, he had to regularly go back and forth from the Department of Archeology’s office to the ward office and to the community’s people, trying to collect more voices for the restoration. BharatShahi participating actively(physically and mobilizing the community)  As days went by, he was exhausted and saw almost no hope that the monument he worshipped every day would be put back to its glory. He ultimately gave up entirely. “The stupa was dis...

Congratulations to all the qualified participants of the ' Selfie with Chiva '. We have asked for the Selfie.  Chiva Chaitya Organization established with the mission of promotion, preservation and restoration of Chivas and Chaityas of Kathmandu Valley, The organization is carrying out various activities in line with it's mission. 'Selfie with Chiva' is one such activity aiming to bring awareness among general public about the beauty and need for preservation. Manoj Tamang - Winner of Bumper Prize The bumper prize was chosen by lottery among the qualified(those who have sent Selfie only). And the winner of bumper prize of Rs 1000 was Manoj Tamang . We are very encouraged by the participation of many with the selfie. We have sent request to all participants (only to those who have submitted Selfie) to send e-sewa number so that we can send the prize of Rs 100. List of participants(Selfie Senders) winning Rs 100: We thank you all for your participation and we hop...

Children and youths are the pillars and our hope in heritage protection . Once they understand the importance of heritage preservation, they can carry on our work for promotion and restoration of heritage like Chivas of Kathmandu Valley. One of the missions of the Chiva Chaitya organizations is to increase awareness among the younger population about the importance of the heritage because of their economic and social values. The Chiva Chaitya organization gave a talk on Chiva, need for their preservation and the work being done by the organization for awareness, documentation and restoration of Chivas and Chaityas of Kathmandu Valley. The event was done with the group of students of Jagat Sundar Bonekuthi School at Lakha Tirtha, Kathmandu. We would like to thank the management of the School, specially the principal (Sunita ma'am) for organizing the event and the students of the School who have participated. The organization will be happy to come and give brief talk program on the ...