Rarely do we discover places in the world that feature- living heritage. The cities of Lalitpur, Kathmandu, and Bhaktapur are great examples of living heritage. The iconic landmarks, temples, and monuments date back hundreds of years. The local population found a way to integrate these icons, temples, and monuments into their wheel of life and customs.
Tracing historical roots, the oldest settlement within the current boundaries is the kingdom of Dipavati. As per the chronicles, this city existed in the Satya Yuga. Dipavati means land where Dipankara Buddha had manifested himself. He is revered as a great enlightened mind born before Shakyamuni Buddha (Gautam Buddha).
The second oldest territory of this region is known as Matarajya. Matarajya was a flourishing kingdom that stretched southwards with its center around present-day Lagankhel. The greatest landmark of this kingdom– the Maitrajya Chaitya, stands tall to this day. Chronicles write of a great tale between two cities- Matirajya & Irshyarajya, the tale is as follows: "Once a certain man named Bhoja came to Visalnagara to become king. He heard of Vikramajit's greatness and wandered around boasting that he would do the same and that he was ready to sit on the lion's throne. At that moment, each of the thirty-two auspicious signs of the lion-throne turned into butterflies, told various stories of Vikramajit’s knowledge and dharma, and flew away. Despite this, King Bhoja insisted on seating himself on the lion throne. At that moment, the lion throne flew away on the path to heaven to reach its own place. Since, the king was hauthy, Navasagar-bhagvati fatefully became enraged in the middle of one night. She raised fire from the well in front of her and destroyed many people and animals throughout the night. The king and the people of Visalnagara were burnt and the city became desolate. Only small villages in Nepala survived. Among the people belonging to four castes, some went eastwards across the Manohara River and built their own houses. Some went southwards across the Vagmati River, formed together a small territory, named it Matarajya and lived there."
The above extract was taken from History of the Kings of Nepal, A Buddhist Chronicle which is an updated translation of the 19th-century Newar Chronicle compiled by Daniel Wright. Using historical markers and borrowed knowledge from other chronicles, Vishalnagara was the grand city created during the Lichhavi Era. The capital of this city is presumed to be Hadigaun. The current Bishalnagar got its name from this ancient city.
The third ancient settlement Irshyarajya was created by the survivors of the Vishalnagara fire who refused to live in Matarajya. “Some people, having seen those who built Matarajya and settled there said: “ We will not live in this place. The territory became known as Irsarajya since it was formed out of envy (irsa).”
A fourth historic settlement also exists but its origins are highly debated. The settlement of Imadva further east of Dipavati came into existence at the same time as Matarajya & Irsarajya. The origin of this settlement as per the Buddhist Chronicle is as follows, “In a similar way, some other Buddhists were in great confusion. They thought: This chaitya has been there since the time of Manjupattana City and it was not destroyed, even when Danasura blocked the water passage. Visalanagara has now been destroyed and no one has remained here any longer. It is neither possible to carry the caitya away, nor is it possible to make a living here. One night, the caitya ordered somebody in a dream: O devotee, a certain bird will come to rest on my parasol tomorrow morning. Then the bird takes off from the parasol and at the spot where it lands, you should stay. I, too, will come to stay there. The next morning, the Buddhists went to pay darsana to the caitya and found an eagle on its parasol, just as mentioned in the dream. They followed the eagle to the place where it landed. Some of them inhabited that place and established a chaitya by contemplating the chaitya image of Visalanagara. From that day on, the place has been known as Imadva. Since “eagle” (in Nevari) is ima and the spot was identified by it, the caitya was named Imadva Chaitya (“the chaitya at the Eagle-Mound”).
