Taleju
| Taleju | |
|---|---|
 Anthropomorphic form of Taleju in Bhaktapur Durbar Square from 1754. | |
| Other names |
|
| Venerated in | |
| Affiliation | |
| Major cult center | Nepal Mandala |
| Abode | Kathmandu Durbar Square, Nepal |
| Mount | White horse[1] |
| Gender | Female |
| Region | Nepal Mandala |
| Temples |
|
| Festivals | |
Taleju (Newar: 𑐟𑐮𑐾𑐖𑐸; Devanagari: तलेजु) or Taleju Maju (Newar: 𑐟𑐮𑐾𑐖𑐸 𑐩𑐵𑐖𑐸, taleju māju; "mother taleju") is a goddess worshiped primarily in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal.[2] Also known as Taleju Bhavani, she is regarded as a form of the goddess Durga by Hindus and a form of Tara by Newar Buddhists and Tibetan Buddhists.[3][4] She was the royal tutelary deity (sveṣṭadevatā) of the Malla rulers of Nepal and therefore her temple is present in all settlements from the period including the three capitals of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.[5] Her principal shrine is considered to be the one in Bhaktapur with the Taleju Temple in Kathmandu also holding major importance.[5]
Name
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]There hasn't been a widely accepted etymology for Taleju yet. The most cited theory was proposed by Beldose who theorized that taleju might come from the Newar term "tale" meaning "higher or upper" and ju which is a Newar honorific suffix, thus meaning "the deity of the high temple".[6] There are also alternative etymologies suggest a link between her and the goddess Tulja Bhavani, however these are all based on her alternative name Tulaja that only appeared in the 19th century and therefore not accepted by some scholars.[6][7]
Timeline
[edit]The earliest dated object in the Taleju temples of the Kathmandu Valley is a wooden tympanum in Bhaktapur, dated to NS 671 bhadra sukla 7 (August 1550), which names her yeṭā parameśvarī.[8] In Classical Newar, yeṭā means "south," a reference to her shrine's location in the southern building of a courtyard in the palace of Bhaktapur, while parameśvarī is a Sanskrit epithet meaning "the supreme goddess".[9]
The name Taleju itself is first attested later, in a Newar language copper plate of Pratap Malla in Kathmandu dated to NS 764 jestha purnima (June 1644).[10] Between these two dates, however, the goddess appears under still other names. A treaty between Lakshmi Narasimha Malla and Siddhi Narasimha Malla, dated to NS 741 māgha vadī caturdaśī (January 1621), calls her tavadevara sveṣṭadevatā meaning "tutelary deity of the tall temple" in Classical Newar, referring to the Taleju temple in Kathmandu.[10] That temple, according to contemporary chronicles, was established by Mahendra Malla in NS 684 Māgha kṛṣṇa (January 1564).[11]
Her name was recorded as "Talagu" by the Capuchin Costantino da Ascoli, in an essay from 1747.[12] Similarly, the 8th Situ Rinpoche in his 1748 account of Nepal uses the name "Tārāju" to refer to the goddess Taleju of Bhaktapur.[13]
The East India Company diplomat Kirkpatrick in his 1811 book uses "Toolaja Bhowani" and is the first instance of the use of the name Tulajā for the goddess.[14] The subsequent chronicles of Nepal from the 19th century also exclusively use the name Tulajā for the goddess.[7]
History
[edit]Mythology
[edit]
The earliest known source for an account for the origin of Taleju is a Tibetan text by Chos kyi dbang phyug (1584–1630), the sixth Shamarpa, in his pilgrimage diary, A Jewel-Studded Garland, a Journey to Nepal (Tibetan: བལ་ཡུལ་དུ་བགྲོད་པའི་ལམ་ཡིག་ནོར་བུ་སྤེལ་མའི་ཕྲེང་བ།, Wylie: Bal yul du bgrod pa’i lam yig nor bu spel ma’i ’phreng ba).[15] The text gives the following account:
A terrible epidemic once broke out in Nepal while Lord Milarepa was staying at a residence in Nyishang. After the king learned of his fame as one who had attained realization, he wished to invite Lord Mila. Then this, Tārā image spoke a prophecy: “Even if you invite Lord Mila, he will not come. Offer your prayers to him with an offering of arura and one kashika muslin cloth.” The king of that period was one who had attained the power of magic stares and glances, and by means of such a stare he offered and transferred some arura and a roll of such cloth. From his side, the Majestic Lord, by his own magic sight, accepted these; thus, it is locally said.[15]
The earliest Nepalese source regarding the origin of Taleju are Sanskrit genealogical texts belonging to the Rajopadhyaya families of Bhaktapur and Patan titled Talejvāgama and Tulyāgama dating to the 17th century.[16] Brinkhaus connects these texts to a genealogy that King Jagajjyoti Malla of Bhaktapur had developed in 1628, which traced the descent of the Malla dynasty from Harisimha, the last king of the Karnata dynasty of Mithila. The two texts incorporate Taleju into this tradition by linking her arrival in Nepal to Harisimha's own arrival there.[a][16]
The 19th century chronicles of Nepal expand on the story from the Talejvāgama and Tulyāgama. Following is the story of her origin from the Padmagiri chronicle dated to 1825[17]: 1 :
Harisimha, the son of Rāmasimha, a Sūryavaṃśī[b] Rajah of Oudh, having left his own native country arrived in Simraungarh, and took up his lodgings in a separate fortress according to the instructions of a Rakṣas of Laṅkā. On a certain day he was ordered by the goddess to take her with him and proceed to the hills. He arrived and settled at Bhaktapur on Saturday, the 9th of Dussudi 1345 Śaka (A. D. 1323). The followers of Harisimha were 6 Kanauja Brahmans, 2 Ācharyas, 3 Khargis or butchers, 4 Rajikas or washermen, 5 Vaidyas, 6 Newārs, and 7 Tels or oilmen—that is, his followers were of those several castes; and when he finally settled in Bhaktapur, the Rajah of that place left his throne and gave it to Harisimha, who built a temple in the centre of the Darbar and placed in it the goddess Tulaja.[18]: 52–53
The Capuchin Cassiano Beligatti wrote in his journal from 1744 regarding Taleju: "In all of Nepal, the statue of Bhavani of Batgao is the most esteemed of the others, not only because it is of gold, but because they say it is descended from heaven".[19]
The Malla king Pratapa Malla in his Sanskrit poem, sarvāparādhastotra, describes Taleju as: You are the gāyatri of the Vaidikas, Daughter of the Ocean (Laksmi) of the Vaisnavas, Mahesi of the Māhesvaras, according to the categories of doctrine on earth, vajravārāhi of the Saugata yogins (Buddhists) and, further, necessity of the mimāmsakas.[6]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ In reality, Harisimhadeva never came to Nepal himself.[16]
- ↑ Though 19th century Nepalese chronicles assign Solar ancestry to the Karnata Dynasty, the Karnāṭas themselves in their epigraphy claimed Lunar dynasty ancestry.[16]
References
[edit]- ↑ Levy 1990, p. 250, 553.
- ↑ Shrestha, Purushottam Lochan (March 1988). "bhaktapura taleju ko thā puja ek aitihāsika vislesana" (PDF). Ancient Nepal (in Nepali). 104: 10.
- ↑ Regmi 2007, p. 593.
- ↑ Wollein 2022, p. 57.
- 1 2 Naghabhani 1984, p. 7.
- 1 2 3 Bledsoe, Bronwen (2000-12-31), "11. An Advertised Secret: The Goddess Taleju and the King of Kathmandu", Tantra in Practice, Princeton University Press, pp. 195–205, doi:10.1515/9780691190457-017, ISBN 978-0-691-19045-7, retrieved 2026-10-01
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - 1 2 Naghabhani 1984, p. 11.
- ↑ Vaidya 2002, p. 149.
- ↑ Vaidya 2002, p. 70.
- 1 2 Naghabhani 1984, p. 6.
- ↑ Naghabhani 1984, p. 12.
- ↑ De Gubernatis, Angelo (1878). Gli Scritti del Padre Marco Della Tomba (in Italian). Florence: Successori Le Monnier. p. 301.
- ↑ Wollein 2022, p. 66.
- ↑ Kirkpatrick, William (1811). Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul. William Miller. p. 191. ISBN 8120601033.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - 1 2 Wollein 2022, p. 11.
- 1 2 3 4 Brinkhaus 1991, p. 122.
- ↑ Hasrat, Bikram Jit (1970). History of Nepal as Told by Its Own and Contemporary Chroniclers. Hoshiarpur: V.V. Research Institute Book Agency.
- ↑ Hasrat, Bikram Jit (1970). History of Nepal as Told by Its Own and Contemporary Chroniclers. Hoshiarpur: V.V. Research Institute Book Agency.
- ↑ Petech 1952, p. 56.
Bibliography
[edit]- Naghabhani, Tirthalal (July 1984). "Sri Taleju Bhavani" (PDF). Ancient Nepal (in Nepali). 82: 7–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2026.
- Levy, Robert Issac (1990). Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520069114.
- Brinkhaus, H. (1991). "The Descent of the Nepalese Malla Dynasty as Reflected by Local Chroniclers". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 111 (1): 118–122.
- Slusser, Mary Shepherd (1982). Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley. Vol. 1. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
- Regmi, D.R. (2007). Medieval Nepal, Part II. New Delhi, India: Rupa and Co. ISBN 978-8129110985.
- Wollein, A. (2022). "Tibetan Pilgrimage Guides to Bhaktapur: An Image of Dīpaṃkara Buddha Manifesting as Speaking Tārā". HIMALAYA. 41 (2): 54–69.
- Petech, Luciano (1952). I missionari italiani nel Tibet e nel Nepal (in Italian). Libreria dello Stato.
- Vaidya, Tulasī Rāma (2002). Bhaktapur Rajdarbar. Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University. ISBN 978-99933-52-17-4.
- Vajracarya, Gautama Vajra (1976). Hanumānḍhokā Rājadarbāra [Hanuman Dhoka Royal Palace] (in Nepali). Nepal and Asian Studies Centre.
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