Ghansi or Ghasi () was a Nepali grasscutter who is best remembered for inspiring

Bhanubhakta Acharya Bhanubhakta Acharya () (1814—1868 CE) (1871—1925 BS) was a Nepali writer, poet, and translator. He is widely regarded as the first poet in the Nepali language, for which he was conferred with the title of "Aadikabi": literally, "the first po ...

to translate the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

epic

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...

into the Nepali language. He made money by cutting grass and selling it. Ghansi built a well in order to be remembered after his death. Not much is known about him except that he belonged to the Pantha

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

and lived near the well. He has been portrayed by multiple actors in film, and the tourist destination Ghansikuwa was named after him.

Life

One day, as

sat on a

stone slab A stone slab is a big stone, flat and relatively thin, often of rectangular or almost rectangular form. They are generally used for paving floors, for covering walls or as headstones. In dolmens Most dolmen constructions were built using stone ...

in an unfrequented forest, he fell asleep while listening to birds chirping. When he awoke, he saw a person cutting grass. Acharya asked him about his whereabouts and Ghansi replied that he was a poor farmer who lived next to Acharya's village. He made money by cutting grass and selling it in the market. Ghansi told Acharya about his plan to build a well so that passers-by could be refreshed, and he could be remembered after his death. His words had a great impact on Acharya, who wrote in a poem that the "grasscutter has taught me a great lesson", and he is credited as one of the inspirations for Acharya's translation of the

epic

into the Nepali language. Ghansi built Ghasi Kuwa in Vyas Municipality near the

Prithvi Highway The Prithvi Highway () is a highway connecting Naubise of Tribhuvan Highway, 26 km from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and Prithivi Chowk, Pokhara, a tourist city in the western part of Nepal. History The construction of the highway star ...

. The well is awaiting preservation. According to the Bhanu Ghansi Memorial Park Conservation Committee, Ghansi belonged to the Pantha caste and lived near the well which he constructed. They added it was difficult to identify him due to Acharya not mentioning his name in his writings.

Legacy

Ghansi was portrayed in several films. In ''Aadi Kabi Bhanubhakta'' (1999), he is portrayed by Rajpal Thapa. In ''Raat Chirnya Bhanu'' (2017), he is portrayed by Basudev Khanal. Additionally, in

Tanahun District Tanahun District ( ne, तनहुँ जिल्ला , or ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Damauli as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (201 ...

, there is a statue of Ghansi, as well as a statue of Bhanubhakta Acharya at Bhanu Ghansi Memorial Park. Ghansikuwa, a tourist destination in

Tanahu District Tanahun District ( ne, तनहुँ जिल्ला , or ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Damauli as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (2011 ...

is named after Ghansi.

References

{{Reflist Nepalese people People from Tanahun District 19th-century Nepalese people Nepalese engineers

Life

Legacy

See also

References