Ghansi or Ghasi () was a Nepali grasscutter who is best remembered for inspiring
Bhanubhakta Acharya
Bhanubhakta Acharya () (1814—1868 CE) (1871—1925 Bikram Sambat, BS) was a Nepali writer, poet, and translator. He is widely regarded as the oldest poet in the Nepali language, for which he was conferred with the title of "Aadikabi": literally ...
to translate the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
epic
Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
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
A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
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
Bhanubhakta Acharya
Bhanubhakta Acharya () (1814—1868 CE) (1871—1925 Bikram Sambat, BS) was a Nepali writer, poet, and translator. He is widely regarded as the oldest poet in the Nepali language, for which he was conferred with the title of "Aadikabi": literally ...
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
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
epic
Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
into the Nepali language.
Ghansi built Ghasi Kuwa in
Vyas Municipality
Vyas (Byas), is a municipality of Tanahun District located in Gandaki Province in Nepal and incorporates the village ''Damauli'', the district headquarters, for which the municipality is also often referred to as Damauli. The municipality was es ...
near the
Prithvi Highway
The Prithvi Highway or NH17 (previously: H04)() 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 const ...
.
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 ( , or ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district lies in central Nepal, with Damauli as its district headquarters. It covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 323,288. ...
, there is a statue of Ghansi, as well as a statue of Bhanubhakta Acharya at Bhanu Ghansi Memorial Park.
, a tourist destination in
Tanahu District
Tanahun District ( , or ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district lies in central Nepal, with Damauli as its district headquarters. It covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 323,288. ...
is named after Ghansi.
See also
*''
Bhanubhakta Ramayana
''Bhanubhakta Ramayana'' (), commonly known as ''Ramayan'', is the Nepali translation of Valmiki Ramayana by ''Adikavi'' Bhanubhakta Acharya. It was posthumously published in its complete form in 1887. It is widely considered to be the first Ne ...
''
References
{{Reflist
People from Tanahun District
19th-century Nepalese people
Nepalese engineers