If you have been to kathmandu, there’s a high chance that you’ve heard about Ason market. It’s a bustling market area of kathmandu where you can find literally everything you can imagine of. I always thought of it as a dense market and never had an idea on its history and stories behind it. Luckily, I got a chance to know a little about the history of this place when I participated in my Rotaract Club’s event named “Walk through history : Kathmandu Durbar Square Area”. So here is the little account of what I have learned about the place, and myths & legends associated to it. Really thankful to our facilitator Mr. Sambid Bilas Pant for sharing his knowledge. You can check out his social Media here if you are enthusiastic on learning more about the history and architecture of Nepal.
The Name :
“Ason” : very easy to pronounce, two syllable word. Even a small kid learning to say “papa…mama” could say “Ason” if taught. But what does it actually mean? where did it origin from? why people associated this place with a two syllable word? so here’s a story about Ason and how it got its name….
According to myths and legend, a very powerful and well known “Jyotish”: a fortune teller, used to live in kathmandu who once predicted a fish to rain down from the sky at a certain place in kathmandu after certain number of days. Surprisingly, the fish rained down at the exact place the Jyotish forecasted in the exact time. After that incident everyone started calling that place as “that place” where the fish rained. “That place” is called “Ann saa” in Newari language which with passage of time changed to “Ason”. Following the same exact legend, you can find a structure at the centre of Ason bazar with a stone fish figurine. That exact spot is believed to be the place where that fish rained down. The fish is called “Nyālon” (Fish Stone) in local newari language. It is also believed that it represents the type of fish available in the markets at that time.
Place you probably didn’t know in Ason:
- The Quarantine Facility: Having gone through COVID-19 pandemic, you obviously know the concept of quarantine and isolation. You’d be surprised that this practice of isolating people coming to a newer area has been prevalent in the world from hundred of years. Before the modern medicine started showing its magic, people had to constantly live with the fear of getting some deadly disease while interacting with explorers and business person. As Ason was one of the trade center of kathmandu, A lot of businessmen (usually from Lahsa and India) used to visit this place for trade and had to stay in quarantine for minimum of 2 weeks. There used to be few quarantine facilities near the bazar area. one of such building used as quarantine facility is still standing at that place after 200 years. The building is still being used for housing numerous shops. You can see a “Bhajan Khala” : praying space/place, in that building named as “Annapurna Gyan Mala Bhajan Khala”. You’ll surely notice it next time you navigate through Ason area.
2. One of The Oldest Bauddha Bihar of Kathmandu with 500 years old Sculpture of Amitabha Buddha
As this place used to be accompanied and influenced by the traders from Tibet and India, it used to have a place for buddhist people to pray. The remains of a very old Bauddha Bihar exists in the Ason bazar area. As pointed in the picture, it’s the house with a clock in the wall.
You can see it on west to the Fish Stone. To access the old bihar you can navigate from the road to the left of the building that leads to a courtyard at backside of the building. This exact place later was used as the venue for Royal “Shraddhas” : a sacred annual worship of ancestors by the shah dynasty kings. As you get access to the place from the back courtyard you can see a buddha sculpture sitting in meditation with his hands in the mudra of meditation, holding a begging bowl and a lotus flower. It’s called Amitabha Buddha, the one considered the primary Buddha and is venerated as the savior who can help beings attain rebirth in the Pure Land, a kind of Buddhist heaven. The Pure Land is said to be a realm of perfect happiness and tranquility, where one can easily attain enlightenment and escape the cycle of rebirth. According to our facilitator the Sculpture is About 500 years old, thus has a very high value due to its rarity. Amitabha Budhha can be distinguished with it’s red colored body depicting enlightenment.
Seeing such an old antique sculpture, made me wonder how the artists got that lustrous red shine to the sculpture back in the days 500 years ago with such consistency in coloring. The fact that the luster, color and the form of that sculpture is still intact illustrates how advanced the art at this region of the world was back in those days.
As I was contemplating about the richness of ancient art in kathmandu valley, I got to know that a new shopping complex has been planned to be built at its place and the place has already been sold. I wonder if any commercial complex in such a small footprint of an area could hold similar value as this ancient location holds to itself.
3. Paltan Ghar : The First Private Building With Glass in Kathmandu
As we move toward Indrachowk or say Kathmandu Durbar square from Ason Bazar we pass through numerous house and temples. Among those lies a very historical house which once used to be very grand in size and is the first private building of Nepal with use of glass in its construction. So whose house it really is?
The Answer is Abhiman Singh Basnet. He was one of the Key Military commanders of King Prithivi Narayan Shah and played vital role in his conquest of Malla Kings in Kathmandu. The Building Paltan ghar was Built by Abhiman Singh Basnet to accomodate his key 72 soldiers he depended upon. Thus, you can see the 72 engravings of soldiers below the lintel band at the front facade of the building.
The windows is seen to be made following the mughal style of architecture while rest of the building resembles local Nepali architecture. So, we can see the effect of mughal Empires on the neighboring countries at that time.
It is said that the footprint of this house used to be much bigger at the back and used to have seven courtyards. Later on, it is said that the grandson of King Prithivi Narayan Shah : Rana Bahadur Shah used the house and used to regularly spectate the wrestling matches on the courtyard through the Verandahs in the house. Also, The word paltan ghar speaks for itself as the house of the solders when translated. This Entire property is a private property right now as it was never nationalized.
These are some monumental places that can be spectated as we move towards the Kathmandu Durbar square area from Ason Bazar. I will add more about such places in the area in coming days.