Aadikabi neglected in his own birthplace

By Amar Raj Naharki,Tanahun, July 14: Bhanu Bhakta Acharya is respected all over Nepal and abroad as the pioneer poet (Aadikabi) of Nepali language. Yet, he is neglected in his very place he was born in Chundi Ramgha, Bhanu Municipality–4. The house he was born and raised in lies in ruins. The Ramayan Acharya wrote with his hands has also started to be damaged by termites.

The Aadikabi is held in high regard in India, Myanmar and other countries by Nepali and non-Nepali speakers alike. But the local level named after him, Bhanu Municipality, has paid little attention to promoting his work and preserving his legacy, locals complain.

It has been 20 years since Acharya's house was destroyed by a blaze. No one has made an effort to rebuild it yet. Still, stakeholders claim they will turn the area into a literary pilgrimage and linguistic hub. 

Similarly, the Dhananjaya Road, leading to Acharya's home from the main Chundi Ramgha square, is dilapidated and no longer motorable. 

There is also a severe shortage of drinking water. 

According to locals, Nepalis and foreigners come here from far and wide to pay their respects to Acharya but are disappointed when they see everything in ruins. "It is heartbreaking to see the condition Acharya's house is in – reduced to rubble and covered in bushes," Bharat Pokharel, a resident of Vyas Municipality–2 who originally hails from Sepabagaincha, Bhanu–5, expressed. 

Pokharel felt that the lack of reconstruction of the house amounted to an insult against Acharya and requested all authorities to restore the historically significant home, that was destroyed in a fire in 2003, to its former glory before next year's Bhanu Jayanti.

He also said that he could not contain his emotions when he learnt that the original Ramayan that Acharya wrote with his hands was being destroyed by termites and ants.

Bhyange Sunar, 85, who lives near the remains of Acharya's residence, was more direct with his words. "How can the leaders who cannot even rebuild our Aadikabi’s home build the nation?" He said that we had not valued the great poet and his contributions.

Actor Dilip Rayamajhi, who began his silver screen career by playing the role of pioneer poet Acharya in the eponymously titled movie 'Aadikabi Bhanubhakta', said that seeing the condition of the literary icon's house made him feel that Acharya was not respected. "Bhanubhakta is greatly revered in Darjeeling and Sikkim. Yet, it seems that he has not been properly honoured in his birthplace Nepal," he shared.

Acharya's house, which stood in the middle of the forest and had a thatch roof, was last renovated in the 1990s for the shooting of the aforementioned film 'Aadikabi Bhanubhakta'. At the time, the building was under the management of the Bhanu Birthplace Development Committee, which these days is known as the Aadikabi Bhanubhakta Birthplace Development Committee. 

The Committee was formed in 1996 to protect and promote the home where the distinguished author, recognised as a national hero of Nepal, came into this world. Yet, it appears to be letting this very home, the main thing it was brought into existence to look after, disappear. 

When questioned, the Committee's head and former chair of the erstwhile Bhanu Village Development Committee Rishi Ram Pant said that their demands for preservation had not been heard. "We asked the government to set up a station of the Nepal Police or the Armed Police Force to support conservation efforts. But our calls fell on deaf ears," he protested.

Hopes were high when the then Chief Secretary Dr. Som Lal Subedi, former Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudyal and Chairman of the Western Region Development Forum Ram Kaji Kone broke ground to reconstruct Bhanu's house in 2016. 

It was advertised that the building would be reconstructed at a cost of Rs. 6.8 million. "But work could not begin because necessary budget was not allocated," said Shankar Ranabhat, executive director of the Aadikabi Bhanubhakta Birthplace Development Committee.

In addition to his now almost-non-existent home, a statue of Acharya also stands in the area. But it is also ignored and is covered with moss. The Bhanu Library, established to house Acharya's works and documents related to his life, also lacks state support. 

Yadunath Neupane, a local of Ambote, Bhanu–2, and a member of the Birke Cap Ghansi (Grasscutter) Campaign, asked the concerned bodies to look at how well the British government has maintained the home belonging to Willian Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon and turned it into a tourist hotspot. "It has been over 400 years since Shakespeare died. Still, people can visit his home."

He also said that holding programmes and wearing the famed 'Bhanu Cap' on Asar 29, the day Acharya was born, held no meaning if his house remained neglected.

Aadikabi Acharya was born on Asar 29, 1871 BS (July 10, 1814 AD) at Chundi Ramgha in Tanahun to father Dhananjay Acharya and mother Dharmawati Devi. This day is marked every year as Bhanu Jayanti. This year, Bhanu Jayanti has fallen on Friday.

Acharya contributed to the strengthening of Nepali language and laying the foundations for linguistic unity by translating the 'Adhyatmaramayana' from Sanskrit to Nepali. He passed away at Chundi Ramgha on Asoj 6, 1925 BS (September 20, 1868 AD).

Meanwhile, President Ramchandra Paudel extended best wishes on the occasion of 210th Bhanu Jayanti. He said that Acharya's contribution to the development of Nepali language, literature and culture was incomparable. "Bhanu Bhakta enriched Nepali as a poetic language. 

His works promoted a feeling of national unity in multilingual and multicultural Nepal," his message issued on the occasion stated.

President Paudel also wished that Acharya's birth anniversary would inspire us all to protect the literature and traditions of all ethnicities and linguistic communities of the country.