Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh has inaugurated the Newaa Technologies and Knowledge National Conference on Saturday. The event was organized by Nepalbhasha Academy with support of SALT Trading Corporation Ltd. Likewise Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN) collaborated the event to organise.
On the occasion, DPM Singh said that the conference should be helpful in identifying the technologies and knowledge the Newars have been exercising in the past and the changes taken place over the time. Therefore, the values of the traditional technologies and skill the Newars have been carried out should be shared to the stakeholders, he opined.
Chancellor of Nepalbasha Academy Krishna Sundar Malla said that the Newars have been recognized as the cultural community. This event has been an effort to bring back the glory of being a civilization.
In the public sphere, when introducing the Newaa community, it is discussed only in terms of culture, heritage, language, art, and script. This introduction and discussion does not fully encompass the community’s heritage, technologies exercised and skill. There is a lot of knowledge, skills and technology inside. Some of which are still in practice and some have been lost. Thus, there is a need to search for and document the assets, Malla mentioned.
Sunita Dangol, Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that the technologies and knowledge of the Newars need to be studied and analysed not only through the western standards. This should become a narrative concept of Nepal’s living human civilization, which is the true identity of the actual Newaa civilization.
While going through the studies and research conducted by foreign researchers on the Newars, most of the time, we happen to find the documents influenced by Western narratives and Eastern philosophy, where the original emotional values of the Newars are mostly missing.
Ram Kumar Maden, representing National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities expressed that there are several supporting facts proving the Newars to be recognised as the well cultured and developed ethnic community among the such ethnic groups in Nepal.
At the conference, urban planner Padma Sundar Joshi presented an analysis of the characteristics of settlements, collectivity within them, economic system, and environment, comparing the standards of urbanization in the world and the settlements and cities developed in the valley during the Kirat and Lichchhavi periods. Similarly, architect Sirjana Prajapati and Ganesh Bhakta Shilpakar discussed the traditions developed in the Kathmandu Valley and the technical aspects of original house construction methods. They presented on the technology used in houses made of wood and mud, including why they did not survive the earthquake of 1934 AD the earthquake of 2015 AD.
Similarly, botanist Dr. Nirmala Joshi and agricultural expert Buddhi Ratna Dangol presented a working paper on the scientific farming system prevalent in the Kathmandu Valley and the culture and traditions associated with it. While preparing the working papers, some of the lost technologies and their names were collected through interviews and conversations with various people.
The conference was participated in by academia, experts and professionals including General Manager of SALT Trading Co., Ltd. Urmila Shrestha, Prof. Dr. Bim Shrestha, Dr. Dinesh Bhuju, Heritage expert Padma Sundar Joshi, technical expert Badan Nyachhyon and Head of the Heritage Department of KMC Prem Kumari Rai.
According to the academy, in the second phase, skills such as metalcraft and traditional woodworks will be brought into agenda. Likewise, traditional construction methods, developing of the Newar settlement and urbanization methods, gold and silver jewelry and ornament making will also be discussed for appropriate documentation. The academy also plans to discuss and document the healing practices is continued in some places even these days.
History and other evidences claim that the Newars are the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. They come from many distance places and mixed up with the original Newars as the valley had served as a melting place of multiple cultures and ethnicities. Later, the Newars have been spread to many other places as well. Likewise, they are even living in many developed countries.
According to the 2021 Nepal census, the Newar population is 1,341,363, which is 4.6% of the total population. They are the 8th largest ethnic group in Nepal. The Kathmandu Valley and surrounding territories were historically the heartland of the Newar kingdom, known as Nepal Mandala.
The Newars have a wide range of occupations. Many are farmers; others are prominent in the retail trades; and some occupy high political and administrative posts. They have traditionally been noted as architects and artisans, the builders of the famous temples and shrines of Kathmandu Valley. From the 10th to the 16th century painting and sculptures flourished among the Newar, along with crafts such as pottery making, paper production, wood carving, and metallurgy. Each of the crafts has traditionally been the specialty of a particular caste.
Thus, the Newars are renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship in various trades, including gold and silversmithing, metalwork, and architecture, as well as their involvement in trade routes connecting Nepal, Tibet, and India. They are masters of intricate detailing in religious art, including paintings, sculptures, and metalwork, and have a rich history of exporting goods and importing from other regions. (By R. P. Narayan)
