“It’s all in the name” – Wendy Carroll
Yes, it’s all in the name. Your identification, meaning, and appearance, of course, these all things suddenly appear in our eyes when we call a name. Just like that, when the name Bhaktapur comes into our minds, we start to imagine a small burgh.
A burgh, with narrow streets, temples, pottery, local lifestyle, and many more. Artistically, it looks like a perfect portrait of ancient livestock. Well, it is obvious too since it is an ancient city.
Bhaktapur, this name is very famous for its art and architectural prosperity. Not only in Nepal but in the whole world, it is renowned as a heritage site. But in an aspect of the name, it has a pure meaning.
Bhaktapur simply means the city of devotees. As, in Nepal, the devotees are called Bhakta, and pur defines a certain place or the area. If you, at least once in your life have traveled to Bhaktapur, then you could guess why this malificient tiny burgh is called the city of devotees.
You see, It used to be a place where temples were found more than the roof of a house. Well, even today, if you start your walk from one end of the city to another, you could observe a bunch of temples right in every intersection of the transferred alley.
Yet, it has an enumerated meaning too. According to which, Bhaktapur means a hub for cooked rice.
The old name of Bhaktapur
Bhaktapur was denoted by Khwopa. The local newa people used to call this burgh as khwopa. That word arose from Khopring. It happened in the Kirati era. Khopring seems the oldest name of Bhaktapur.
Which was of course not the Sanskrit word. Dating back to 477 A.D., at the reign of King Manadev, Khopring was also mentioned as Khopringgrampradesha. The Kirati word Kho means cooked rice or the Bhat. Similarly, Pring means the village, which means gaun.
By this kind of transmission, the khopring became bhaktagram. And that Bhaktagram became bhadgaun after the corruption. The shreds of evidence say that bhadgaun was used only after the end of Malla’s reign. At the beginning of the Malla era, it was not called Bhaktapur. There was a possibility of being called Bhaktapur as Bhaktagrama.
Please, try to mention the date of Khopring, Mahakhopring, Khwopa, Bhadgaun and Bhaktapur as its name if possible.