Buddha Dharma wa Nepal Bhasa (Devanagari

Devanagari

Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: बुद्ध धर्म व नॆपाल भाषा) was the first ever magazine in Nepal Bhasa

Nepal Bhasa

Nepal Bhasa is one of the major languages of Nepal, and is also spoken in India, particularly in Sikkim where it is one of the 11 official languages. Nepal Bhasa is the mother tongue of about 3% of the people in Nepal . It is spoken mainly by the Newars, who chiefly inhabit the towns of the...

. It was published in 1925 from Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, India by Dharmaditya Dharmacharya. The inaugural issue came out on the festival marking the anniversary of the Buddha

Buddha

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

's birth, enlightenment and nirvana

Nirvana

Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...

.

History

Dharmaditya Dharmacharya (1902-1963), born Jagat Man Vaidya in Lalitpur

Patan, Nepal

Patan , officially Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, is one of the major cities of Nepal. It is one of the sub-metropolitan cities of Nepal located in the south-western part of Kathmandu valley. Patan is also known as Manigal. It is best known for its rich cultural heritage, particularly its...

, worked for the revival of Theravada

Theravada

Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...

 Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 in Nepal and development of Nepal Bhasa journalism. Government suppression of Buddhism and Nepal Bhasa in Nepal led Dharmaditya to carry out his activities from Kolkata where he had originally gone to pursue his studies.

Articles

As part of the efforts to spread the word of the Buddha according to Theravada, Dharmaditya published articles in Nepal Bhasa, Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

, Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

 and English in various magazines emphasizing the importance of Buddhism in Nepal. In 1925, he published Buddha Dharma containing articles explaining its basic principles as given in ancient texts. He also wrote articles calling for celebration of the Buddha's birth anniversary in Lumbini

Lumbini

Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha Gautama founded the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha lived between roughly 563 and 483 BCE...

, his birthplace in southern Nepal. In 1927, Buddha Dharma was renamed Buddha Dharma wa Nepal Bhasa (meaning "Buddha Dharma and Nepal Bhasa") and became a joint Buddhist and literary magazine. Publication ceased in 1930.