Sankhadhar Sakhwa is a Nepalese philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

. He cleared the debts of all the people in Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

. A new era was initiated from the date in which he cleared the debts. This new era is called Nepal Sambat

Nepal Sambat

Nepal Sambat is the national lunar calendar of Nepal. It was used throughout Medieval Nepal, and into early modern Nepal, until Chandra Sumsher decided to remove it in BS 1960. It was started in 880 AD during the reign of King Raghav Dev to commemorate the payment of all the debts of Nepalese...

. On the basis of the information contained in "Bhasa Bamsali" and "Rajbhogmala Bamsawali", a low-caste merchant called Shankhadhar freed the people of kathmandu from their debts during the region of Raghav Dav and started a new era called Nepal Era to commemorate it. Sakha had collected the wealth through the gold that he panned from the sand of the Bishnumati river.

Works

Shaka had established his own stone image at the southern gate of Pashupatinath. The stone image is still there. Shangkhadhar Sakha's name has been included in the list of "National Heroes Of Nepal" by the cadinet decision on November 18, 1999.