science

Nagbahal

Nagbahal is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nagbahal rather than just read about it. In short: Nagbahal is located in the heart of the city of Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Nagbahal was originally a Buddhist monastery, but the original buildings are now gone.

Key takeaways

Nagbahal belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nagbahal to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nagbahal from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nagbahal is located in the heart of the city of Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Nagbahal was originally a Buddhist monastery, but the original buildings are now gone. What is left is a large courtyard or park. In spite of that, this bahal still retains its religious and cultural significance. Around 5000 people live in the Nagbahal community, mainly from Newar ethnic groups.

History The history of Nagbahal is not entirely clear. The presence of an 8th-century stele with four Buddhist sculptures on it and two chaityas, likely dating from the Licchavi Kingdom (c.400-750 AD) are an indication of a Buddhist presence in the area at that time. Many of the residents of the courtyard are Buddhists and affiliated with the sangha of the Hiranya Varna Mahavihar. The Dhakhwa family is one of the most renowned noble families who have been dwelling in Nagbahal since ancient times. Along with the Dhakhwas there are other families: Shakya, Joshi, Bajracharya, Maharjan, and Napit.

Temples

The Dyalko Bhagwan Temple, the main temple of Nagbahal, is located more or less in the centre of the courtyard. It is a relatively new, two storey building in the Newa style of architecture, built like a Nepalese sattal. In the past the building has been used as a Buddhist school. The statue of the deity inside the temple is a Shakyamuni Buddha. A second votive sculpture in the temple is of Mahakala. The maintenance of the temple is in the hands of a guthi. In front of the entrance to the temple, there are a stupa and a vajra on a pedestal. Along the south side of the courtyard there is a row of three chaityas, two of which are partly built in the Licchavi style. A total of seven chaityas can be found on the premises. One of the more prominent secular buildings in Nagbahal is of the Adarsa Saral School, just north of Nagbahal Hiti.

Nagbahal Hiti

Another important feature of Nagbahal is a stone spout dating back to the ancient history of Nepal. After having been dry for a considerable time, the Nag Bahal Hiti Rehabilitation project restored the hiti, funded by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and supported by the Nagbahal Hiti User Group. The works included repairing the inlet and outlet channels of the hiti, while at the same time mapping the channel for future maintenance. Unfortunately, the water has since been contaminated by sewage from a broken sewer line. Only people who do not know this are using the water now.

Samyak Mahadan

Every five years the Newar Buddhist festival Samyak Mahadan is held for two days at Nagbahal. The festival celebrates Dīpankara Buddha, a Buddha of the past. All images of Dīpankara Buddha are assembled from in and around Patan and carried around on the square to receive offerings from devotees. Samyak Mahadan is also celebrated in Bhaktapur and Kathmandu, but at different intervals.

Dipankha Yatra

Nagbahal, and especially the sculpture of Neel Thu, The Blue Horned Oxen, is the starting point of the Dipankha Yatra, a 66 kilometres (41 mi) long procession to over a hundred religious sites in the Kathmandu Valley.

See also Bahal, Nepal Jana bahal Kindo Baha Kwa Bahal Te Bahal

References

External links

Heroines of Nagbahal Short documentary about the women of Nagbahal by Tara Manandhar, British Council, 2019

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nagbahal

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nagbahal claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nagbahal before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nagbahal ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nagbahal

In research: Nagbahal appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nagbahal in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nagbahal is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bahals in Kathmandu, Holy wells, Lalitpur District, Nepal, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nagbahal outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nagbahal in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nagbahal means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nagbahal out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nagbahal in simple terms?

Nagbahal is located in the heart of the city of Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Nagbahal was originally a Buddhist monastery, but the original buildings are now gone.

Why does Nagbahal matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nagbahal?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nagbahal.