Parmeshwar Devkota

Though demolition of structures in different places can be similar in nature, some leave more impact than the other. I have seen many houses on the Mahendra Highway either being abandoned or destroyed. But those destructions may not have made me so sorry as that of the house belonging to pioneer poet Bhanubhakta Acharya.

A news story with the headline ‘Aadikabi’s abode lies in ruins’ was published on December 25. It informs how a fire gutted his house. Considered the first poet (aadikavi), Bhanubhakta (1814-1868) translated Ranayan composed by Valmiki, into simple Nepali version. Nepali Ramayan played a vital role in unifying Nepali society culturally and emotionally.

But, the house of Aadikavi is going to disappear in the jungle of Chundi Ramgha in Tanahun. It is sad news for all lovers of Nepali language and literature. Bhanubhakta can be compared with pioneer poet of the Great Britain Geoffrey Chaucer. Though Chaucer was about 500 years older than Bhanubhakta, the former’s birth place named ‘Vinters’ Street in London’s Walled City’ has still been preserved as a historic place that attracts the flocks of people from inside and outside England. They visit the site to pay tribute to Chaucer.

While Chaucer’s house has been preserved as a touristic place, Acharya’s is about to vanish. As this scribe shared this news with friends at a tea shop in Kapan, they also felt bad at the plight of Aadikavi’s birthplace.
Om Rana, who hails from Lamjung, said that the local government should take initiative to reconstruct Acharya’s house. However, Mayor of Bhanu Municipality Uday Raj Gauli shifted the responsibility of reconstructing the house to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of the federal government. Another man poked at Gauli’s decision with sarcastic remark: ‘What an impotent guy!”

The man who made the comment was lawyer Kalam Khatri who informed that that the Schedule-8 of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, provides a list of local level powers. Among 22 powers given to the local level, the fourth is important in this context which gives right to collect taxes ranging from service charge to tourism fee. If a local level collects service charge and fee from a tourist, it is the liability of the local level government to reconstruct and renovate the structures and places of touristic importance.

Schedule 22 states, “Protection and development of languages, cultures and fine arts is the responsibility of the local level government.”
The Schedule-9 of the Constitution also provides list of 15 concurrent powers of federal, province and local level governments. “Preservation of archaeological important monuments and museums is the concurrent right of the tree-tier government,” states the statue.

Therefore, local level government cannot run away from its responsibility of reconstructing the house of Aadikabi Bhanubhkta. It has been the old habit of Nepali leaders to pass the buck. Now it is time for the leaders to correct their bad habit and commit to save the legacy of late poet.