Traditional Sthapit neighborhoods in Kathmandu are Thaymaru, Bhindyah, Makhan, Mikhadwan and Lagan. Makhan contains the largest population of Sthapits.[4][5]
Sthapit means "establish" in Sanskrit, and their traditional occupation, as per the division of labor laid down from ancient times, has been carpentry, architecture and engineering. They were skilled artisans, and were engaged in designing and building palaces, houses, temples and machinery.
Among the notable names, Jogbir Sthapit (alternative names: Joglal Sthapit, Bhajuman) was the architect who built Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu, the palace of the Shah dynasty, in 1886.[6][7] He was also the chief architect of the restoration project of Swayambhu which was completed in 1921.[8]
Like other Newar Buddhists, Sthapits mark the holy month of Gunla by making daily pilgrimages to Swayambhu playing Gunla Bajan music. Gunla is the tenth month in the Nepal Sambat calendar which corresponds to August. During the Bahidyah Bwayegu (बहीद्यः ब्वयेगु) festival which is one of the major events of Gunla, devotees led by a Gunla Bajan band make a tour of sacred courtyards in Kathmandu where statues of Dipankara Buddha and paubhas are put on exhibition.
During the Buddhist festival of Samyak, each Uray group has a task assigned to it by tradition, and Sthapits build the wooden viewing stand.[9] Samyak is the greatest Newar Buddhist ceremony in which large images of Dipankara Buddha are exhibited at Kathmandu Durbar Square and Swayambhu. It is held once every 12 years in Kathmandu.[10]
^Shakya, Hem Raj. (2004) Sri Svayambhu Mahacaitya. Kathmandu: Svayambhu Vikash Mandala. ISBN99933-864-0-5. Pages 315-319.
^Gellner, David N. and Quigley, Declan (1995). Contested hierarchies: a collaborative ethnography of caste among the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Clarendon Press. ISBN0198279604, 9780198279600. Page 52.
^LeVine, Sarah and Gellner, David N. (2005) Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal. Harvard University Press. ISBN978-0-674-01908-9. Page 337. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
