Bahal · Buddhist
Jirna Uddhar Mahavihar (Chidhya Bahal)
जीर्णोद्धार महाविहार
Achhyom Buddha / Akshobhya (kwapah-dyah); a hidden Mahadev (lukmadyo)·Believed Licchavi era, c. 5th century CE (local tradition: founded around 1,600 years ago)·Kathmandu
A Newar Buddhist courtyard monastery near New Road, known in Newari as Chidhya Bahal and said to date to the Licchavi era. Its kwapah-dyah is the Achhyom (Akshobhya) Buddha, and it also shelters a hidden Mahadev.
Dedicated to
Achhyom Buddha / Akshobhya (kwapah-dyah); a hidden Mahadev (lukmadyo)
Period
Believed Licchavi era, c. 5th century CE (local tradition: founded around 1,600 years ago)
Hours
Open courtyard (accessible during daytime)
Admission
Free
Neighborhood
Near New Road, Old Kathmandu
Jirna Uddhar Mahavihar, known in Newari as Chidhya Bahal, is a Newar Buddhist bahal in the old-city lanes near New Road, Kathmandu. Local tradition holds that it was established in the Licchavi era, some 1,600 years ago — which would place its origins around the 5th century CE — making it one of the older monastic foundations of the old city.
Its kwapah-dyah, the principal enshrined deity of the courtyard, is the Achhyom Buddha, the Newar form of Akshobhya, one of the Five Transcendent Buddhas. The bahal also keeps a lukmadyo — a 'hidden' Mahadev (Shiva) — reflecting the close interweaving of Buddhist and Hindu worship that runs through the sacred courtyards of the Kathmandu Valley.
The name Jirnoddhar (जीर्णोद्धार) means the renovation or restoration of an old structure, a reminder of how Kathmandu's bahals are repeatedly repaired and rebuilt by their communities across the generations.
Coda
Continue the Pilgrimage
Planning this visit? Local operators publishing trips here can arrange it.
Help us get it right
Know Jirna Uddhar Mahavihar (Chidhya Bahal) better than we do?
We write from research and reporting, and the ground changes faster than we can keep up. If something here is out of date, or you have been and would tell it differently, we would rather hear it.