Death of a great scholar in Indology

Shri. Giridharlal Manandhar

An eminent Nepali scholar in Indology, Shri. Giridhar Lal Manandhar passed away on 25^th February 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal. He was the son of Professor Thakur Lal Manandhar, scholar and historian of Nepali and Newar culture, and co-author of Long Pilgrimage, a book which is considered to be one of the classics in Indian philosophy.

    “He was one of the most revered intellectuals in the ancient Indian system of living, viz. Swadharma”- said S. Rajendu, one of his friend. “He was a well-read man and witnessed the visits of many great personalities to the Ashram, including Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the then Indian President, to Kathmandu to meet his father’s guru, Shivapuri Baba”.

     Govindananda Bharati, also known as Shivapuri Baba, was born in Akkikkavu, near Guruvayoor, Kerala state in A.D.1826. He travelled around the world on foot and ship for forty years and met great personalities like Sri Ramakrishna and Maharshi Arabindo in India and Queen Victoria, Albert Einstein, Madam Curie, etc. in Europe. He attained Samadhi in Dhruvasthali, near Pashupatinath Temple in Gaushala, Kathmandu.

   Govindananda reached Kathmandu in the second decade of the 20^th century. Many great personalities, both foreign and local, including the King of Nepal, came to meet him many times in his ashram at Shivapuri and Dhruvasthali. From there, Thakur Lal Manandhar met him and became a disciple of Govindananda Bharati. With Thakur Lal’s help, a British man John Godolphin Bennett wrote a manuscript on the life and messages of this great saint.  

       Bennett sent the manuscript to Thakur Lal in 1962.  Govindananda never said yes or no to print the manuscript as a book due to the inclusion of the first chapter on his life. Soon after the Samadhi of Govindananda in February 1963, Thakur Lal sent his son Giridhar Lal to Bombay to meet the publisher, Orient Longman.  Apparently, they refused it due to some technical issues.  Thakur Lal then sent the manuscript back to England, and later, with the consent of Bennett’s estate, Hodder and Stoughton, published this manuscript in 1965, titled Long Pilgrimage. This book is now considered to be one of the classics in spiritual Indian philosophy.

     Giridhar Lal Manandhar, ancestrally coming from a merchant family in Kathmandu, was the founder of a pharmaceutical company SIMCA Laboratories. He had a deep interest in the teachings of the Shivapuri Baba.  Giridhar Lal lived in Nepal and England, and became a practitioner of Swadharma. “During my tenure as a Lecturer at Kathmandu I met him many times. His talks on these topics are extremely intelligent and he was a member of the intellectual class in Kathmandu”- Rajendu said. In 2006, he republished Long Pilgrimage, since it had not been available in the market for a long time.

        Giridhar Lal’s interest in protecting Shivapuri Baba’s Samadhi at Dhruvasthali was instrumental in preserving this sanctuary. His cremation took place on the banks of the Bagmati river near Pashupati temple in Kathmandu, close to the Ashram of the Shivapuri Baba. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and four grandchildren.

“Mr. Manandhar was the person who made the messages of a great Malayalee saint universal” – Rajendu concluded.