Rajbhandari


Rājbhandāri is a Newar Chatharīya Srēstha clan residing primarily in Kathmandu Valley and other parts of Nepal. It is said that the Malla king Jayasthiti Malla appointed treasurers to look after the wealth. The king honored them with the title of “Bhandari”. As time passed, the bhandari were replaced by the Raj-bhandari. By 18th CE, Rajbhandari was a prominent aristocratic clan serving as courtiers in the Malla courts. Similalrly, Rajbhandaris are appointed as the traditional care-takers, treasurers, the chief non-Vedic assistant-priests of Pashupatinath Temple of Kathmandu and few were involved in the military during the malla rule. Presently, 108 Rajbhandaris perform rituals as assistant priests and chief patrons of the various temples in the Pashupati area.
Rajbhandaris claim to be descendants of the Suryavansha and Agnivansha Rajput kings who migrated to the Kathmandu valley during Malla rule, and presently, Rajbhandaris belong to the high-caste Kshatriya Newārs, marrying among other clans such as Malla, Māskay, Joshi, Pradhānanga, Pradhān, Acharya/Karmāchārya, Amātya, Vaidhya, etc. They are considered as “Brahmaputra Kshatri ” who are required to wear “Janai” around their neck. In modern times, the tradition became less strict. Surnames "Bhani ", "Bhari ", "Bhariju ", "Talchabhari ", "Bhandel/Bhadel " are all local variants of "Rajbhandari".
Originally, three types of Rajbhandari lived in Nepal according to their “Gotra” and the social status