Bhanubhakta Acharya
Translation from Nepali by Santosh Kumar Pokharel
Ladies pert walk their way, graceful and fair,
Guna kesari blossoms braided in their hair.
Through paths with mates all around,
Kantipuri does Amravati sound!
Who could count its riches? Bliss fills every soul,
The world’s joys abound here, beyond all control.
Such splendour brims, so rich and grand,
Like Heaven, this glorious land!
Some streets recall Lhasa, London, Peking,
Some lanes of here do Delhi sing.
Madras, Lucknow, Patna — all here entwine!
’Tis Alakapuri! Kantipuri divine!
Swords and daggers, khukris gleaming bright,
Pistols, matchlocks — armed to the height!
Soldiers that brave dauntless and bold
Guard this city in the way untold!
Where wrath, greed, and fraud find no hold,
Tales of sacred faith unfold!
Pashupati’s keeping this holy abode,
Kantipuri the place of Shiva, bestowed.
[On the auspicious 212th birth anniversary of the first poet of Nepal, Bhanubhakta Acharya, with all humility, I offer my English translation of his poem on timeless beauty of Kathmandu – Santosh Kumar Pokharel (a multilingual poet from Nepal).]
