Blessed by Lumbini and Boudhanath

Having born in Lumbini on 1987 (Dharmendra Baniya) –Dharma was the youngest among three siblings. He belonged from an agricultural family, one that has plenty to do during seasons.For them, the soil where they toil is their gold. It is the means of striving for them. His siblings; elder sister and elder brother were already married before Dharma was born and they had their own family life.

Dharma’s father used to transport goods from horse and carriages across Nepal and India border but unfortunately he was gunshot by goods merchant. His father passed away when he was just two years old. To sustain the only two Dharma’s mother Munakka Devi took up all the burden and responsibility.

Dharma studied in a small school of Lumbini near the neighborhood of Mayadevi temple where Buddha was born. The spiritual atmosphere, mother’s love and blessings from the holy place allowed him to gain more confidence and strong. But education seemed like something too vague to put money on so at the tender age of eleven he was transferred from Lumbini (Mahilwar) to Kathmandu (Boudhanath) at his relatives home.

Life wasn’t too easy for him. He was often psychologically and emotionally neglected by his relatives. Little boy waking up at five, helping with their house hold chores, working in the mala shop and then going back to school was a repetitive routine till age seventeen. Despite all his hard efforts, his life has always been staked at the edge of the knife. For him, managing time for school and work was a challenge tiring enough in itself. He had been working wholeheartedly for just proper two meals a day and so much work pressure deteriorated his health. He would eventually have given up on his dreams because of the harsh circumstances.

“I wasn’t working for anyone, not in their sense,” Dharma says. “Every day is a new challenge and learning.”

At the age of seventeen he lost his mother then a new insight developed after sudden demise. He expanded the scope of spiritual understanding, and soon started to take more interest in mala beads and Buddhist handicrafts. Because he had a connection to this type of prayer practice and it turned out to be one of the few things in his upbringing that he ever felt connected to or comfortable with. He is Nepali and can speak seven different languages and very fluent in Tibetan.

 

Dharma remembered his mother’s words……“In this lonely and painful journey I said to my soul, stay strong, believe yourself, follow the truth and everything falls into its rightful place.” – Munakka Devi Baniya 

 

In 2009, Dharma, his company went all over Asia and Europe along with many different wizards to teach about mala knot and other aspects of Buddhism. After the trip of 2009, he began to open his own store at Boudhanath with just a few small items and small business started to grow.

At present his company “Hello Handicraft”  is the leading unit to supply and spread the chain products, jewelry accessories that bear the cultural impression of the snow region not only in Nepal but also affect Asian countries, USA and Europe. His name is reminded by international friends when telling stories that revolves around the chain making, mala knots and various customized accessories.

Dharma has been implementing “MALA KNOTS” for more than 20 years.