Araniko

Who was Araniko?

Aniko or Anige was one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal, Tibet, and Yuan China, and the artistic exchanges in these areas. He was born in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, during the reign of Abhaya Malla. During the reign of Jaya Bhim Dev Malla, he was sent on a project to build a golden stupa in Tibet, where he also initiated into monkhood. From Tibet he was sent further to China to work in the court of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, the founder of Yuan dynasty, where he brought the trans-Himalayan artistic tradition to influence the Chinese art. Years later in China, he returned to laity and married a Mongol girl. He married seven other women from whom he had a total of 6 sons and 8 daughters.

Due to some confusion in translation, his name is variously written as Arniko or Araniko in old texts. A mistake made by Baburam Acharya ascribed his Sanskrit name as Balabahu. However later he contends that Aniko might possibly be the Chinese pronunciation for Sanskrit name Aneka.