Araniko

Aniko, Anige or Araniko was one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal, Tibet, and Yuan Mongolia, and the artistic exchanges in these areas. He was born in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, during the reign of Abhaya Malla. He is a Newar youth, the most famous artisan, who influenced stylistic developments in China and Tibet. He is known for building the white stupa at the Miaoying Temple in Beijing. 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 Mongol-ruled 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.