Bhajuman chitrakar was born at Tunchhe galli in Kathmandu. Though there is no sufficient evidence concerning his date of birth, but some records show that he was alive until 1931B.S. Perhaps because of long breach of time & dim records many aspect of the legendary artist is still under shadow of mystery. Apart from his date of birth, his original name & information on his parents are also unknown. He is quite popular as Bhajuman in the art circle, but it is argued that his authentic name is Bhajumacha. Furthermore, his exact date of expiry is also unknown, though some claim it to be as stated above- 1931B.S.

During the Rana regime painting was considered a luxurious expression & was extensively commissioned to project pride, power & fame. Ranas were creative & art conscious in the sense that they knew art has an ability to express some constrained part of life. So during the first visit to Europe the Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana included Bhajuman in his team, so that he could learn & expose the creative side of Europe in Nepal through his creativity. This opportunity in hand made Bhajuman the first ever Nepalese painter to travel extensively as far as Europe. The selection of the artist in this traveling team goes on to show that the artist wasn’t only talented but also the most accomplished amongst all the Nepalese artist of that time. During his visit to England, Queen Victoria was highly impressed when the artist completed her painting in just a few moments time. Delighted by his ability, the queen intended to reward him with gold coins. However, he humbly denied to accept the reward for he was a man of dignity& loyal to the pride of his nation. Pleased by this act, the PM granted the artist an elephant ride across the city on his marriage ceremony. These moments can be witnessed as some glittering recollections in the life of Bhajuman. But where there is pleasure there is bound to be pains as well. The Tunchhe galli residence of Bhajuman turned into ashes in a disastrous fire accident. Along with the house all the property & important documents turned into dust. Perhaps this is the primary reason we hardly have any specifics of the artist. Subsequently the artist moved to a locality called Indrachowk for a short while. Bhajuman had a son by the name of Nuchheman; who had three sons of his own namely- Ma:Cha, Laxmibahdur, and Tulshibahadur. This goes on to show that the artist had a short list of relatives which also restricted to gather sufficient data on the artist. Bhajuman was dear to the PM Jungbahadur Rana. The PM immensely appreciated the creative effort of the artist. So much so that the PM granted the artist with ample amount of land & property as a token of appreciation. And indeed the artist was talented, as a painting of Jung B. Rana by the artist proves this fact. Amongst the many praiseworthy artworks he painted an awesome figure of Ranabir Singh Thapa. Although he was mostly commissioned to paint human portraiture, but his favorite subject seem to be birds & animals. The rumor has it that there is a collection of about hundred bird paintings by the artist in India with some Nepalese art collector. A (4x8) inches sketch book of the artist was discovered in the residence of Laxmibahadur. The sketch book comprised eighteen pages out of which all most all the pages are filled with bird paintings except for few, which seem to be some kind of color experiment as the page is stroked with single color. And the remaining pages are filled with compositions of dove & deer, & a sketch of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. This sketch pad shows the spiritual mentality of the artist & his love for nature & animals. The affectionate relationships between the artist & the PM Jung Bdr. Rana is witnessed by the many paintings the artist painted on the various incidents of the PM; which are still assumed to be in the Royal Palace.

Bhajuman was a man of versatility; as he didn’t constrained himself in paintings but stretched his creative effort as a good draughtsman. He was assigned to produce geographical lines, to mark the border in the south between British India & Nepal. Bhajuman is credited to cultivate the seed of modernism in the Nepalese art scenario. He coincided with the ultra modern trend & philosophy of art during his Europe tour. Surprisingly there has been only few articles published on the pioneering artist; notably by art critic & writer late Narayan Bahadur Singh in his book- contemporary Nepalese Paintings. In the book- Fine Art of Nepal by late Bal Krishna Sama has also mentioned about the artist. During the visit to England, the local press La-press on 2nd October 1880 issue mentioned that there was an artist in the team of the Nepalese PM, who painted from enamel color. During his short visit to Paris the artist replicated many paintings by the great European painters, so that he could employ them as models. It is believed that Bhajuman is the first ever artist to introduce oil color in Nepal. But some argue that it is Purnaman who should be credited for this achievement. Nevertheless the contribution of Bhajuman Chitrakar will forever remain immortal in the Nepalese fine art realm.