KATHMANDU, July 22: After briefing him on the rooms, halls, historic objects and articles inside Narayanhity Palace Museum for about 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon, the chief of the museum led Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal toward an empty space that has a most notorious history. [break]
"So sir, this is the main spot where the royal massacre took place," museum chief Jaya Ram Maharjan said, pointing to the open place where Tribhuvan Sadan once stood.
No remnant is left there of the building where the gruesome murder of the late King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, their children and other royalty took place the night of June 1, 2001.
"The building must be reconstructed to its original design," Prime Minister Nepal told Minister for Culture Minendra Rijal and other officials present at the site. The prime minister then called out, "Where is the finance minister?" Finance Minister Surendra Pandey, who was among them, promptly appeared. "What was the color of the building by the way? Mind you, even the color and everything should be the same as the original," the prime minister further stressed. Nepal said the government will immediately start work on reconstructing Tribhuvan Sadan, and another building where then Crown Prince Dipendra used to live, in their original size and shape.
Some of the officials present informed that even the design of the buildings is no longer available. But they said the original design can be replicated with the help of some photographs and from memory.
Tribhuvan Sadan was pulled down by the then king, Gyanendra, following the royal massacre. Narayanhity Palace, the main palace of the former kings, was turned into a museum last year after the country was proclaimed a republic. The palace has about 108 rooms. Of these, 19 have been opened to the public so far.
Prime Minister Nepal said that his first emphasis for Narayanhity will be to rebuild the destroyed structures and restore each article to its original shape, size and place. After that, Narayanhity will become an important museum, he said. "As far as carrying out an investigation into the royal massacre is concerned, that will be continued till the facts and truth about the infamous incident are revealed," he added.
Finance Minister Pandey said his ministry will allocate money for the restoration and start work on reconstruction immediately.
The prime minister visited the rooms, halls and libraries and inspected various articles and objects inside the palace museum. He was inquisitive about many of the articles and pictures and drawings during his visit.
When he saw two portraits hung along the passageway, he said, "Who are they? Not even their names are mentioned". Officials informed him that the portraits were Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah and Surendra Bir Birkam Shah. Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Finance Minister Pandey, Minister for Culture Rijal, the prime minister´s political advisor Raghuji Pant and government secretaries were among the senior officials accompanying the prime minister.
They were impressed by some of the things they saw. "A few things are good. For instance I like the way the rooms and halls have been named," Pant said. All the rooms are named after some of the districts. Kaski Hall was used for receiving visiting heads of state, swearing-in ceremonies of the heads of constitutional bodies and for receiving the credentials of foreign ambassadors. Gorkha Hall contained the ceremonial throne. Other halls include Myagdi, Parbat, Rukum, Rolpa, Dailekh, Baitadi, Dhanusha and Panchthar.
Senior leader of CPN-UML Nepal had reached Narayanhity in the afternoon directly from Kirtipur after unveiling a statue of Nepal´s founder-communist leader Pushpa Lal Shrestha.
thira@myrepublica.com
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