Kathmandu, January 11
The 295th Prithvi Jayanti is being observed across the country.
The day is being observed at the people’s level amid demands for declaration of the Jayanti as National Unity Day and a public holiday.
Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king of a princely state called Gorkha, had unified princely states and created modern Nepal. He sat on the throne of Gorkha at the age of 20. Through wars that lasted about three decades, he amalgamated ever-fighting states and made them a part of Nepal when the British Empire was making inroads into India.
Before the abolition of the monarchy and the declaration of Nepal as a republic, the state used to observe Prithvi Jayanti as the National Unity Day. It used to be a public holiday.
Though the Prachanda-led government did not organise any formal programme on the day, different groups are observing the day by organising different programmes.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party observed the day by garlanding the life-size statue of King Prithvi in front of Singha Durbar, the government secretariat. A citizens’ group is observing Prithvi Jayanti by organising an interaction at Nepal Academy.
