| Garibjanata |
Posted
on 08-Sep-03 03:49 PM
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Nepal king makes a break with tradition
Sudeshna Sarkar (IANS)
Kathmandu, September 8
In a significant departure from tradition, King Gyanendra of Nepal will not attend a festival on Tuesday that is traditionally graced by the royal family.
The Indra Jatra festival, which began on Saturday with the erection of a traditional wood pole at the Hanumandhoka royal palace in Kathmandu, climaxes on Tuesday at the palace square where the king makes a public appearance before the people as well as the diplomatic corps.
It is considered an important date in the calendar of the reigning Shah dynasty. It was on this day in the 18th century that the founder of the dynasty, king Prithvi Narayan Shah, annexed Kathmandu as a step towards the unification of different principalities of Nepal.
In modern times, the kings of Nepal have not been known to miss the festival, which is celebrated with vedic and tantric rites as well as a chariot procession carrying Kumari, the "living virgin goddess", the only human being in Nepal before whom the king bends his head.
Due to the festival, the opposition parties of Nepal agreed to suspend their campaign in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
At Tuesday's festival, King Gyanendra will be represented by Crown Prince Paras, who is officiating for his father. The king returns home on Wednesday along with Queen Komal after a routine medical check-up in London. Since the check-up concluded last week, the king could have arrived earlier to attend such an important festival. There are conjectures that he stayed on to further secret talks with Maoist guerrillas, who have reportedly sent at least one top leader to London.
It is also being speculated that the king is not attending this year's festival because he has been advised to do so by his astrologers.
The royal dynasty puts a lot of faith in astrologers. The king, though he ascended the throne in 2001, has not yet been officially crowned king of Nepal because of lack of an auspicious date so far.
Hindustan Times
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