Nepal celebrates National Unification Day

Jan 11, 2023

Kathmandu (Nepal), Jan 11 (ANI): Nepal declared 11th Jan as a public holiday to commemorate the National Unification Day, or Prithvi Jayanti, for the first time since the monarchy was abolished following the People's Movement II. The Himalayan Nation, which was divided into factions as small states, was united by Prithvi Narayan Shah-the founding father of unified Nepal and his birthday is marked as national unification day. With the end of the centuries-old monarchy in 2006, Nepal stopped celebrating Shah's birthday, and voices rose to mark the occasion with fervour and gaiety. The new government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal decided to declare a public holiday earlier this week, which has been welcomed by the public. Hundreds of pro-monarch supporters pour onto the road in front of Singha Durbar to pay tribute to the statue of Prithvi Narayan Shah. Various programmes are being organised across the country to mark the 301st birth anniversary of late King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal. On the occasion, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari also paid tribute to the Prithvi Narayan Shah statue installed at the entrance to the Singha Dubar-Nepali administrative complex.