You are on page 1of 11

Content

1. Introduction 2
2. Narayanhiti Palace 2
2.1 Basic Information3
2.2 History4
Early residences4
Royal residence 4
Revolution and reuse as a museum5
3. Objectives
4. Method of the study
5. Findings
6. Recommendation
7. Reference
8. Conclusion

1
Introduction
We the students of standard 9 were in the tour to the Narayanhiti palace museum.
Narayanhiti museum, initially a royal residence of Shah Kings of Nepal, is locate
in the heart of Kathmandu. It was established by late King Mahendra Bir Bikram
Shah Dev in 1963. It is the famous as the kings of Nepal used to live there and rule
the whole state.

Narayanhiti Palace
2
The word Narayanhiti derives from the Newari language, ‘Narayan’ means ‘Lord
Bishnu’ and ‘Hiti’ means ‘water spout’. Narayanhiti Palace Museum occupies a
land of around 3794 sq.m. The museum is surrounded by tall walls and tight
security.

The Narayanhiti Palace Museum is a public museum in Kathmandu, Nepal located


east of the Kaiser Mahal and next to Thamel. The museum was created in 2008
from the complex of the former Narayanhiti Palace (or Narayanhiti Durbar)
following the 2006 revolution. Before the revolution, the palace was the residence
and principal workplace of the monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal, and hosted
occasions of state.

The existing palace complex was built by King Mahendra in 1963, and
incorporates an impressive array of courtyards, gardens and buildings.

3
History
Early residences
Ownership of the palace site changed multiple times prior to being occupied by the
monarchy. The Shreepali Basnet family occupied the site during the early Shah
period. After Dhokal Singh Basnyat, ownership passed to Prime Minister Fateh
Jung Shah; his father, ChoutariaPran Shah, also lived on the property. Fateh was
killed in the Kot massacre on 19 September 1846 and his family was killed or
exiled from Kathmandu.

The property and palace was taken over by Colonel Ranodip Singh Kunwar, the
brother of Jung Bahadur Rana, who moved into Choutaria's residence after minor
renovations. After Ranodip became prime minister in 1877, the complex was
renovated and expanded into a lavish multi-wing palace. Ranodip was assassinated
during the coup d'état on 22 November 1885 in the palace's southern wing.

Royal residence
Old Narayanhiti Palace ca. 1920, demolished in 1958.

Bir Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana succeeded Ranodip as Prime Minister and took
over the palace. In 1886, Bir Shumsher ordered the old palace demolished, and a
new one constructed by architect JogbirSthapit as a residence for King Prithvi Bir
Bikram Shah, his son-in-law. This moved the royal residence from Hanuman
Dhoka Durbar to Narayanhiti.

The palace was damaged in the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, killing two infant
daughters of King Tribhuvan. Colonel Surya Jung Thapa, an engineer, oversaw
repairs and renovations which added a new portico and grand staircase.

King Mahendra ordered the palace to be demolished and replaced in 1963. The
new palace was designed by American architect Benjamin Polk, who was living in
India. Nepalese architecture styles were used to create a national symbol.
Construction ended in 1969. GrihaPravesh (a housewarming party) was performed
on 27 February 1970 for the wedding of Crown Prince Birendra.

4
Mahendra sold the palace to the Government of Nepal in 1972 for NPR रू70
million (seven crore). He claimed that the property was the dowry of Queen
Divyeshwari, his paternal grandmother.

On 1 June 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra murdered multiple members of the royal
family in the palace before shooting himself. Among those killed were King
Birendra and Queen Aishwarya.

5
Revolution and reuse as a museum
The Nepalese monarchy was abolished following the 2006 revolution. The last
king, Gyanendra, vacated Narayanhiti on 11 June 2008. The former palace was
used to house the new Narayanhiti Palace Museum.

The royal crown jewels were put on display in October 2018.

6
Objective of the study:

Everything that is done has some specific purpose and this trip like others also has
some of the objectives related to this place. Some of these are as follows:

1. To explore the museum and know the history of KIngs and Nepal

2. To know about the present condition of museum

3. To identify the role of people to endorse museum as a historical

Methods of the Study:

7
We followed the following methods to collect the details about Lumbini:

 Primary methods: direct field observation, eye witness, direct questionnaire,


collection of related expert’s opinions. This method used the most used
method of data collecting which is Questionnaire. The people to fill the
questionnaire were chosen randomly and they asked to fill some of the
aspect of this. It helped us to uncover the work being done here.

 Secondary methods: study of related books, journals, news papers. Different


books and the different media were properly searched so that we the student
could get a proper information about the place.

8
Findings

The Narayanhiti palace is divided into three wings: The Private wing, The Guest
wing, and The State wing. There are altogether 52 rooms in the palace. The rooms
have names of districts of Nepal. The rooms and halls of the Narayanhiti museum
are decorated with valuable items and artifacts.

The Reception Hall, known as KaskiSadan, is a massive room decorated with tiger
skin, King’s portrait in sequence, and many sculptures of deities. The Makeup
room for the Queen is named Sindhuli. The waiting room for guests before they
meet the King is called Jhapa.

The room for special guests to hold meetings is Ilam. The room Sunsari was used
to perform rituals of Janai Purnima. The Saptari room was used to celebrate
birthdays. The DhanushaBaithak was used to celebrate Dashain by offering tika to
ministers and officials. The room was also used to conduct award ceremonies.

The throne room, known as Gorkha Baithak, has a height of 60 feet. It has a
pagoda-style architecture with a huge chandelier surrounded by huge paintings of
Hindu Deities. Underneath the extravagant chandelier is the throne of the King
made up of gold and silver.

The room where the King was killed is left as it is. So, the room walls have bullet
scars and bloodstains. People are more interested in observing those unsolved
pieces of evidence of the royal massacre inside the Narayanhiti palace museum.

There is a Lord Bishnu temple in the Narayanhiti premise, which faces a statue of
Garud. You can see a beautiful garden and water sprouts lined up. The Narayanhiti
palace building has a pagoda-style construction.

9
Recommendation:
• A separate governmental department should be established to preserve
and endorse palace.
• Over-crowd of population should be controlled around palace area.
• However, security is secured to the palace but also there should not be
any mistake.
• Research center should be established to help all concerned to explore
more facts about palace.
•Some information flow programs should be introduced throughout the
nation and abroad as well.

Reference
https://www.stunningnepal.com/narayanhiti-palace-museum/#:~:text=There
%20is%20a%20Lord%20Bishnu%20temple%20in%20the,wing,%20The%20Guest
%20wing,%20and%20The%20State%20wing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayanhiti_Palace.

10
Conclusion
Narayanhiti Palace Museum in Kathmandu is like a chamber of secrets that
confines some untold history of Kings of Nepal.

Narayanhiti museum, initially a royal residence of Shah Kings of Nepal, is located


in the heart of Kathmandu. It was established by late King Mahendra Bir Bikram
Shah Dev in 1963. He and his successors lived in Narayanhiti Royal Palace till
2008. King Gyanendra is the last King of Nepal, who was dethroned in 2008.

11

You might also like