TKP By ISHWAR RAUNIYAR
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 - Ramesh Dahal of Morang district took his aged parents around on a tour of the Narayanhiti
Palace-turned Museum on Thursday afternoon.
They marvelled at the opportunity to see the Palace, once off-limits for commoners. The chance to see the personal bed of the monarchs, dining rooms and photos of the late kings hanging on the wall were rare treats. Yet there still remained something more; his 67-year-old father Hari Prasad wanted to see the crown. But when Ramesh broke the news that the crown was still off-limits for the public, Hari Prasad felt disgruntled.
“How can a tour be complete without seeing the main thing, the crown?” he grumbled. The Dahal family arrived in the capital a week ago to celebrate Dashain and visit different places.
For them, a tour of Narayanhiti Palace museum was as important as a visit to the Pashupatinath Temple.
Like Dahal, every visitor to the museum ends up asking about the diamond and emerald studded crown and scepter. Both were regarded as the symbols of monarchy and power.
Though it has been more than a year since the Narayanhiti Palace museum opened to the public, the crown and scepter are yet to be put on display. The Maoist-led government in Feb 2009 turned the former Narayanhiti Royal Palace into a museum nearly after a year of the abolition of the 240-year long monarchy.
Officials at the museum have their own side of the story regarding the crown and scepter. “For lack of a budget we are unable to adopt the security measures needed to display the crown,” said Jaya Ram Maharjan, chief of the Narayanhiti Palace Museum Management Committee.
“It’s been nearly a year that we requested the government to allocate money for the overall management of the museum but not even a single penny has been provided.” Maharjan added.
Currently, the crown is under the supervision of Nepal Army and kept inside the former palace. According to Maharjan, the committee has asked the government to provide Rs. 20 million to arrange for the crown’s security. He added said that they have already held discussions with the National Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance, and are hopeful the money will be released.
“We need to built a sophisticated security system,” said Maharjan adding that a Nepali team comprising officials from the Nepal Army and Nepal Police as well as an American agency and an Indian agency will work to adopt high level security measures.
He said that earlier the government wasn’t willing to display the crown but it has now agreed to do so. “The faster the budget is allocated, the sooner we will call a bid for this,” said Maharjan.
The museum that covers 19 ropanis of land out of the 753 ropanis of the entire palace has opened only 19 rooms. It has altogether 52 rooms in it. All’s not well with the museum. For lack of proper attention from the management committee things are in a sorry state.
The tools displayed inside the rooms are dusty. Especially the Tribhuvan Sadan, where the Royal Massacre took place in 2001 and the garden on the northern side of the building are dilapidated.
After a few years of the Royal Massacre the Tribhuvan Sadan was demolished by the then king Gyanendra.
The garden hasn’t felt a gardener’s hand for ages. The dilapidated toilet, the forages, water logs and unkempt grass and bushes clearly reflect negligence.
When reminded of all this, the museum management wriggles out saying it will do it soon or that it lacks the budget for the purpose. Even the greenhouse in the garden for growing different plants is filled with bushes.
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