Narayanhity Palace to open from public on February 26

The majestic Narayanhity Palace, which was the abode of Shah Kings of Nepal, will be opened for public from February 26.

After transformation of Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal into a federal democratic republic, the government had decided to convert Narayanhity Palace into a national museum.

Responding to the government’s directives to vacate, Gyanendra Shah, the last Shah monarch of Nepal, left the Narayanhity Palace on June 11 last year. The ex-royal couple shifted to a small palace at Nagarjuna, about 15 kms northwest of Kathmandu.

Lok Bahadur Khatri, spokesperson of the Ministry of Tourism and State Restructuring, said on Friday that Prime Minister Prachanda will open the palace-turned-museum on February 26.

The national museum will display several personal belongings and artifacts of the kings and royal family of Shah Dynasty, which ruled Nepal for 240 years.

Officials of the archeological department were engaged in transformation of the majestic palace into a national museum. A section of the regal place has now been taken over by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to shift to the palace as its building has now been converted into Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The government has set up security and surveillance equipments at the Narayanhity Palace. “The security arrangements had to be made as the museum will portray a lot of valuable items of the royal family,” Khatri said.