Prithvi Jayanti and the National Unification Day was celebrated Thursday with national significance by remembering the 'Divyopadesh' of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the architect of modern Nepal.
The Divyopadesh is the collection of the famous sayings of the late king Prithvi Narayan Shah, which are relevant even today. Today is the 296th Prithvi Jayanti (296th birth anniversary of Prithvi Narayan Shah).
This year the Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day was celebrated with national significance as the government also announced a public holiday today on the occasion and also organized a formal program to commemorate the day. The practice of celebrating the Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day at the state level was abandoned by the successive governments after the People's Movement II in utter disregard of the contribution of the late king in the unification of Nepal.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa, Chief of Army Staff Rajendra Chhetri, among other dignitaries attended the program commemorating the Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day here Thursday.
Former government minister Modnath Prashrit, who is associated for long with the campaign advocating for celebrating the Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day, was very pleased with the participation of high dignitaries of the state in the program. "We would like to thank the government for declaring a public holiday on this Day and for celebrating it at the state level," he said.
Prithvi Narayan Shah, who was the king of Gorkha when he launched the national unification campaign in September 1745 AD after conquering Nuwakot annexed many other small principalities to his kingdom, thus launching the national unification campaign.
Chancellor of Nepal Academy Prof Ganga Prasad Upreti said that true tributes to the builder of the nation would be to bring into practice his precepts contained in the Divyopadesh. He sees the need for Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day should be celebrated nationwide and not just one ministry or the Academy.
Pandit Bishwa Prem Bhattarai praised the government for reviving the celebration of the Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day and thus respecting the national unifier, Prithvi Narayan Shah, albeit late.
"The government should not forget a national hero who begun the national unification campaign in the name of federalism and republicanism," said Sarad Dahal, president of the National Unity Party.
Artist Santosh Panta is also delighted with the government's decision to announce public holiday on Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day.
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Jitendra Narayan Dev underlined the need of studying Prithvi Narayan Shah's Divyopadesh in a new light. He said it was equally relevant at present also. Dev said that the national unification day would have real meaning only if we could accommodate all the languages, religions, culture, customs and ethnicities in a single string of national unity, as reflected in the late king's saying 'Nepal is a garden of many flowers.'
Meanwhile, the Unified Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) organized a colloquium on the theme, 'Prithvi Jayanti and National Unification Day' Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, party President Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani said Nepal would not be in existence today had Prithvi Narayan Shah not unified it, calling on the government to recognize this fact and make an objective evaluation of the late king's contribution.
Former minister Dilnath Giri, political analyst Dr Surendra KC and constitutional expert Dr Bhimarjun Acharya, among other speakers, also highlighted the contribution of Prithvi Narayan Shah and the relevance of his Divyopadesh.
