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Nepal's former monarch Gyanendra Shah on Monday began a pilgrimage in Madhesh, performing Pooja at the Janaki Temple ahead of the House of Representatives elections scheduled in March.
Shah was welcomed by a sea of followers at the historic temple complex, at a time when the nation is still transitioning after the Gen-Z protests in September last year. The pilgrimage is seen as an effort by the former monarch to consolidate influence and revive the demand for a constitutional monarchy in Nepal. Shah, accompanied by family members, arrived in Janakpur on Sunday evening and visited the Janaki Temple on Monday afternoon, surrounded by enthusiastic supporters and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) activists chanting pro-monarchy slogans. The temple premises echoed with chants and slogans in favour of the monarchy. In order to garner more interest from the public, after offering prayers at the Janaki Temple, Shah walked approximately 0.5 kilometres to the Ram Temple and the nearby Kaladevi Temple to perform additional rituals. "Let's talk about God in God's place, let's not discuss anything else," Shah told ANI when asked about his message to the public. The visit comes amid Shah's renewed use of royal titles, reversing his earlier use of the designation 'former king'. On January 21, the Secretariat of Communication of the former monarch had referred to him in full royal honorifics, effectively presenting him as 'king' in a statement and announcing that Shah and Queen Komal would be visiting Janaki Temple in Janakpur on January 26. This marked a departure from Shah's Dashain message last year, when he had identified himself as 'former king', a practice followed since the monarchy was abolished in 2008. The statement, signed by Secretariat spokesperson Phaniraj Pathak, addressed Shah as "Shree 5 Maharajadhiraj Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev," a title no longer recognised under Nepal's constitution. The shift comes as Nepal approaches parliamentary elections, lending political significance to the renewed use of royal terminology. Following violent pro-monarchy protests led by Durga Prasai on March 28, 2025, Shah faced pressure to refrain from encouraging royalist sentiment. During the investigation into the Tinkune violence, police summoned Pathak and obtained a written commitment that all future public communications would refer to Shah strictly as 'former king'. Since then, official statements from Nirmal Niwas have consistently used the 'former king' designation. Police had earlier warned that using constitutionally unrecognised royal titles amounted to a violation of the law. Despite this, similar royal honorifics had resurfaced in statements issued on Shah's 79th birthday and in messages condemning extremist attacks abroad, prompting objections in Parliament. CPN-UML lawmaker Thakur Gaire had demanded legal action, describing the continued use of royal titles as a mockery of the rule of law. Royalist groups and RPP leaders have consistently opposed the use of the prefix 'former', arguing that a king can never be considered 'ex'. This pressure appears to have resurfaced in the latest communication. (ANI)
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