To trace the history of Sera Durbar nuwakot, one must go back about 250 years. Its roots go back to King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha. The palace where Prithvi Narayan Shah gave divine teachings to his brother is believed to be the Shera Durbar in Nuwakot. Currently, this palace has been reduced to ruins.
According to researchers Dhanavajra Vajracharya and Tek Bahadur Shrestha, Prithvi Narayan Shah visited Shera Durbar even towards the end of his life. The area covered by this palace of historical importance is 184 ropanis.
Why did Prithvi Narayan Shah build the historical Shera Durbar? And what are the interesting and memorable statements associated with the palace? We will provide details based on the research materials of researchers Vajracharya and Shrestha on ‘Shri 5 Prithvi Narayan Shah’s Nuwakot-Madi Durbar’. This material was published in the journal of Sinas, a think tank of Tribhuvan University.
After the second attack in 1801, Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered Nuwakot. The victory over Nuwakot was the first step in the expansion of the Gorkha kingdom. Then, he made Nuwakot the capital of Gorkha. The reason was that he saw it appropriate to make Nuwakot the capital of the kingdom rather than Gorkha. Then, he built a seven-story palace on the Nuwakot hill. The other was the Shera Palace on the banks of the Tadi.
Prithvi Narayan Shah built the Shera Palace as a winter palace. He would go to the Shera Palace in the winter. He would go to the palace on the Nuwakot hill in the summer, that is, in the summer. Because the Shera Palace was in the valley, it was as hot there as in the Terai Madhesh during the rainy season. Thus, he would sometimes stay in the seven-story palace on the Nuwakot hill and sometimes in the Shera Palace, depending on the weather.
Researchers Vajracharya and Shrestha have said, ‘The geographical condition of Nuwakot Province also necessitated the construction of two palaces. In the Nuwakot Valley, it is as hot as in Madhesh in summer. For this reason, living in the valley in summer is somewhat difficult. On the other hand, it is not so hot on the hills. Since the wind blows well, it is somewhat cooler. In winter, it is more comfortable to live in the valley below than on the hills.’
On the other hand, the Shera Garden area on the banks of the Tadi River has been a trading center since medieval times. In winter, goods and livestock used to be brought to Maltal for sale through Bhot. Traders from Madhesh also used to visit the Shera area in winter. That is why there was a special customs post there in the medieval period, which is why Shera became a center of attraction for Prithvi Narayan Shah.
And, Shera Palace was built at a time when Prithvi Narayan Shah was preparing to attack Kirtipur for the third time. That is, around 1822. The first attack on Kirtipur was in 1814. However, victory was not achieved. After the second attack also failed, the construction of Shera Durbar was started on the banks of the Tadi River while the third attack was being prepared.
However, who supervised the construction of the palace? The research paper states, ‘When King Prithvi Narayan Shah was going towards the end of his campaign, he would leave the responsibility of local administration to Crown Prince Pratap Singh Shah in the capital of Nuwakot.’
When the construction of the palace was started, Prithvi Narayan Shah was not in the Shera region. He was planning to conquer Kirtipur and was moving forward. In this case, the construction of the palace in Nuwakot Madi was done under the supervision of Pratap Singh Shah. For this reason, the inscription on the palace built in Shera Valley specifically mentions Pratap Singh Shah. Two years earlier, Pratap Singh Shah was also mentioned in an inscription that was commissioned to engrave a Guthi for burying a linga on the Nuwakot hill in the context of Indra Jatra.
In the inscription found in Shera Besi, Pratap Singh Shah is described in more detail. Another thing is that the inscription depicts the ideal of the recent Crown Prince Pratap Singh Shah rather than the ideal of Prithvi Narayan Shah. It has been analyzed in the sense that he tried to please Pratap Singh Shah by doing so.
In any case, the palace in Shera Besi was built in 1822 BS. The inscription describes that the palace was surrounded by a wall. Even today, some parts of the wall remain intact. And, it is mentioned that a mango garden was planted in the palace area. According to local elders, there was a good mango garden there until a few years ago. Now it has been destroyed. However, the inscription also describes that the festival of Phagu was celebrated with great pomp in the palace area. The festival is still celebrated there on the day of Phagu Purnima.
The residents of Nuwakot still go to the Shera area with baja to celebrate Phagu, where dancers were invited from abroad. The inscription describes that Pratap Singh Shah himself sang along with the residents of Nuwakot at that time.
And, Prithvi Narayan Shah had a special attachment to Nuwakot. After the Gorkha border connected with Sukhim (Sikkim) to the east, Prithvi Narayan Shah decided not to go further than that. At that time, he had stopped his work in the east and was now heading towards Nuwakot with the idea of moving west. However, he had already received signs that his body was no longer supporting him even though his mind was racing.
In this situation, he thought of going to the Nuwakot palace and resting. It was winter at that time, and the Nuwakot-Madi (Sherra palace) was comfortable. Therefore, according to the ancient tradition, there is no doubt that Prithvi Narayan Shah spent his last days in the beautiful palace on the banks of the Tadi, say the researchers Vajracharya and Shrestha.
It was in the same Shera palace that Prithvi Narayan Shah gave divine teachings to his brother. He was very keen that the Gorkha expansion campaign that he had undertaken with great difficulty should not be abandoned. This also makes this palace even more historically significant.
According to Cockpatrick, King Bahadur Shah was born in Nuwakot. While he was in Nuwakot, he used to visit Shera Palace frequently. It is evident from the contemporary notes that Bahadur Shah went to Shera Palace to make necessary arrangements to stop the attack when the Chinese army reached Dhaibung during the Nepal-Tibetan War. It is evident from the contemporary notes that Shera Palace remained the headquarters of the king and royal family until the time of King Rajendra Bikram Shah.
It is also evident from the notes that Rajendra Bikram Shah and the goddesses of empire and Lakshmi went there several times and stayed there. And, Shera Palace continued to exist until the time of Rajendra Bikram Shah. Shera Palace was demolished in 1903 BS. According to Chandralal Shrestha’s notes, the palace was not renovated after that. It was reduced to ruins.
Later, the 14th Rana Prime Minister Shri 3 Juddha Shamsher had the palace reconstructed. However, since the map of the old palace was not found, it was not possible to build the palace in its original form. However, the bricks from the ruins were used to build the palace in its current dilapidated condition.
This land was recently divided between Helen Shah, the wife of the then Adhirajkumar Basundhara, and Vijaya Rajya Lakshmi Shah. The land that the palace had been discussing had to be transferred to the government after the limitation law was implemented in 2021 BS. However, to protect it in the name of the individual, Gauri Shankar Farming was established in 2027 and renamed as a company. Both Helen and Vijayalakshmi Shah became the directors and shareholders of the company. However, in 2036 BS, the name of Gauri Shankar Farming was changed to Annapurna Farming.
In 2052 BS, it is seen that the share in the name of Vijayalakshmi Shah was transferred to the name of Jayanti Shah. The CIB report states that in the same year, all the shares in the names of Helen and Jayanti were transferred to the names of Narendralal Pradhan, Kedarnath Shrestha, Sajni Pradhan, and Sohini Shrestha.
On 7 Magh 2066, Dhruv Lal Shrestha and Rajni Shrestha became shareholders. In 2067 BS, Bhuwan Lal Rajbhandari was added as a shareholder. Finally, it is found that the shares and land of Annapurna Farming were transferred to different people at different times and in 2072 BS, it is found that the shares and land of Annapurna Farming were transferred to Bikesh Shrestha in the name of Bikesh Shrestha.
He became the personal secretary of Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ when he was the Prime Minister in 2065 BS. The CIB has stated that he transferred 164 ropanis of land, which is currently being discussed by the Shera Durbar, to himself and Shrestha. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak had said that an investigation is underway in this regard and that the time has come for Maoist Chairman Prachanda to thank him.
Thus, the palace built by Prithvi Narayan Shah during the Gorkha expansion campaign and where he gave divine teachings to his brother Bharda has become accessible to people outside the palace while the monarchy remains intact. After the advent of the republic, most of the areas of the Shera Durbar area have come under private ownership.
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