The newest national anthem

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For decades, the national anthem of Nepal was of the kind that made citizens cringe. "Sri maan gambhir…" sung to a Western martial tune that had nothing in common with the Southasian folk or classical traditions. Against a backdrop of Western instruments, it sang praises of the incumbent king, wished him eternal enhancement of status, and hoped that the population would expand hither and yon. The average Nepali was always envious of the Indian anthem, for the fine lilt of "Jana Gana Mana", the words and music defined by the great bard of Bengal (no matter that it was originally a paean to George V, to welcome him to Calcutta on 27 December 1911).

The recent misadventures of the autocrat Gyanendra – 12th in line after the unifier/conqueror Prithvi Narayan, who created the oldest nation state of Southasia nearly two and half centuries ago – irrevocably destroyed the kingship's image among the people of Nepal. It also made the old national anthem suddenly and thankfully irrelevant. And that, finally, was how an embarrassing, uninspiring tune and text, which had been a burden throughout Nepal's modern era, was definitively hurled out the window.

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Himal Southasian
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