Coronation Pond & Nepal's Royalty

One of the most distinctive gardens within the National Botanical Garden that was evidently no longer maintained (at least not to the extent that it once was), was the Coronation Pond. This garden commemorated the coronation of King Birenda Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal (who reigned from 1972-2001). The stagnant and dilapidated condition of the garden was only an eidolic memory of its former glory. It, in many ways, served as a visual depiction of the changes that the country of Nepal had experienced over the last decade or so...

I heard anecdotally throughout my time in Nepal about what was referred to as the "national disgrace" or "shame of Nepal" (the assassination of the Nepali royal family in 2001).

On the 1st of June, 2001, in the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the Crown Prince Dipendra allegedly shot to death his father and mother (the King and Queen), brother, sister and five other royal family members before turning the gun on himself. In total, ten members of the royal family (including the alleged perpetrator) were killed and five others were injured. The assassination of the popular king and his family came as a great shock to many and set in motion a series of events that eventually led to the overthrow of the Nepali monarchy. After the massacre, the king's brother, Gyanendra, assumed the throne under a cloud of suspicion (many in Nepal believed that he was in some way behind the massacre)...

Shah Coat of Arms

Due to King Gyanendra's unpopular imposition of direct authoritarian rule, as well as numerous other unpopular actions, and due to the pressures of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, the monarchy was officially abolished on May 28, 2008, and replaced with a secular federal republic. The relatively peaceful deposition of the monarchy not only led to Nepal becoming the world's newest republic, but also signified the fall of the Shah Dynasty (which had united Nepal during the 1760s and reigned continuously ever since).