Remembering Late King Birendra in my pictures: a photo exhibition | What's Up

For five days hundreds of people stood in line around the parking lot of BICC as it inched slowly into the hall that held photographs of the Late King Birendra and his family taken by Dr. Khagendra Bahadur Shrestha, a Royal Physician.

Two large portraits, one of King Birendra and another of their late Majesties together, stood at the entrance. People had laid flowers and ceremonial khaddas on the photographs and someone had even brought offerings usually reserved for gods; dahi, paan, fruit and incense. People walked by in single file, some barely containing their tears when 1974 AD's Sambodhan played.

A young Prince Dipendra, barely 10 years old, poses with a pistol. Despite the gun, there is nothing sinsiter about the photo. A clunky calculator watch is strapped to his wrist, a gizmo that kids of that generation no doubt coveted as much as we want portable MP3 players today. Another photo shows King Birendra walking his huge Alsation, Jeet, in white socks and Thamel chappals with palace guards standing at attention in the background. Another showed His Majesty on a trip to the mountains with members of the English aristocracy sometime in the 70s. He is cradled by the peaks, smiling into the camera. In one hand is a barely discernable cigar. From the same series there is a classic picture of contrasts. Lady C sports a ruffled wind-blown style while the Queen stands besides her, every hair in a glossy and stiff bouffant that is a monument to hairspray.

Since the photos are all part of a private collection there is little chance for a permanent exhibition. The good news is there may be a book of these rare photos for those who missed out. Visitors at the exhibition were lucky enough to have the opportunity to order reprints of their favourites.