Government of Nepal

Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation

National Archives

Ramshah Path, Kathmandu , Nepal



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Kathmandu, June 9

The Department of Archeology celebrated International Archeological Day  2017 for the first time in the country today.

Though the country got membership of International Council of Archives in 1948, it never observed the day before.

“Soon after the country embraced democratic system of governance in 1950, Nepal Archeological Museum was established in Kumari Adda, Basantapur. Later, it was shifted inside the Singha Durbar,” informed culture expert Satya Mohan Joshi.

Sharing past memories he said, “Department of Archeology was founded by late king Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1958. Nepal realised the need of protecting rare historical archeological documents  only after it participated in the Bombay Archaeological Exhibition. An Indian cultural expert was taken by surprise when he saw ‘Nepal Darsan’ one of the rarest documents of the country.”

“Establishment of Art Gallery in the same year helped regain lost or stolen inscriptions and manuscripts. But,  now the state of Art Gallery is pathetic,” added Joshi.

Similarly, former minister for land reform Ridhi Baba Pradhan said he had never heard about the day during his 30-year stint in the archeological department. Likewise, Kumar Shrestha, information officer at the department, informed that the government had decided to shift the department in 2014. “The documents inside the department are being digitised,” added Shrestha.  He said, “Experts are showing their concern about security of historical documents.”

On the occasion, ancient historical inscriptions and manuscripts have been put on display for public viewing.