By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Sept. 14: The Hanumandhoka Durbar Museum has reopened after four and a half months.
For the first time since April, people can visit the museum’s ornament gallery, Nasal Chowk, Loha Chowk and the Putali Garden as well as see the vehicle which once belonged to King Mahendra.
Among the reopened sections, ornament gallery is a major attraction where visitors can see more than 22,000 sets of centuries-old jewellery made of precious metals like gold, silver and diamond, Sandeep Khanal, executive director of the Hanumandhoka Durbar Museum Development Committee, said.

“This gallery, which only opened in March this year, houses never-before-seen jewels belonging to gods and goddesses from all over the nation,” Khanal said.
However, three major galleries dedicated to kings Tribhuvan, Mahendra and Birendra as well as the nine-storeyed palace wing of the museum remain closed due to ongoing reconstruction work.

“Around 70 to 80 per cent of the work on the palace has been completed and the remaining work will be done after the arrival of the Chinese contractor,” Khanal informed, sharing that the Chinese left after the first lockdown imposed in March 2020 and have not been able to return since then. The palace is to be completed by November 2022.

Similarly, the Rana-era white building located between the Gaddi Baithak and the nine-storey palace will be completed in five months.
“It will take time for these under-construction wings to open,” Khanal said.

Meanwhile, the Gaddi Baithak, which had been opened to the public before the imposition of the latest restriction order, will again reopen to visitors after some formalities are completed, he added.
The museum, which was the residence of Nepali royals before they moved to the Narayanhiti Palace in 1886, officially reopened on September 5.