The Nepal Army (NA) is marking the 301st birth anniversary of its founder Prithvi Narayan Shah across the country by organizing several programmes on Wednesday.

In this connection, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Prabhuram Sharma is unveiling the full-body size statue of nation builder Shah in the premises of the Gorkha Palace, according to Nepal Army Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari. The Gorkha municipality and the NA are jointly hosting the programme.

As informed, the NA has been offering a guard of honour to the nation-builder Prithvi narayan Shah by sounding the bugle in the Gorkha Palace in the morning and evening every day since Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the NA has been annually organizing ‘unification march’ following the same route that the nation-builder used during the unification of Nepal, coinciding with the Prithvi Jayanti since 2076 BS. The march that started from Gorkha January 5 this year has arrived in the Hanumandhoka Palace through Dhading and Nuwakot earlier today.

The attendees of the march will travel around the city from Hanumandhoka on Wednesday and participate in the special function to be organized near the full body-size statue of Prithvi Narayan in the Army Headquarters. The NA would offer tributes to its founder with a guard of honour.

Likewise, President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Nepal Army, is scheduled to offer floral tributes and honour to the nation-builder at his statue in front of the Singha Durbar.

The government has announced a public holiday on Wednesday on the occasion of the Prithvi Jayanti after a gap of several years.(RSS)