Promotion of nationalism King Mahendra's role in the promotion of nationalism has been unforgettable. In nearly two centuries since Prithvi Narayan Shah, Nepal was administered as a single political entity from
Kathmandu and was treated as a single country by its neighbouring powers including like
China,
India and
Tibet but its citizens never had a unified sense of "Nepali-ness". Even the citizens of the country did not know where and what
Nepal was, calling
Kathmandu valley as Nepal, lower plains around
Birgunj,
Biratnagar area as
Madesh, upper gorkha region as
Gorkha, and western Nepal as Khas and even the king as
Gorkhali King rather than a king of Nepal. It is said that Nepal was built before, but Nepal as a political boundary and country was institutionalized by King Mahendra. Before 1960, foreigners were free to purchase land in Nepal. After coup d'état of 1960, King Mahendra banned foreigners from purchasing land in Nepal. At that moment there was no single language used by the whole nation, and Nepalese were increasingly influenced from foreign languages. Indian cultures,
Indian cinemas, teaching of
Hindi language in the schools were all the signs leading towards the amalgamation of Nepal into India. Mahendra was uncomfortable with the widespread changes happening in the country: a diverse elected cabinet under
BP Koirala; political parties in the
Terai advocating for an autonomous province; and
Hindi, lingua franca of the people of Indian origin, being spoken in Parliament. The king was troubled by how democracy had allowed people to assert their identity and culture forcing communalism, regionalism, and other anti-national motives. When Hindi dominance was increasing in communities, he devised the policy of national language by selecting
Khas Kura as the national language as it was the lingua franca and made it nationwide. The language was transformed from
lingua franca, to
official language and then later to
national language. By establishing the
Nepal Rastra Bank, King Mahendra made
Nepali currency compulsory throughout the kingdom. At that time, 90 percent of
Indian currency was in circulation in Nepal. By creating a distinct language, distinct currency, distinct dress, distinct political system and distinct religious identity from those of the neighbouring nations, Mahendra created a distinct identity of the people which in turn promoted national unity and nationality. King Mahendra personally funded 2 lakh 50 thousand rupees to build a martyr's gate at Bhadrakali, Kathmandu in order to honor the great
martyrs who died for the rights and democracy of the people during the
rana regime. The constitution introduced by King Mahendra in 1962 introduced the modern
national flag of the country which is being used until today. In 1955 King Mahendra appointed a commission headed by famous writer
Balkrishna Sama to make nominations of
National heroes of Nepal since ancient times on the basis of their contributions to the nation.
Diplomatic campaign in 1967 in
Bucharest,
Romania. The role played by Mahendra in establishing Nepal in the international arena is important. From the thought of achieving membership of the United Nations to establishing Nepal as a zone of peace major attributions goes to King Mahendra. Adopting the principle of
Panchsheel and non-aligned foreign policy, he maintained diplomatic relations with neighboring countries and kept them in balance. King Mahendra established diplomatic relations with 45 countries to show the world that Nepal is an independent nation. Mahendra personally attended the
1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in
Belgrade,
FPR Yugoslavia, making Nepal one of the founding members of the
Non-Aligned Movement. In 2012 BS, Nepal also became a member of the United Nations.
Rishikesh Shah then became the Permanent Representative to the
United Nations. On Magha 13, 2012 BS, King Mahendra appointed Acharya as the prime minister of Nepal. He established friendly relations by visiting
China and
Japan. Under his guidance and policy, Nepal was elected as a Member of
United Nations Security Council in 1969. Nepal was elected in the
Security Council the second time again in 1988. Nepal established its image as a committed member of the UN and Nepal was well recognized by the member countries. Nepal's active role and the role he played on the Security Council twice are the proof of a success policy guided by the King. King's tenure is also seen as a golden age for Nepal in foreign relations. In addition to establishing diplomatic relations with many countries, the government was able to establish close ties with the Chinese government. He pursued a foreign policy of neutrality between
China and
India. The border adjustments was made on grounds of equality by performing land-swapping with Nepal gaining more land than it gave. After the treaty Nepal gained 302.75 square kilometer more land from China.
Development policy King Mahendra introduced five years government plans to plan and oversee development in the country. Seeing the importance of planning in better development, the king established the
National Planning Commission in 2013 BS. For the first time the industrial policy of 1957 formally recognized the responsibility of the government in "promoting, assisting and regulating" industrial development in the country and the First Plan intended to establish state monopolies in the fields of transportation, telecommunication, hydro-electric power generation and irrigation, and to run some big industries, such as cement, sugar, cigarettes, textiles, iron and steel From 1960 to 1965, government's population policy was to resettle people from the Hills to the Terai. However, in 1965, King Mahendra formally endorsed a new population policy to bring equilibrium between population and economic growth. The official policy was firstly to reduce population growth through socio-economic change, secondly through family planning program and only then through resettlement. Following the promulgation of Nepal Electricity Corporation Act 2019,
Nepal Electricity Corporation (NEC) came into operation in 1962 which was the main authority for responsible for providing electricity to the citizens. The provision of planning for five years known as the five-year plan started during his reign from 1956. The highway built by the king has greatly contributed to the all round socio-economic development of the country. He launched the
Back to the Village National Campaign in 1967 which was one of his largest rural development efforts. He established Nepal Sports Council to oversee the development of the sports activities in the country.
Economic reforms Before 1956, Nepal did not have its own foreign currency reserve but rather maintained it in central bank of India. For getting the foreign currency amounts required to bear the expenses of
Nepalese Embassies and treatment expenses of King, an application had to be submitted to the
Reserve Bank of India. One of the problems that distressed Nepalese economy was the circulation of two types of currency, Nepalese and Indian simultaneously.
Nepal had a dominant use of
Indian rupee. Exchange rates between the Indian and Nepali currency were fixed by local traders. Many financial institutions, such as
Rastriya Banijya Bank,
Rastriya Beema Sansthan, Nepal Co-operative Banks among others were gradually established to make the Nepalese economy more engaging and sustainable.
Industrialization of economy In July 1959, Nepal Industrial Development Corporation started serving as an industrial finance organization to expand Nepalese industries and services, including hotels, and industrial estates. King Mahendra laid the foundation of economic development by building physical infrastructure with the help of foreign aid. The foundation for the Industrial Estates (IEs) was laid with the establishment of Balaju Industrial Area in 1963 (2018 BS) with technical and financial assistance from the
United States of America (USA). Patan Industrial Area, Hetauda Industrial Area, Dharan Industrial Area, Birgunj Sugar Mill,
Nepal Oil Corporation, Janakpur Cigarette Factory, and Balaju Textile Industry were all established during his time.
Salt Trading Corporation was established in 1963 (2020 BS), with objective to make iodized table salt accessible to all citizens. Later, again to deal with the import and export for the purpose of rendering support to the economic development of the country Mahendra established
National Trading Limited. On 12 March 1969, (Falgun 29, 2025 BS) with the help of Chinese aid, Mahendra inaugurated Nepal's First Brick and Tile Factory in Harisiddhi which started its production two months later in Baishakh 17 2026
BS. Similarly, Bansbari leather Shoe Factory was also established in 1965 with help of Chinese aid. Similarly, he started the era of stocks and bonds by issuing the first
Government Bond in 1964. During the
Cold War, Nepal tried to boost the economy by creating an environment of economic cooperation between the two neighboring sides.
Contribution to health The death of the first wife of King Mahendra due to birth complications led to the building of the kingdom's first
maternity hospital, Paropakar Shree Panch Indra Rajya Lakshmi Maternity Hospital later renamed as
Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital, commonly known as the
Prasuti Griha, on the grounds of
Charburja Durbar on 17 August 1959.
Kanti Children's Hospital was established as a general hospital in 1963 with the economic aid from
USSR and was later specialized mainly for children in 1968. In 1964, Royal Drugs laboratory was established to perform scientific research and analysis of drugs as well as development of new drugs. Also, Nepal Ausadhi Limited was established in 1972 with technical collaboration with
United Kingdom. In the same year,
Institute of Medicine (IOM) was established under
Tribhuvan University with the purpose of producing and training all categories of medical manpower required for the nation which immediately initiated courses for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives and Community Medical Assistants. The first ayurvedic school, Rajakiya Ayurvedic Bidyalaya was also established in this year. Malaria Eradication Project in the Terai region was launched for the first time in 1958 with the help of USAID. Within this policy the numbers reached 32 for hospitals and 104 for health centers in the public sector In the year 1963. Similarly in this period, hospitals funded by various NGO missions were established such as Scheer Memorial Hospital in Banepa (1957), Pokhara Shining Hospital in Kaski (1957), Amp Pipal Hospital in
Gorkha (1957), Okhaldhunga Hospital in
Okhaldhunga (1963), Bulingtar Hospital in Nawalparasi (1962) and United Mission Hospital in Palpa (1954), Anandban Leprosy Hospital in Patan (1963), Green Pasteur Hospital in Kaski (1957) and Dadeldhura Leprosy Hospital in
Dadeldhura.
Agricultural development To support animal husbandry and agriculture and to modernize the traditional agriculture
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) was established in 1957 as an independent institute for the motive of training agriculture technicians which was later brought under
Tribhuvan University's management. In 1964, to process sugar from sugar cane, Birgunj Sugar Mill was established with economic aid from the then
Soviet Union in Parsa. Visioning better future prospects of the Tea industry in Nepal, in 1965 a Tea plantation Estate, Soktim Tea was set up in the plains of
Jhapa District. Nepal Tea Development Corporation was established in 1966 by Government of Nepal to aid the development of Tea industry. Agriculture Supply Corporation, which was later split into Nepal Food Corporation, Krishi Samagri Company Ltd. and National Seed Company Ltd was established in 1965 to distribute high quality agricultural inputs such as seeds, and agro-chemicals at a price accessible to the farmers across the country. In order to provide credit to farmers and people of rural areas, financial institutions dedicated to agriculture development,
Agricultural Development Bank was established in 1967. This bank has also been executing Small Farmer Development Program (SFDP) for motive of
poverty alleviation in rural areas. Agricultural Tools Factory was initially established in Birgunj in 1967 and later also in Biratnagar to produce required agricultural tools for the farmers in cheap cost within the country with the technical and economic aid of
Soviet Union. Dhan Chamal Company was established to produce rice produced from the fields of newly extended agriculture region after the extinction of malaria in the Terai region. Eradication of
Malaria in the Terai region and the land settlement programs contributed to a massive movement of population from the hills into the
Terai, resulting in a large increase in the area devoted to agriculture. In the early 1960s, buckwheat and millet were the main agriculture products in Mustang, which were easy to produce but were extracting very little income since rice and wheat were the main products beyond its borders. Along with the horticulture expert Pasang Sherpa and help of the
Nepali army, government tested different varieties of the fruit on various qualities parameters, while disseminating the most successful cultivated ones to local farmers. The technical and economic assistance provided to the farmers, as well as harvest and grooming tools and equipment promoted apples and agro products in
Marpha,
Jomsom and Thak Khola villages of
Mustang which eventually introduced this region as the apple farmland of the country. According to the Companies Act, "The Timber Corporation of Nepal Limited" (TCN), later restructured as Nepal Forest corporation, was established in 1960 to systematically collect and chop firewood produced by forest management and supply it to the general public. Cigarette was one of the major import during panchayat regime so people were encouraged to cultivate tobacco and Janakpur Cigarette Factory was established to make use of such tobacco and reduce the import of cigarette in the country. In 1959 Nepal became the member of International union of Official travel organization, now known as
World Tourism Organization. In the same year, a separate directorate for tourism was setup by the government and a general plan for organization of tourism of Nepal was prepared with cooperation with the
Government of France. In 1964, the King travelled to
Rara Lake and penned his famous poem
Rara Ki Apsara since he got mesmerized by beauty of Rara
. His visit and the famous poem afterwards brought this lake to limelight and the reader of the poem started visiting the lake. The royal family established Soaltee hotel in 1965 and was inaugurated by King Mahendra in 1966. Similarly, Annapurna Hotel was also established in 1965 with cooperation with foreign diplomats and tourists by the royal family. The hotel tax act was first time devised in 1960 defining hotel, restaurants, casinos and bringing them under the jurisdiction of law. With his initiation, Nepal association of Travel agents was established in 1966. In the same year, eight members of the hotels together established
Hotel association of Nepal (HAN) which became one of the main contributors to governmental decisions making regarding tourism. The first casino for the purpose of promoting tourist was established during his reign in 1968. The five-year plan of 1965-1970 devised a plan to dedicate a commission for recognizing and promoting the tourism of the country. Under this plan, a high level Tourism development board was later established in 1969 After being member of the
United Nations, King Mahendra invited the
UN Secretary General U Thant to Nepal and involved him in the development of
Lumbini as a birthplace of
Gautam Buddha. With this initiation, a 13 nation International Lumbini development Committee was established in
New York to develop the Ancient Lumbini area. It was in his time the famous
Hippie trail started in Nepal and Nepal's existence started being known to the outside world. The famous
Mahendra Cave in Pokhara got his name after he officially inaugurated it and since then it is one of the most visited places in
Pokhara. In 1972 a tourism master plan was created emphasizing
public-private partnership model with the view of creating more jobs and more revenue to the government. Later the establishment of
Royal Nepal Airlines and opening of Himalayan trek for the first time brought more influx of tourist.
Transportation development Earlier, Nepalis were compelled to travel via Indian territory while visiting from one district to another district. King Mahendra ended this situation by constructing a highway with foreign assistance. King Mahendra had initially requested India to build this highway. However, when India refused, he sought the help of the
Soviet Union. India was also attracted after the road from
Dhalkebar to Pathalaiya was built by
Soviet Union, the
Mechi section from Dhalkebar (
Jhapa to
Janakpur) was constructed by India, while the Hetauda-Narayanghat section was constructed by the
Asian Development Bank, the Narayanghat -Butwal section by the
United Kingdom and the Butwal-Kohalpur section by India. In 1961, King Mahendra laid the foundation stone for the construction of the
Mahendra Highway (also called East-West Highway) at
Gaindakot. The highway has greatly contributed to the all round socio-economic development of the country. In his efforts to diversify Nepal's connectivity beyond India, he created
Kodari road link with China's Tibet
Araniko Highway. India was furious when China said it would build the
Kodari Highway. Again, with the aid of
Indian government, Tribhuvan Rajpath from
Hetauda to
Thankot was built. This Rajpath was famously known as "By road" when lots of Indians using this road to travel to Kathmandu.
Kanti Highway, a 92 Kilometer
feeder road connecting
Lalitpur to
Hetauda was started in 1954 by
King Mahendra. In 1964, with the help of
USAID, Kathmandu-Hetauda ropeway was started to reduce the cost of goods transportation from India. On 15 June 1955,
Tribhuvan International Airport was inaugurated by Mahendra and later named it such in memory of his father. In 1957, department of aviation was established and it started its first scheduled service in 1958. Nepal at the time lacked all weather and blacktopped airports, except the
Tribhuvan International Airport, and for aviation to sustain, other airports were built, including airports in
Bhairahawa (later renamed as
Gautam Buddha Airport),
Biratnagar,
Bharatpur,
Dhangadhi,
Pokhara and
Simara. Funds were temporarily transferred from construction of suspension bridges to the airline company when the Soviets promised to help with the civil aviation after the King's state visit to the
Soviet Union.
Janakpur Airport and
Palungtar Airport was established in 1960 and
Nepalgunj Airport and
Meghauli Airport in the
Chitwan District was established next year in 1961.
Bhadrapur Airport was established in 1963,
Surkhet Airport in 1966,
Syangboche Airport at
Solukhumbu was established in 1971 and
Rumjatar Airport and
Tumlingtar Airport established in 1972. After, the establishment of country own airlines, air service agreement was needed for which first air service agreement was made in 1963. Mahendra also established
Sajha Bus Yatayat in order to provide cheap and accessible transport to the local people in 1961.
Buildings and structures He built the modern
Narayanhiti Palace after the demolition of the old palace from the old Rana architecture. King Mahendra also built
Ratna Mandir, the Lakeside palace for Queen Ratna in 1956. Nepal's first golf course, the
Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) at Tilganga, Kathmandu, was inaugurated on 2022
BS. by him. He is also given credit for the construction of
Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu. Diyalo Bangla, a palace for the former royal family was constructed in
Bharatpur,
Chitwan to allow former royal family members to relax and hunt wild animals during their visit. The
Koshi River Barrage, a product of multiple ideas to control monsoon floods was constructed during his reign between 1959 and 1963 with the motive of irrigation of agricultural fields, flood control and generation of hydroelectricity. In 1959, king Mahendra and Indian prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru jointly inaugurated and laid foundation of
Koshi Barrage. Koshi Barrage was believed to be biggest water project of south Asia at the time of its construction. A similar dam, the Gandaki river dam was built between the period of 1959 to 1964 on the border between India and Nepal at Gandak for the purpose of flood control, irrigation and hydropower generation. Also, Trisuli dam was built in 1971. Kulekhani Hydro Power are some of the few power projects built during King Mahendra's rule. He is also credited for the vision of
Kathmandu water project also known as
Melamchi Water Supply Project though his early demise could not bring the plan into implementation. The first bridge connecting Nepal with China was also built during his reign in 1964.
Kathmandu and
Mukundapur in 1961 during his reign. With the need to provide higher education institution for a growing settlement n Chitwan, Birendra Intermediate Arts College was established on 13 April 1965 (Baishakh 1, 2022 BS.) later renamed as Birendra Multiple Campus. In order to produce skilled workers inside the country,
Pulchowk Engineering Campus was established in 1966 with assistance from
Government of India and
Thapathali Engineering Campus was established in 1967 with technical assistance of
Germany. Later in 1972, these two institutes were brought under the umbrella of
Tribhuvan university to constitute the
Institute of Engineering. These two engineering institution are still regarded as one of the best engineering institution in the county. The king was in forefront to bring women forward for participation in the society. With the heated discussion to bring women in the schools a girl school was established in Dillibazaar, Kathmandu which was with effort of the king later converted in to a higher institution,
Padma kanya campus, and moved to Baghbazar within a greater college premises and facilities
Information and communication development The telephone service in the country was initially, exclusively aimed for use in the Palaces of feudal
Rana rulers. However, since the day of coronation of King Mahendra, the first distribution of telephone line was made available to the general public. Beginning in 1959, with support from
USAID, Nepal developed 1,000 telephone lines in the capital. It also established its first public exchange in 1962 and converted its manual exchange into the country's first automatic telephone exchange within 1964. In 1971, Nepal received its first
telex service. He increased tower infrastructures so that
Radio Nepal could reach all corners of the country. Moreover, there were multiple representatives from India claiming that Nepal cannot handle its foreign policy and defense policy on its own. King Mahendra removed all the Indian representatives and politicians from the ministry and only kept Nepalese representatives. King Mahendra incorporated the phrase '
Hindu Kingdom' in the newly introduced constitution. and introduced Supreme court in Nepal on 21 May 1956. Even though royalty act removed many smaller kings, it still recognized 17 small kings including that of
Salyan,
Bajhang,
Jajarkot,
Mustang, Bhirkot, Malneta and Darna. King Mahendra publicly declared his will for rule of law in the nation. The
Legal Practitioners Act, in 1968 was introduced to institutionalize this willingness of a systematic rule. He introduced the separation of power within the state by dividing legislative power to the
Rastriya Panchayat, executive power to the
Council of ministers and judicial power to the
Supreme Court. He also established the
Office of the Auditor General in Nepal by appointing the first auditor general in 1963 according to the Nepalese constitution of 1958. Section 77 and Section 78 of Part 13 of 1962 constitution provided a provision for establishment of
Public Service Commission to employ and train government officials in the country. Section 78 (a b c) of Part 13 (a) of the same constitution made the arrangement of the
Election Commission which later became the sole authority to regulate and conduct elections in the country.
Social reforms In 1955 (2012 BS), with the enactment of the Police Act, there were attempts to boost the morale of the army.
National Police Academy was established under this act. The electricity produced in the country at the beginning was exclusively aimed for use in the Palaces of feudal rulers. However, since the day of coronation of King Mahendra in 1955, electricity became more open and accessible to the public. He then introduced the Nepal Civil Service Act to develop employee skills, ending the long era of the Panjani practice.
Nepal Public Commission was established under this act for reforming and developing the civil service. This move ended the long-standing tradition of directly electing, dismissing and transferring government officials by the king and started the tradition of electing only eligible candidates. In 1963, a Central Police Training Centre was established to train and reform the police.
Rajya reform abolished special privileges of some aristocratic elites in western Nepal. The new
panchayat system managed to bring 50,000 to 60,000 people into a single system of representative government in a way that had been rendered impossible for the elite-based political parties. Nepal was able to carry out its second plan (1962–65) and third plan (1965–70), and to begin the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1970–75). Moreover, he became the first king to donate blood in Nepal in order to create awareness between people about blood donation. He was also concerned about illegal Indians entering the nation and taking benefit in the name of local, so he introduced the system of citizenship in 1964.
Promotion of art, history and culture In order to preserve the local traditions, religion and culture, way of life, festivals and languages, he had established the
Royal Nepal Academy (Nepali:- नेपाल राजकीय प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठान) and National Dance Academy (Nepali: राष्ट्रिय नाचघर) and other institutions.
Royal Nepal Academy later renamed as
Nepal Academy started translating foreign literature to Nepali language giving access to the people for foreign literature. In 1961
Nepal Association of fine arts later known as
Nepal Academy of Fine Arts (Nepali:नेपाल ललित कला प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठान) was established. This along with Srijana Fine Arts School were some prominent established made to promote contemporary art in the nation. This corporation paired with
Radio Nepal to increase the reach of produced records of Nepali national music. King Mahendra was a great lover of Art. In his leadership National Numismatic Museum was established in 1962 to preserve the national history, art and culture. To promote the art and the artist in the nation, he conceived a Public-Private partnership organization and established
Nepal Art Council in 1962. In 1962, Nepal Sahitya Sansthan was established to stimulate public's interest in art and culture through literature. In 1965, Panchayat Government initiated a program where actors and directors were sent to India for special training. Later, Mahendra Pragya Puraskar was introduced which awarded to contributors of Nepali language, arts and culture every two years. King Mahendra as a chancellor of Nepal academy started the tradition of All Nepal poetry competition on his birthday where winners are awarded with cash prizes. In 1966, on the personal request of Mahendra, the first private bannered Film,
Maitighar was produced in the country. Mahendra wrote songs for the film and also provided some funding.
Kaiser Library was established in 1969 when the ownership of
Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana's history and books collection came under the ownership of the government. King Mahendra made this property accessible to the public with the donated personal collection by his widow Krishna Chandra Kumari Devi. In 1970, the king discussed with Dev Anand, an Indian actor, director and producer, to produce film in Nepal to promote the local cultural heritage and depict the hippie culture. The movie showcased the cultural heritage of the country to the world for the first time such as ancient Kasthamandap, Basantapur Durbar Square as well as Bhaktapur durbar square and showcased the hippie culture.
Promotion of religion Royal Nepal Academy started translating religious text to Nepali and Sanskrit language giving access to the people for religious text. The constitution introduced by King Mahendra in 1962 officially recognized
Hindu religion as the state religion. Being a state religion, Hinduism was promoted and protected under the expense of the state and prohibited the slaughter of the animal. Under his reign, the king and the queen was started being worshipped in every Nepalese homes as the incarnation of Vishnu. After being member of the UN, King Mahendra invited the
UN Secretary General U Thant to
Nepal During his entire rule, he enhanced the religious responsibilities of the royal family and enhanced the ritual status of the king in the society by routinely referencing himself in his speeches and writings "as the last remaining Hindu king of the world". Similarly, the Land Survey and Measurement Act was introduced in 1962. It classified land as Abal, Doyam, Sim, and Chahar. Likewise, land reform act 1964 ended the feudal land ownership practice and secured the right of farmers. This land reform policy led to the confiscation of large Rana estates and provided land to many landless people. In the meantime, the Land Administration Act, 1966 was promulgated which further reformed the land administration office changing it into Land Revenue office(Nepali: मालपोत कार्यालय). Moreover, He had provided accommodation to ex- soldiers who knew how to wield weapons and to Nepalese who were expelled from Burma and set up settlements of Nepalis in the Terai from
Jhapa to
Kanchanpur so that the Indians would not oppress them. Eradication of
Malaria and the land settlement programs contributed to a massive movement of population from the hills into the
Terai, resulting in a large increase in the area devoted to agriculture. == Criticisms ==