BHAKTAPUR: Minister for Urban Development Krishna Gopal Shrestha garlanded the statue of Shankhadhar Sakhwa at Madhyapur Thimi here on the occasion of the Nepal Sambat New Year 1141 today.

Shakhwa is a national luminary who instituted the Nepal Sambat calendar, the country’s indigenous calendar.

On the occasion, Minister Shrestha said the Nepal Sambat is not only of a single community but the indigenous calendar of all the Nepalis.

“Although this calendar has been declared a national calendar by the government, there is a wrong notion that it belonged only to the Newar community as not all the Nepalis have been able to own it. Therefore, it is necessary to make the true national calendar of Nepal,” he stressed.

He opined that each year the New Year’s Day of the Nepal Sambat reminded Shankhadhar Sakhwa, who propounded it, adding that Sakhwa has been respected as the national luminary in commemoration of his service to the people by absolving them of their debt. He argued that any person who liberates the people of their debt and starts an indigenous calendar on that occasion cannot be said to belong to a single community or caste.

The Minister also underscored the need of bringing the Nepal Sambat calendar into use in government documents and works and for other practical purposes.

Lawmaker Mahesh Basnet spoke on the contribution made by the national hero Sakhwa and stated that the leaders should also work in favor of the people and the country like him.

Former Minister and lawmaker Bhimsen Das Pradhan said the Newar community should not make the Nepal Sambat calendar its own property as Sankhadhar is not a person belonging to a particular community but a common personality.

Bagmati Province Assembly member Dr. Rajendra Man Shrestha, Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, Madan Sundar Shrestha, President of the National Luminary Shankhadhar Sakhwa Foundation, Chandan Krishna Shrestha, immediate past president Shyam Krishna Manandhar, vice-president Gyan Ram Shrestha, among other speakers, called on the government to preserve and promote the Nepal Sambat calendar.

Separate messages sent by President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on the occasion of the Nepal Sambat 1141 were read out at the function.