Kathmandu, Mar 20: Nepal king Gyanendra this afternoon left for New Delhi for a ten-day pilgrimage tour to various places in India. The king, accompanied by Queen Komal and other senior officials, will meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his tour. However, Nepalese officials have stressed that this is purely a pilgrimage tour. There is an old tradition of Nepalese kings visiting pilgrim spots of India. The king was seen off by chairman of the council of royal representative crown prince Paras, prime minister and other senior officials of the government. The king has constituted a council of royal representatives under the chairmanship of the crown prince Paras to carry out the works during his absence. The king and queen will leave New Delhi on Saturday to visit Rameshwaram temple, Dwarikadheesh temple and Sri Jagannath temple in Puri. They will also visit Kanchi Kamakoti Peeth in Kanchipuram, Meenakshi-Sundareshwara temple in Madurai and Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirupati.

According to their schedule, they will also inaugurate the Golden jubilee celebrations of the installation of his holiness jagatguru Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Kamakoti Peeth in Chennai.

This is the second visit of the king to India after he ascended the throne of the Himalayan kingdom in June 2001 after the mass assassination of king Birendra and his family by prince Dipendra.

He had paid a state visit to India in June last year.

Bureau Report