Kathmandu January 12.Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, on the behalf of the government, laid a wreath on the life-size statue of Prithivi Narayan Shah in front of Singha Durbar on the occasion of 298th birth anniversary of Shah here today. Attending a commemoration ceremony organized by the Nepal Academy, Minister Bhattarai garlanded the statute of late king Shah in front of Singha Durbar in Kathmandu and reminisced the significant contributions made by Shah in unification campaign of modern Nepal. A contingent of Nepal Army had presented a guard of honor to Minister Bhattarai. Commemorating the birth anniversary, a 108-kilo gramme of garland was also offered to late king Shah’s idol. According to the Nepali calendar, Prithivi Narayan Shah was born on 27th Poush, 1779 BS (11 January, 1723 AD) in Gorkha district and was credited for unifying various small principalities to build modern Nepal. On the occasion, Acting Chief of Army Staff Sharad Giri and high-ranking NA officials offered their tributes to late King Shah by laying a wreath on Shah’s statue. Earlier, the Nepal Academy had organized a rally with cultural procession and a carriage carrying a life-size portrait of late Shah was taken across various places in Kathmandu before turning into an assembly in front of Shah’s statue in Singha Durbar. The mass also marked the presence of political leaders, officials of the Nepal Academy, former administrators and scholars who offered bouquets to the idol of Shah. Present in the commemoration were people from various organizations such as Thakuri Samaj Nepal and Greater Nepal among others who held placards and banners and chanted slogans in praise of his unification bid. They also demanded that Poush 27 of Nepali month be declared as the National Unity Day, the day traditionally celebrated as ‘Prithivi Jayanti’ as declared as public holiday until the political change brought by the people’s movement in 2006.