His Majesty King Gyanendra unveiled a full-sized statue of late king Birendra erected at the Shanti Ban Batika premises in Naya Bazaar of Pokhara amidst a function, Sunday.

Her Majesty Queen Komal was also present on the occasion.

Minister for Education and Sports Radha Krishna Mainali, Vice-Chancellor of Tribhuvan University (TU) Dr Govinda Prasad Sharma, Chairman of TU Service Commission Samarthya Bahadur Singh, Registrar of TU Gita Bhakta Joshi, and Regional Administrator Chhatra Bikram Shah welcomed their Majesties at the program venue upon their arrival.

Addressing the function, Vice-Chancellor Dr Sharma informed that there were plans to establish two halls at the Ban Batika for peace studies and intellectual activities.

The statue, erected in 1989 to commemorate the late king’s zone of peace proposal, was sculpted by noted sculptor Amar Chitrakar.

Their Majesties have been in an informal visit of the western region for the past two weeks.