A FIne Establishment

Today’s Baneshwar, located in the Kathmandu metropolitan city-10, was once a part of the Mahadevsthan Adarsha ​​Gaun Panchayat as per the administrative division then. 

Realising the need for a school in this village, Ratna Rajya Pathshala was established in 1960 in front of Baneshwar Mahadev temple. Later, the library was started mainly targeting the locals at that time.

However, it soon became a meeting place for the country’s top writers and social workers, says Shashi Bikram Rana, the current chairman of the library, who also has been associated with the library since 1967.

At present, at the library’s courtyard, there are busts of Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Parijat, Bhupi Sherchan, Pahalman Singh Swar, Dharani Dhar Koirala, and Chittadhar Hridaya.

Nepal’s first president, Ram Baran Yadav had unveiled these statues of these great authors of Nepali literature (excluding the statue of Laxmi Prasad Devkota).

Since its establishment in 1962, this public library has been organising numerous literary as well as cultural events and activities by inviting established writers, leaders, social activists, artists, educationists, and others. Also, many political programmes used to happen on the school premises, says Rana.