By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - After the king, it is now the turn ofhis cows to face removal from Nepal's royal palace, two daysafter it was turned into a museum, a government official saidon Tuesday.
Gyanendra, the last king of Nepal, left the main palacelast week after a special assembly voted in May to abolish the239-year-old monarchy and turn the Himalayan nation into arepublic.
But Gyanendra's 60 cows still graze in the sprawlinggrounds of the Narayanhiti palace in the heart of Kathmandu. Heused the cows for fresh milk but authorities say the animals,considered holy by Hindus, must also leave.
"We can't keep them there and no decision has yet beentaken about what to do with them," said Govinda Prasad Kusum, asenior bureaucrat in charge of preparing an inventory of palacecontents.
"Maybe the livestock department under the ministry ofagriculture should use these cows for research purposes," hesaid. Nepal, a mostly Hindu nation, forbids slaughtering cows.
Gyanendra is now living as a commoner in one of his formerhunting lodges outside Kathmandu.
On Sunday, the government inaugurated a museum inside thepink pagoda-roofed palace where Gyanendra's diamond-studdedcrown, ceremonial sceptre, throne and other items will bedisplayed.
A 1939 model Mercedes-Benz car given by Nazi leader AdolfHitler to King Tribhuvan, Gyanendra's grandfather, in 1940 willalso be among other rare items likely to fill the museum, whichis expected to open to the public in two months.
(Editing by Jonathan Allen and David Fogarty)
