Nepal's King Gyanendra, who seized power in a coup five months ago, celebrated his 59th birthday on Thursday with his impoverished country frozen in political crisis and revolt. In a carefully stage-managed show of loyalty, thousands of children, cripples and other Nepalis queued in the scorching sun for hours for their brief moment to give the king a present at Narayanhity Palace, normally off limits to commoners.
Some came on crutches, some in wheelchairs and some in traditional costumes or holy Hindu robes. One woman carried 59 fried fish to wish Gyanendra luck; others, eggs, flowers, rose petals or trophies for a man revered as an incarnation of the Hindu god of protection, Vishnu.
As summer temperatures soared, school children vomited and fainted and were carted off to hospital by ambulance.
"All this would be good if it were spontaneous. But there was a written order from the government to bring the children," said teacher Bhanu Dhungana.
The mood was sombre and quiet. There was no sense of cheer or celebration among the queues in grounds of the palace, a stark brick and concrete building mixing Soviet and Nepali style.
The palace said more than 190 criminals had been freed and 800 people, including Princess Prerana, given state awards.
Gyanendra has suspended democracy, taken control of the Himalayan nation and censored the media, moves he said he was forced to take to fight a Maoist rebellion that has killed at least 12,500 since 1996.
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