Princess Jyotshana Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah of Nepal is a member of the former Nepalese royal family. Jyotshana and her husband, diplomat Singha Bahadur Basnyat, have worked to internationally promote

Nepalese culture The culture of Nepal encompasses the various cultures belonging to the 125 distinct ethnic groups present in Nepal. The culture of Nepal is expressed through music and dance; art and craft; folklore; languages and literature; philosophy and relig ...

Background

Princess Jyotshana's father, Prince Basundhara of Nepal, was a son of

King Tribhuvan Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह देव ) (30 June 1906 – 13 March 1955) was King of Nepal from 11 December 1911 until his ...

. Jyotshana's mother, Princess Helen Shah, was from the aristocratic

Rana dynasty Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...

. Her mother's sister Princep married Prince Himalaya, another son of King Tribhuvan. Princess Jyotshana has two sisters: Princess Jayanti, who was killed in the

Nepalese royal massacre The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on 1 June 2001 at the Narayanhiti Palace, the then-residence of the Nepalese monarchy. Nine members of the royal family, including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, were killed in a mass shooting during a ga ...

, and Ketaki Chester, who renounced her title.

Marriage and children

In 1974, Princess Jyotshana married Dr. Singha Bahadur Basnyat (died on 6 February 2019), a diplomat of Basnyat family of Dilli Bazar, in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. They have three children: *Sharada Basnyat. *Vivekh Basnyat. *Suvash Basnyat.

Life

Princess Jyotshana's husband is a diplomat, and from 1980 to 1984, he was the ambassador to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and from 1997 to 2003, he was the ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Also he is the chairman of Jayanti Memorial Trust. Princess Jyotshana is the patron of Britain Nepal Society, whose president is

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (Richard Alexander Walter George; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, as well ...

. Princess Jyotshana her husband have worked to promote Nepalese culture internationally. Singha Basnyat has promoted the performance of Nepalese artists, for example at

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in May 2000. In 2001, ten members of the Nepalese royal family died in the

. Among the people who died was Princess Jayanti, Jyotshana's elder sister. After the tragedy, Princess Jyotshana and her husband turned to music for solace. They released a CD, ''In Memoriam. Samjhanama Shrutika Lahar''. They compiled the classics of

Madhav Prasad Ghimire Madhav Prasad Ghimire ( ne, माधव प्रसाद घिमिरे; 23 September 191918 August 2020) was a Nepali poet and scholar. He was honoured as the ''Rashtrakavi'' (National Poet) by the Government of Nepal in 2003. Some of h ...

, Chandani Shah and

Laxmi Prasad Devkota Laxmi Prasad Devkota ( ne, लक्ष्मीप्रसाद देवकोटा) (1909-1959) was a Nepali poet, playwright, and novelist. Honored with the title of Mahakabi ( ne, माहाकवि) in Nepali literature, he was kno ...

with British pianist Alisdair Campbell and arrangements by guitarist Anil Shai. Princess Jyotshana lent her voice, and her children- Sharada, Vivek and Suvash, also collaborated in this tribute. The proceeds of the CD went to Jayanti Memorial Trust, a trust established for cardiac patients in memory of Princess Jyotshana's deceased sister. Princess Jyotshana and her husband are also well known for their skills in tennis. They have participated in many tournaments held for diplomats in London. Jyotshana Basnyat is the patron of Jayanti Memorial Trust,JMT
/ref> which was established by her mother, Princess Helen Shah, in memory of the deceased Princess Jayanti. In 2008, monarchy in Nepal was abolished. All the members of the royal family lost their titles and privileges.

Patronages

* Patron of Britain Nepal Society (BNS). * Patron of Jayanti Memorial Trust (JMT).

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jyotshana Basnyat of Nepal, Princess Nepalese princesses Nepalese royalty Nepalese social workers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Nepalese nobility Nepalese Hindus