Indra, Crown Princess of Nepal

Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (25 July 1926 – 4 September 1950) was the consort and Crown Princess of Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah, then Crown Prince of Nepal. She was the mother of Kings Birendra Bir Bikram Shah and Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, Prince Dhirendra Bir Bikram Shah, and Princesses Shanti Rajya Lakshmi Devi, Sharada Rajya Lakshmi Devi and Shobha Rajya Lakshmi Devi.[citation needed]

Indra
Crown Princess of Nepal
Reign8 May 1940 – 4 September 1950
Born(1926-07-25)25 July 1926
Hari Bhawan, Bagmati,
Kathmandu, Nepal
Died4 September 1950(1950-09-04) (aged 24)
Narayanhity Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Nepal
SpouseMahendra of Nepal
(m. 1940–1950, her death)
IssuePrincess Shanti
Princess Sharada
King Birendra
King Gyanendra
Princess Shobha
Prince Dhirendra[1][2]
Names
Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah
DynastyRana dynasty (by birth)
Shah dynasty (by marriage)
FatherHari Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana
MotherMegha Kumari Rajya Lakshmi
ReligionHinduism
Prasuti Griha build on the grounds of Charburja Durbar.

Life edit

She was the first wife of Mahendra of Nepal (1920–1972). Crown Princess Indra belonged to the aristocratic Rana family and was the daughter of late Honorary General Hari Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana and his wife, Megha Kumari Rajya Lakshmi.[3]

She married Crown Prince Mahendra on 8 May 1940 as a teenager at 14, but died on 4 September 1950 at the age of 24. She bore three sons and three daughters before her early death. She succumbed to a post-partum haemorrhage, a complication following the birth of her sixth child,[4] Dhirendra.[5] The death of the Crown Princess led to the building of the kingdom's first maternity hospital, the Prasuti Griha, and her head-and-shoulders statue stands in the entrance of the hospital that was built in the grounds of Charburja Durbar and was opened on 17 August 1959.[6]

Two years after Indra's death, her younger sister Ratna married Crown Prince Mahendra.[citation needed] There were no children by this marriage.[7]

Ancestry edit

Royal Titles edit

Royal titles
Preceded by Crown Princess of Nepal
1940–1950
Succeeded by

References edit

  1. ^ "King Mahendra of Nepal". 11 June 1920.
  2. ^ "Late King Mahendra with his family".
  3. ^ Himalaya
  4. ^ Jane Wilson-Howarth (2012). A Glimpse of Eternal Snows: a journey of love and loss in the Himalayas. Bradt Travel Guides, UK. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-84162-435-8.
  5. ^ Indian Express
  6. ^ Pmwh
  7. ^ "श्री ५ रत्नको आमा बन्ने अधिकार हनन् भएको थियो". Dcnepal.

External links edit

Ratna Rajya Laxmi Devi biography and interview on YouTube

  • Image of Crown Princess Indra in this video