Princess Jayanti Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah of Nepal (4 August 1946 – 1 June 2001) was a member of the Nepalese royal family. She was a granddaughter of King Tribhuvan of Nepal. An active social worker, she was known for her contributions to cancer relief programs in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. She was one of the members of the Nepalese royal family who were killed in the June 2001

Nepalese royal massacre The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on the night of 1 June 2001, at the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu, the residence of the House of Shah, the Shah dynasty, royal family of Nepal. During a private gathering of the royal family, Crown Princ ...

Early life and education

Princess Jayanti was the first daughter of Prince Basundhara of Nepal and his first wife Princess Helen Shah of Nepal. Princess Jayanti was educated in Woodstock School, an international residential school in

Mussoorie Mussoorie () is a hill station and a municipal board, in Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hil ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and in Loreto Convent,

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

. She graduated from

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...

in 1970.

Social works

Princess Jayanti made significant contributions to cancer relief programs in

. She was the founder of the Nepal Cancer Relief Society, and was its chairperson from 1982 to 2001. She involved various international organizations to establish a cancer hospital in Nepal, raised social awareness, and led anti-smoking campaigns. Since her childhood, Princess Jayanti had seen different members of her family suffering from heart diseases, and therefore, she tried to help people suffering from heart diseases and worked to make cardiac treatment more affordable and available to the common people of Nepal. Princess Jayanti also worked to promote tourism. In addition, she was also aware about different environmental issues. All her life she worked to raise social awareness. She attended international conferences and presented different papers in Europe and America.

Death

Princess Jayanti was one of the ten members of the Nepalese royal family who died in the

. Jayanti's younger sister, Mrs. Ketaki Chester, was wounded but survived. Jayanti's mother, Princess Helen, was not present in the room at the time of the massacre and therefore survived. She was in the anteroom with the Queen Mother,

Ratna Ratna (रत्न) (also Rathna or Rathan) is a Sanskrit term for " jewel". It is also a popular female Hindu name. Ratna may refer to: People * Ratna, Queen Mother of Nepal (born 1928), Queen Consort of Nepal from 1955 to 1972 * Ratna Fa ...

Legacy

Princess Jayanti's mother, Princess Helen, established the Jayanti Memorial Trust (JMT) in her (Jayanti's) memory. The trust works to fight cardiac diseases. Besides her work for cancer relief programs, Princess Jayanti had also worked to help heart patients and to make cardiac treatment more available to the people of Nepal. The Princess Jayanti Achievement Award Ceremony is collaboratively arranged by Hotel Annapurna and Jayanti Memorial Trust. The award is named after her and aims to empower women. Every year, it honours three female students attending Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) who have topped in their respective academic year.

Honours

National honours

* Member of the Order of the Gurkha Right Hand, 1st class. * King Mahendra Coronation Medal (2 May 1956). * King Birendra Coronation Medal (25 February 1975). * Commemorative Silver Jubilee Medal of King Birendra (31 January 1997).

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayanti of Nepal, Princess 1946 births 2001 deaths 2001 murders in Nepal 20th-century Nepalese people 21st-century Nepalese people 20th-century Nepalese women 21st-century Nepalese women Female murder victims Nepalese princesses Nepalese royalty People murdered in Nepal Murdered royalty Nepalese social workers Nepalese murder victims Tribhuvan University alumni Members of the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu, First Class 20th-century Nepalese nobility Nepalese Hindus Nepalese people of Indian descent Nepalese expatriates in India