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http://www.madanpuraskar.orgMadan Puraskar Pustakalaya archives wishes to express its concern about the security of the historical materials and papers contained in the Narayanhiti Palace in the process of transfer of ownership of the premises as the country is declared a republic by the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly. The Pustakalaya appeals to the Government of Nepal and related government agencies to actively seek the protection of those papers and materials. These rare documents are the common property of the citizens of Nepal, and should be a matter of grave interest to the government, the intelligentsia as well as researchers.In this connection, the historian Dr. Ramesh Kumar Dhungel, affiliated to the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS) and Advisor to the Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya, says: "We know from the reports of Brian Houghton Hodson, the British Resident from 150 years ago, that the material of national and international cultural importance contained in the palace predates the unification of Nepal, and goes back to the Malla period. These are included in containers known as 'bada dhadda', 'lal dhadda', 'lal bakas', 'choto dhadda' and in a room known as the 'bhitri khopi'.  The material has not been made available to Nepali researchers till now, other than partially to historian-laureate Baburam Acharya. These papers are of the kind which will help in the understanding the course of national history going as far back as back 2000 years, and they must be catalogued and preserved."