The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kathmandu

Nepal's embatled king was to stay away Tuesday from a centuries-old festival where a child "goddess" traditionally blesses his rule, in yet another bad omen for the endangered monarchy.

Officials said King Gyanendra, who has been increasingly isolated following a peace deal that brought former Maoist insurgents into the political mainstream, would remain in his palace during the Royal Kumari festival.

"The king is not going to atend the festival," a palace official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "There is too much politics involved." It will be the first time in the history of his 238-year-old Shah dynasty that a royal has not received blessings from a young girl selected and worshipped as a living reincarnation of a powerful Hindu goddess.

The annual public ceremony is considered in the conservative Hindu-majority nation to be an important seal of approval for the palace, and Gyanendra's absence will be a symbolic blow to the throne.