KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that the Nepal Samwat, the era started by national hero Shankhadhar Sakhwa, was a matter of pride and original identity of Nepal.

Receiving a delegation representing the Nepal Samwat 1137 New Year National Event Organising Committee at Baluwatar in Kathmandu, PM said,"The Nepal Samwat is our original identity, our pride. The incumbent government is serious about establishing it with Nepal's original identity. "

During the meeting, the delegates invited PM Dahal to attend a function of Nepal Samwat New Year, going to be organised in the Kathmandu Valley, on October 31, as a chief guest.

Meanwhile, in the meeting, the committee's leader Motilal Shilpakar informed about different functions going to be organised at different places of all the three districts in the Valley, namely: Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, on the occasion of the New Year of Nepal Samwat 1137.

The Nepal Samwat had begun on the first day of the waxing moon in the month of Kartik according to lunar calendar (October 20) in 879 AD during the reign of Thakuri King Raghavadeva.