Veteran poet, musician and singer Dharma Raj Thapa passed away at the age of 91 on Tuesday morning. The singer of evergreen folk songs including Hariyo Danda Mathi, Hamro Tenzing Sherpa Le, Aaja Madal Bajeko Kina breathed his last at his Swayambhu-based residencel in the Capital. Thapa was honoured with the title Jana Kavi Keshari. Born in BatuleChaur, Pokhara of Kaski, Thapa had worked at Gorkhapatra Samsthan in 1950s. He had received the famed Madan Puraskar for his Mangali Kusum in 2025 BS. He has sung more than 100 songs and penned more than two dozen books. His daughter Gyanu Rana is also a veteran singer in Nepali music industry. Family sources said his body will be kept at the Nepal Academy, Kamaladi for few hours today for final tributes. Political figures including Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, senior leader Baburam Bhattarai, CPN-UML leader Pradip Kumar Gyawali, and prominent personalities from the Nepali music industry such as Nepathya frontman Amrit Gurung, Yogeshwor Amatya and others paid their final tributes to Thapa in the premises of Nepal Academy. His body was placed there on Tuesday afternoon for the general public to offer last respects. Source :thehimalayantimes.com
