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With shaven heads and sullen eyes, thousands of Nepalis thronged the Royal Palace in Kathmandu on Sunday to pay homage to the late King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, their two children and other royals who were killed on Friday night.
They came from remote villages and far-flung towns to mourn the unexpected demise of a king who they believed was their saviour in these times of political instability.
Outside the royal palace, hundreds queued up for the second day on Sunday to pay their respects.
Unable to come to terms with the recent developments, they sat on the pavements around the palace in silence, staring at the home of their monarch.
The man on the street is confused and dazed, unable to digest the wiping out of almost the entire royal clan. Not many buy the theory that King Dipendra alone killed all 12 of them.
"We don't believe that. There is some mystery," said Sonu Lama, a youngster, and his friends outside the palace.
Spontaneous, sometimes wild, demonstrations marked the outburst of disbelief and anger among the locals.
Hundreds of youngsters in motorcycles staged a demonstration in front of the main entrance of the palace on Sunday afternoon shouting Raja Birendra amar rahun (long live King Birendra) and holding placards declaring their loyalty to the royalty.
Durbar Marg, the main street leading to the palace, was witness to several such demonstrations. A group of students, all with shaven heads, walked around in silence, holding placards proclaiming their sorrow.
"The nation has lost its soul. We don't know what to do," said Nand Kishore Ghiraiya, a member of the Raj Parishad (state council), which is the advisory council of the King.
"You can see the people's feelings. We are cursed," Ghiraiya told rediff.com outside the palace after paying homage.
People walked in silence, some with flowers and others with their hands folded, before the portrait of the late King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya placed in front of the statue of late King Mahendra, father of King Birendra.
Young and old, officials, policemen, students and politicians have shaven off their heads in Hindu tradition to mourn the death of the royals.
"It is like losing our own family," said S C Yadav, a policeman on duty outside the palace. He had shaved off his head and would not touch any non-vegetarian food till the mourning was over.
Almost the entire nation has given up meat as people struggled to come to terms with the killing of their monarch and other royals.
The government had ordered all its senior civil servants to shave off their heads and not to touch salt for three days.
Almost all the shops in Kathmandu were closed as a mark of respect to the departed souls with several putting up notices saying they would not open until after the mourning period.
Standing up to opposition, King Birendra had introduced democracy and direct elections to the National Assembly over a decade back. He was a sober monarch and very popular.
Nepal's one-decade old experiment with democracy is proving to be a sham as corruption has permeated the highest power centres.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is accused by the Opposition of massive corruption in connection with the leasing of aircraft for Royal Nepal Airlines.
Nepal's political parties split several times and the nation saw several short-lived governments as the political leadership looked upon nepotism and bigotry as their traditional right like in most Third World nations.
Numerous intellectuals in Nepal had long supported a more powerful monarch in the wake of political instability and the common man also looked towards the monarchy to guide the nation out of the morass.
Death of a Monarch: The Complete Coverage
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