When King Gyanendra’s army-backed reign ended three years ago followed by the abolition of monarchy in the world’s only Hindu kingdom, it did not come as a surprise to the Himalayan nation’s devout Hindus. “It was on the cards,” says Upendra Dahal, a Brahmin priest who also dabbles in astrology at the revered Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. “The gods were against him and sent him omens.”