Thousands of supporters greeted Nepal’s former king in capital Kathmandu on Sunday and demanded his abolished monarchy be reinstated and Hinduism brought back as a state religion.

Thousands of supporters attend pro-monarchy rally at airport as ex-king returns to the capital from the country’s west.

Protests in 2006 forced the king to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.

Thousands of pro-monarchists rallied in Kathmandu on March 9 to welcome former King Gyanendra Shah upon his return from Pokhara. Supporters from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and other pro-monarchy groups chanted slogans against the current political system.