What Is the Truth Behind the ‘Searching for Gyanendra’ Song on Balen Shah’s YouTube Channel?

May 24, Kathmandu.

‘Mother Nepal on the head,

King Gyanendra on the shoulder.’

These lyrics from a song have been circulating on YouTube recently. The song, found under the name of Prime Minister Balen Shah’s official YouTube channel, has not garnered significant views on that channel. Uploaded three months ago (February 20, 2026), the video currently has only 24,000 views, about 1,900 likes, and over 400 comments.

Previously, Balen Shah’s YouTube channel used to show notable viewership, but this particular song has comparatively fewer views despite social media discussion. Some speculate that the song was kept private for some time and recently made public, which may explain the recent rise in views.

In the comments section, a user named Beast in Nepal asked, ‘Who are the people coming from Facebook?’

Another user, LoveNepal–2, argued that monarchy supporters are using this song to trend and to advocate for the removal of the republic system.

The comment section has been very active. Some have requested that Balen act according to the sentiments expressed in the song. While many expressed happiness that Balen’s channel hosted this song, others criticized him, suggesting it exposes his anti-system stance.

The thumbnail of the video features the words ‘Mother Nepal on the head,’ which is also the song’s title. The thumbnail imagery includes Swayambhu, Gautam Buddha, mountains, armed soldiers guarding the mountains, and an elderly woman praying with folded hands in the foreground.

However, when checking inside Balen’s official YouTube channel, the song cannot be found. The shared social media link directs to a video under his channel name, but the post itself does not exist there. Both the thumbnail and voice clearly appear to be AI-generated.

The video description states, ‘Provided to YouTube by DistroKid,’ indicating that this video was distributed to the channel via DistroKid.

The song sounds similar in melody and lyrics to a patriotic song sung by Dharmaraj Thapa, ‘Mother Nepal on the head…’ except that where the original says Mahendra, this version uses the name Gyanendra.

According to a technical expert who manages YouTube profiles for many Nepali artists, this is not a video but essentially an audio track-only upload.

DistroKid and similar agencies function as intermediaries who distribute artists’ songs to platforms like YouTube Music, Apple Music, or Spotify. Anyone can easily open an account on such services, akin to opening a Facebook profile.

The expert said, ‘Someone might have cleverly exploited this by uploading an AI-generated or patriotic song from another source and linking it to ‘Balen’ as the creator, to generate clicks. We have faced similar issues ourselves.’

Previously, official YouTube profiles of established singers such as Sushant KC, Samir Shrestha, and Swapna Suman also experienced technical glitches or intentional linking of other folk songs. Experts suspect a similar issue might be at play in Balen’s case.

What is DistroKid?

Unlike uploading videos directly to Facebook or TikTok, artists cannot upload their songs directly to YouTube Music, Spotify, or Apple Music apps. They require an intermediary called a ‘digital distributor.’ DistroKid is one such international-level agency.

Artists create an account on DistroKid, pay an annual fee, and upload their songs and cover photos there. DistroKid then distributes the songs to all music platforms and forwards the revenue to the artists.

Anyone can easily create an account on DistroKid, similar to opening a new Facebook profile. The platform does not verify whether the songs are official or check ownership rights.

By exploiting this loophole, someone can open an account, upload someone else’s song, and list ‘Balen’ as the artist, thereby linking the song to his profile.

DistroKid sends the song to YouTube Music without prior screening, and YouTube’s system may automatically link the song to Balen’s profile if the names match.

Experts believe this is how Balen’s YouTube channel became associated with the song through DistroKid. However, this is not the first time a song like this has been linked to his channel. Recently, another song titled ‘Happy Holi, Bye Bye Oli’ has also gained attention and similar reactions.