KATHMANDU — Balendra Shah will be sworn in as Nepal's prime minister at 12:34 p.m. on Friday, taking the oath before President Ramchandra Paudel. The ceremony will take place on Ram Navami, a Hindu holiday marking the birth of the deity Rama.

Shah plans to take the oath along with his newly chosen Cabinet in the presence of officials and diplomats. He will enter his new office at 14:15 p.m. the same day.

According to Hindu priests, 12:34 p.m. is the most auspicious time on that day based on astrological calculations. The time fits the "1-2-3-4" numerological pattern, while his office entry time of 14:15 p.m. follows the "14-15" pattern.

The oath of office ceremony will include Hindu rituals, including the blowing of conches, and religious chanting by Hindu priests and Buddhist lamas. More than 80% of Nepal's population is Hindu, and people in the country begin new work, get married and hold religious rituals according to auspicious times.

Shah, 35, leads the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which won about two-thirds of the 275 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the bicameral Parliament. He won a landslide victory in the recent election.

A structural engineer widely known as Balen, Shah rose to fame as a rap artist before becoming Kathmandu's mayor. Born in Kathmandu, his family comes from the Terai region near the border with India.

Shah emerged as a prominent voice during the youth-led uprising in September that toppled the government and left dozens dead. Though he did not directly participate in the protests, he publicly expressed support for the largely Generation Z demonstrators who led the movement.

Voters widely blamed Nepal's established parties for corruption and chronic political instability. Shah is considered a political outsider in the nation of about 30 million people.