(Adds blast near Maoist rally, details and byline)

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, May 30 (Reuters) - A government panel began collecting details of assets and properties of Nepal's deposed King Gyanendra on Friday, two days after the Himalayan nation's monarchy was abolished, a top minister said.

The first meeting of a special assembly elected in April declared Nepal a republic and gave Gyanendra two weeks to vacate the pink palace.

The government says the palace, located in the heart of the capital, will be converted into a museum.

Nepali media reports say the Narayanhity royal palace has a rich collection of rare art works, statues, historical documents, valuable jewellery and coins.

"No one really knows what items are there in the palace as it was closed for the public so far," said Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel."We have formed a committee to collect the details of all these within 10 days."

"All items will be catalogued so they can be displayed in the museum," he added.

The government has already taken over the ownership of thousands of hectares of land owned by Gyanendra and more than a dozen of his palaces since the monarch was humbled by weeks of protests in 2006.

On Friday, thousands of Maoists and their supporters participated in a rally in Kathmandu to celebrate the monarchy's demise.

Police said a home-made bomb exploded in a park near the Maoist rally but no one was hurt. It was the seventh blast to rock the capital this week.

The blasts, blamed on a royalist militant group, have highlighted security concerns in the city.

The end of the monarchy was part of a deal between the government and the Maoist former rebels who ended their decade-long civil war under a peace pact two years ago.

That conflict started in 1996 and caused more than 13,000 deaths.

Gyanendra has not made any comment so far and was expected to move to his private home in an upmarket area in Kathmandu where he was living before ascending the throne in 2001.

The Maoists are dominating the assembly which is also meant to prepare a new constitution and make laws for at least two years.

They are also expected to form a new interim government and have urged other political parties to join a coalition led by the them as they lack the majority in the 601-member assembly. (Editing by David Fox)

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