Visit Makawanpur ~ RK PHOTOGRAPHY

Christening:-

A place was named Mukunda Pur after the name of Great King of Sen Dynasty- ‘Mukunda Sen’ who is said to have established a settlement here. In Sanskrit dialect, Pur means City. Thus the term Mukundapur changed to Makandapur and Mokanpur before it was began calling Makwanpur. A poet from the palace of King Prithvi Narayan Shah– Lalitaballav has mentioned this city as Makanda in his book “PrithvindaVarnodaya”.

History:-

A king from Palpa– Mukunda Sen 1^st had established this city when he expanded his territory over Dudhkoshi in East. Makwanpur had established itself as a Great and powerful State in 10^th c. He divided his huge state into four parts for his four sons and thus Makwanpur came under his youngest son- Lohang Sen. Makwanpur was conquered and was taken as the part of Unified Nepal in August of 1762A.D.

Regarding the ruling system of Makwanpur, Baniya Chhetri used to be the Ministers and Arjelused to be the priest. These Arjel and Baniyas deceived Sen Kings and dethroned them. Thus it is said king cursed Arjels that the occupation of priest would turn unsuccessful for them and no women of Baniyas would ever be satisfied with single husband.

Introduction:-

Makwanpur is a district lying in Narayani Zone of Central Development region and is located 34 km South of Capital City- Kathmandu. Hetauda is its District HeadQuarter. It is peacefully nestled in between about66 km long Mahabharat Range in North and 92 km long Chure Hillin South. It was the traditional route connecting Mechi-Maahakali with Kathmandu till PrithviHighway substituted its role. An alternative short route to Kathmandu still exists. This route starts from Hetauda– The district Headquarter of Makwanpur and passes through Fakhel, Humane Vanjyaang and Pharping till it meets Kathmandu.

Makwanpur is the third big Industrial District of Nepal and covers part of Chitwan National Park and Parsa Wildlife Conservation.

Topography:-

Makwanpur is extended in an area of 2426sq. km. of an area out of which 25.15% of the land is cultivable, 2.03% is covered with meadows and bushes, 6.83% is occupied by rivers and their shores, 59.145% is filled with forest, 0.66% is an industrial area while 6.19% is Conservation Area. It is made up of 75% hilly area and 25% flat lands.

Major Hill Ranges:-

1 ChandraGiri Hill Range: It is extended over Fakhel VDC to Tistung VDC

2 Mahabharat Hill Range: It gets stretched from Betini VDC to Kherang VDC

3 Chure Hill Range: It expands from RaiGaon VDC to Manahari VDC

Some Statistics(2001):-

Makwanpur is extended in an area of 2426 sq.km. where total392604people dwell in 71112Houses with an Average HouseHold Size of 5.52. Total 199144 Male and 193460 female lives inMakwanpur. Hinduism is the main religion here as the data shows: there are 193801 Hindu, 187014 Buddhists, 1264Muslims, 73Kirats, 17Jains, 8129 Christians, 21Sikhs; 5Bahaiswhile2280 people follow other religions.

According to Survey done in 2008, there are 324 primary schools with 2645primary schoolteachers where95316 students study at primary level. Likewise 27656students are taught by616 lower secondary teachers at194lower secondary school.399 secondary teachers teach to11556 secondary level students at 101secondary schools.

People and Culture:-

Makwanpur is a Tamang dominated district as the data indicates that 47.3% of the inhabitants are Tamang. Majority of people follow Hinduism here. Though it is the third largest Industrial District of Nepal, majority of people still depends on Traditional Agriculture for livelihood. 82.7% of the people are engaged in Agriculture while the rest 17.35% adopt Non- Agriculture related tasks, most of them serving as an army for Nepal or in India and few are British Army by profession.

Major Temples:-

Makwanpur holds many religious sites and thus has a great potential for Religious Tourism. Here are few of major temples with their locations.

1 Temples of BhutanDevi and Vuwaneswor Mahadev in Hetauda Municipality

2 Temple of BansaGopal inside Makwanpur Garhi

3 Temple of ChuriyaMai inChuriyaMai VDC

4 Temple of Trikhandi MahaDev in Vaise VDC

5 Temple of Riseswor and Indrayani in Daman VDC

6 Temple of BajraBarahi in BajraBarahi VDC

7 Temple of Syarse Kalika in Namtar VDC

Major Attractions:-

1 Makwanpur Gadhi:-

It lies about 17 km North of Hetauda at the top of Mahabharat Hill at an altitude of three thousand and five hundred feet above sea level. One has to climb the hill from RajDevito reach the entrance of Gadhi( fort). A pile of mud is seen near the entrance which is believed to be the burial ground of white elephant. A 10 ft deep trench has been dug and 25 ft high walls have been erected to secure the area. There is a drawbridge immediately after the entrance Gate. The statue of Lord Krishna is major attraction of the place. This five feet high statue is the only statue in Nepal that is tied in iron chain. Myth holds that this Krishna used to go to Mustard Fields of Chitwan to play with girls and show they had to bind him to keep Krishna with them forever. The Gadhi has also the tunnel through which Sen King had escaped the fort when Gurkhas attacked on Makwanpur. This tunnel starts few distance far from palace and is sealed by a huge stone. A statue of Mahadev has been placed above the stone who is known as Gupteswor Mahadev. Waterfall running down conceals the opening of the tunnel. One can view Raxaul and Birgunj from the fort. A great fare is organized inKrishna Janmastami( The Day Lord Krishna is said to have born) and Thulo Ekadasi each year. The ammunitions like Canon balls have been shifted to Suparitar Barrack of Nepal Army few years back.

Kanti Rajpath lies 2-3 km West-South of the palace. Hetauda is 13km far from Kanti Rajpath.

2 Hardia Chauki

How to Reach:-

The aerial distance from Kathmandu to Makwanpur is only 37km.

There are two alternative roads which are suitable for light vehicles and one major route to reach Makwanpur from Kathmandu. Starting from Old Buspark, one can reach Pharping after passing through Balkhu and then from Pharping to Fakhel Village to reach finally District HeadQuarter of Makwanpur –Hetauda.

Or, one can head towards Sisneri(Madan Bhandari Roadway) from Kathmandu from whereHetauda can be reached after passing through Markhu on the way.