Rajbiraj

Most Nepali towns grew organically around a market or a temple. Rajbiraj was drawn on paper first. In 1938 the Rana government approved a new administrative centre for Saptari, and chief engineer and architect Dilli Jung Thapa laid it out as a grid of straight roads and rectangular blocks, taking the planned Indian city of Jaipur as a model.

Why here?

The 1930s were a time of large-scale forest clearing in the eastern Tarai, with timber exported to British India and new farmland handed out. A tidy new capital close to the road-head in Bihar suited the administrators of the day. The plan set aside zones for government offices and homes around central chowks.

The town today

Rajbiraj is a lively Maithili town with the Rajdevi temple at its heart, ponds used for Chhath, and busy chowks named after national figures. It has produced several national political leaders, and its streets are among the most animated in Nepal during Holi and Chhath.

Nearby

The goddess temple of Chhinnamasta at Sakhada lies near the border to the south-east; the Koshi Barrage and Koshi Tappu reserve are within an hour.