Simraungadh

In 1097 a king called Nanyadeva, of southern (Karnata) origin, established a new dynasty in Mithila. From his capital at Simraungadh, in what is now Bara district, the Karnat kings ruled for more than two centuries — an age remembered as a golden time for Maithili literature, learning, art and trade.

A walled city

Simraungadh was a fortified city on a grand scale. Archaeologists describe massive brick ramparts, known locally as 'baahi', several rings of ditches and moats, and water channels that both defended the city and irrigated its fields. Surveys have mapped a city plan far larger than the villages that stand there today.

The fall

In 1324 Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq of Delhi attacked and destroyed the city. The last Karnat king, Harisimhadeva, fled north towards the hills. His flight is linked, in Nepali tradition, with the arrival in the Kathmandu Valley of the goddess Taleju, who became the protector of the Malla kings — so the story of Simraungadh reaches all the way to the palaces of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.

What you can see

Much of the city lies under fields and villages, but two temples have been restored. The Kankali temple, in shikhara style, holds a black-stone image of the goddess that bears the damage of the invasion; a bell inscription dates to 1340, and the temple was rebuilt in its present form in 1967. The Ranibas ('queen's residence') temple is the other major site. Around them, look for carved stone gateway pieces and sculptures of gods such as Kartikeya, and the long earthen and brick mounds of the old ramparts.

Visiting

Simraungadh is off the tourist map. Hire a jeep from Birgunj or Kalaiya, ask for the Kankali temple, and let villagers point you to the fragments scattered through the settlement. Respect that many carvings are now worshipped in small shrines.