Itahari

Itahari इटहरी Eastern Heart
Sub-Metropolitan City
Beautiful view of Itahari
Motto(s):  Green, Peace, Green City Itahari, Pollution free City Of Nepal
Itahari Location in Nepal
Coordinates: 26°40′N 87°27′E
Country	Nepal
Zone	Koshi Zone
District	Sunsari District
Government
• Type	Sub-metropolitan City
• Mayor	Dwarik Lal Chaudhary
Area
• Total	87.3301 km2 (33.7183 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	140,801
• Ethnicities	Tharu Brahmin Chhetri Limbu Rai Gurung
• Religions	Hinduism Buddhist
Demonym	Itaharian
Time zone	UTC+5:45 (Nepal Time)
Postal Code	56705
Area code	025
Website	http://itaharimun.gov.np

Itahari also known as "Eastern Heart"

Historical Photo of Itahari.

Itahari (Template:Lang-ne) is a sub-metropolitan and second-largest city in Sunsari District in the Koshi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. The Tharu community is the oldest community of Itahari. Itahari is located at the main transportation junction of eastern Nepal. It is the center of the west-east Mahendra Highway and south-north Koshi Highway and thus is a town of emerging importance. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 140801 people living in 18,270 individual households.

Mayor : Dwarik Lal Chaudhary

Itahari Sub-Metropolitan city office.

History

There are many arguments about the naming of Itahari. Some argue that the name was derived from the Tharu word: Itahar meaning bricks because the people had found ancient Multani coins and bricks . The current town of Itahari was the Mauja of old Rana family of Nepal and it once belonged to General Subarna Samser Rana. The Tharu community is the oldest community of Itahari.The city has no clear date of foundation. A small Tharu settlement near present day Manakamana Mandir existed as Itahari since ages. Tharu people have played important role in the development of this city. Previous Tharu land owners had more than 500 Bighas of Land. Some Tharu land owners like Tek Narayan Chaudhary and Dhanusdhari Chaudhary donated Land for construction of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan office today where it exists. Many other Tharu land owners donated lands, ponds, etc for the development of Itahari city. After the construction of Malaya Road, now Dharan-Biratnagar Highway(Bhakti Rajmarga) and East-West Highway. Later, The geographical location attracted people from other parts of the country and the settlement grew larger. In 1996, Itahari was promoted to Municipality and in 2015 it was promoted into the capacity of Sub-Metropolitan City. Maheshwar Subba was the founder of Bauka area of settlement.

Geography

Mechi kali pokhari inside Itahari Sub-Metropolitan city office area donated by Tek Narayan Chaudhary.

Taal Talaiya, located at a distance of 700 meters east from Itahari Chowk, is a famous tourist destination in Itahari.

Buddhi-Ganga Jamuna Mukti Ghat. An area of cultural significance with a lot of tourists visiting it.

View of Itahari towards Dharan in northern side

Ocean water park itahari.

Located in the Eastern Region of Nepal, the town and metropolitan area of Itahari is developing rapidly. One of the reasons for the rapid expansion of Itahari is the fact that it lies on both the south-north, from hill to tarai, Koshi Lokmarga (highway) and Mahendra Lokmarga (highway) has been crossed Itahari city from wet to east. Hence, Itahari is known as an important transportation junction of Eastern Nepal. Itahari is located in the fertile Tarai region. There are two small rivers, Sunsari khola (river) and Tengra khola (river) flow from the mid-part of Itahri, Budikhola, lies in east part, is the larger in size with comparison to Sunsari and Tengra Khola that flows from the east-border side of Itahari which separates Sunsari and Morang district. It is in plain area and there is a dense forest range, known as Charkose Jhadi of Nepal in the north of the city.

Transport

Mahendra Highway in Itahari

• Road: Itahari is roughly 478 kilometres (300 mi) by road from Kathmandu. It is also well connected to other parts of the country by bus services.

• Intracity: Cycle rickshaws and taxis serve the city center. Auto rickshaws (Tempos) are available for longer distances outside the center as well. Similarly, City Safari, a type of rickshaw, is growing nowadays for travelling short distances.

• Airport: The nearest Airport is Biratnagar. It's the country's second busiest airport. Biratnagar has links to Kathmandu. It is linked with Taplejung, Bhojpur, Khotang and most other hilly districts.

Market

Small Vegetables market in Itahari

Various Departmental stores and shops are established in Itahari. Gorkha Department Store is the largest of all department stores. Bhu.Pu. Gorkha Department Store, Sunrise Department Store are other most popular stores. Sunday and Wednesday are the hatiya (market) days. Vegetables, clothes, food items, dresses and other daily necessities are sold in these marketplaces. At Pachrukhi, Friday are hatiya days. At Janta Basti the hatiya day is Saturday and Tuesday. Pakali, Tarahara and Khanar are other large marketplaces.

Media

Itahari is the television hub of the Eastern Region. Arena Television is most popular local television. Some daily national magazines are Jana Bidhroha, Aauser, Pubeli Hotlines, Ganarajya Daily and Blast Times Dainik. Most popular weekly are Shri Janamat and Sampada Aachal. Artha Beat and Purbelinews are most widely circulated monthly newsmagazines. Many FM Stations produce or broadcast their news and entertainment programmes. Saptakoshi FM is probably most popular and most widely listened FM radio of Eastern Development Region Other FM radios like Itahari FM, Radio Pariwartan & Namaste FM are popular. Purbelinews.com, Newslaya.com, news.wikinepal.info, itaharionline.com, .kchhakhabar.com are Popular Online News Media from Itahari.

Education

Main article: List of schools in Itahari

File:Sushma Godawari College.JPG

Sushma Godawari College

Godawari Vidhya Mandir

There were very few private schools until the early 1990s. Many more private schools and colleges have opened since. Itahari also houses a culture centre and library which was built with the help of the Government of Luxembourg and is currently being managed by Itahari sub-metropolitan city.

Schools

• Godawari Vidhya Mandir
• Koshi Saint James Residential Higher Secondary School
• DVM School , Jute Bikash
• Modern Preparatory Secondary Boarding School
• Peace Zone Boarding School
• Sacred Heart Secondary School
• North Point Secondary Boarding School
• Secondary Boarding School
• SOS Hermann Gmeiner Higher Secondary School
• Hamro English Boarding School
• Bhrikuti Secondary Boarding School
• Itahari Model Secondary School

Colleges:

• Sushma Godawari College
• Koshi Saint James College
• Vishwa Adarsha College, Aitabare
• Kasturi Higher Secondary School
• Janta Multiple Campus

Other than listed above, there are Tarahara Krishi Anusandhan Kendra, a center for agricultural investigation, Jute Development Project and Silk Development project in this city.

Literature

Itahari has developed itself as a new literary center. Major literary, art and music organizations are:

• Sahitya Sanchar Pratisthan
• Itahari Sahityik Samuha
• Kalalaya
• Sangit Sadhana Pratishthan
• Purwanchal Sangit Mahabidyalaya
• Achchha Rai Rasik Pratishthan.
• Lugun Sahitya Pratishthan
• Purwanchal Gajal Manch

Some of the leading and most important poets, novelists, essayists and artists are listed below:

• Manu Manjil: Poet
• Dinesh Poudel: Essayist, Novelist, editor
• Kumud Adhikari: Story writer, translator
• Ramji Timilsina: Critic
• Sonu Jayanti: Artist
• Bikram Shri: Sculptor
• Shukdev Adhikari: Story writer
• Rita Tamrakar
• Sharmila Khadkha Dahal: Children's Literature
• Ram Dhami: Musician
• Raju KC: Musician
• Krishnabinod Lamsal: Journalist, novelist
• Krishna Adhikari: Journalist, essayist
• Keshav Baruwal: poet

Parks/Recreation Centers

Itahari has some parks, picnic spots and recreation centers, too. Some of them are:

• Tal Talaiya: a park and picnic spot.
• Betana Simsar: a wetland and a small natural pool for boating and picnicking. It's some 20 km away in Belbari.
• Hasina Simsar: a picnic spot, a park and a wetland. Popular sightseeing and picnicking spot. 12 km away in Sundar Dulari.
• Gokulam Resort: A beautiful resort and a park.
• I Cinema: one of the most modern cinema halls in the country
• Ocean Park: a fun park, children's park with wonderful swimming pools

Sports

Various local and regional level sports contest are held in Itahari every year. The regional sports stadium 'Purbanchal Stadium' is under construction. Rashtriya Jagriti Club (Raja Club) is a leading club. There are many fitness and Zym centers in Itahari. Football, Cricket, Volleyball, Basketball, Table tennis and Chess are most popular games.

Security

Itahari is one of the safest places in Nepal for residential, commercial or industrial choice. The largest military camp in the region, the Purbi Pritana Headquarters of Nepal Army is here. The Riot Police have their Purbanchal headquarters in this city. The same way Anchal Traffic Police Office, Elaka Police Post, too are in the heart of the city. Many police booths and stations give a strong security to the city.

Senior citizens are given special care in the Municipality premises. There is a Home for disowned and helpless senior citizens in Pakli.

Religion and Culture

Itahari is a Hindu majority city as all major towns and cities of the country. The temples where most religious, social and cultural activities are seen are:

• Radhakrishna Shiva Mandir, Itahari
• Krishna Pranami Mandir, Itahari
• Manav Dharma Seva Ashram, Itahari
• Laxmi-Narayan Mandir, Pachrukhi
• Satsang Mandir, Simarbana
• Hansheshwar Mahadev Mandir, Bauka
• Janaki Mandir, Amjhoki
• Manakamana Mandir, RedCross Chowk
• Ved Mandir, Itahari-4
• Kirat Yuma Manghim, Itahari-4
• Bauddha Gumba, Itahari-4
• Radheshyam Seva Trust, Naya Brindavan Gaushala, Sundar Dulari
• Laxmi-Narayan Mandir Baliya
• Balgram Hanuman Mandir, Balgram
• Panchayan Mandir, Panchayanjhoda

Itahari has hundreds of other temples in the city and in the outskirts. Almost all the neighbourhood have their own temples. Here are some churches and mosques, too. Sikh, Jain, Muslim and Christian population in itahari is amall, but they practice their faiths freely and with dignity.

Important Personalities

• Dwarik Lal Chaudhary, Mayor
• Laxmi Gautam, Deputy-Mayor
• Sarbadhwaj Samba, ex Mayor
• Tek Narayan Chaudhary, famous land owner
• Dhanukdhari Chaudhary, famous land owner
• Ramkumar Subba, Political leader, RPP
• Yam Subba, Political leader, UML
• Hemkarna Poudel, Political leader, NC
• Rewatiraman Bhandari, Parliamentaria, UML
• Yam Pradhan, Journalist
• Lekhnath Ghimire, Academician
• Prem Neupane, Academician
• Balaram Acharya, Businessman
• (late) Maheshwar Subba, social activist
• (late) Tirtha Gautam, Businessman
• Tanka Dulal, Businessman
• Ramchandra Adhikari, famous donor
• Rambahadur Talchabhandel, famous donor
• (late) Peetambarbhola Lamsal, poet
• (late) Dharanidhar Dahal (anthropologist)
• JB Lugun, Writer

External links

• Media related to Itahari at Wikimedia Commons