Town or village · 150 m
Chandrapur
A highway town in northern Rautahat at the foot of the Chure hills, the main road gateway to the district.
Madhesh Provinceरौतहट
Rautahat District
A quiet, farming district of the central Terai, bounded by the Bagmati River and best known to travellers for Gaur and Chandranigahapur.
- Province
- Madhesh
- Headquarters
- Gaur
- Area
- about 1,042 km²
- Places on Firfirey
- 3
About Rautahat
Rautahat lies in the central Terai of Madhesh Province, with Bara to the west, Sarlahi to the east across the Bagmati River, Makwanpur to the north and Bihar in India to the south. The district is mostly flat, low farmland, with a strip of Chure hills and forest in the north. Rivers flowing south from the hills, including the Bagmati, can flood during the monsoon.
The population is diverse, with Bajjika, Bhojpuri and Maithili speakers in the south, a significant Muslim community and hill settlers near the highway. Rice, wheat and sugarcane are important crops. Few visitors stop here for long, but Gaur, the headquarters on the Indian border, and Chandranigahapur on the East-West Highway give a sense of everyday life in the central Terai.
Places in Rautahat
Getting there
Buses on the East-West Highway stop at Chandranigahapur, from where roads lead south to Gaur. From Kathmandu the trip usually takes most of a day by road via Hetauda or the BP Highway. The nearest airport is Simara in neighbouring Bara, a couple of hours' drive away.
Best time to visit
October to March is the best time to visit, with cool, sometimes foggy winters; April to June is hot, and the monsoon months bring heavy rain and a risk of flooding along the rivers.
Editorial draft: the district overview is being checked. Headquarters and Nepali names: nepal-places dataset (MIT). Area and map position computed from the district boundaries of the Government of Nepal, Survey Department, via OCHA.