Town or village
Birendranagar
The capital of Karnali Province, a planned town in the broad Surkhet valley and the road gateway to the Karnali hills.
Karnali Provinceसुर्खेत
Surkhet District
Gateway to Karnali Province, with the provincial capital Birendranagar set in a wide green valley and the start of the Karnali Highway.
- Province
- Karnali
- Headquarters
- Birendranagar
- Area
- about 2,495 km²
- Places on Firfirey
- 3
About Surkhet
Surkhet lies in the south of Karnali Province, in a broad inner valley ringed by forested hills. The Bheri River runs along its eastern side and the Karnali along the west, with Banke and Bardiya on the plains to the south and Dailekh, Jajarkot and Salyan in the hills around it. The valley floor is low and warm compared with the districts further north, and the surrounding ridges rise into the middle hills.
Birendranagar is the capital of Karnali Province and a growing hub for administration, education and trade, with a mixed population drawn from across the region. Farming remains important in the outer villages. Travellers pass through on their way north along the Karnali Highway, and stay to see Bulbule Lake in town, the Kakrebihar temple ruins on a nearby hill, and the Deuti Bajai temple.
Places in Surkhet
Lake
Bulbule Tal
A small spring-fed pond and park in Birendranagar, named for the bubbles that rise through its water.
Temple, monastery or heritage site
Kakrebihar
Carved stone ruins of a medieval temple complex on a forested hill beside Birendranagar.
Getting there
Surkhet is reached by road from Kohalpur, near Nepalgunj, on the East-West Highway, a drive of a few hours through the hills. Surkhet airport has flights from Kathmandu and Nepalgunj and onward services to remote Karnali airstrips.
Best time to visit
Autumn and spring are the most comfortable seasons, as summer is hot and the monsoon brings heavy rain, while winter days in the valley are mild with cool, sometimes foggy mornings.
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.