Town or village · 1,030 m
Bandipur
An old Newar trading bazaar on a ridge above the Kathmandu-Pokhara highway, with a car-free main street and views of the Himalaya.
Gandaki Provinceतनहुँ
Tanahun District
Hill district on the Prithvi Highway, home to the Newar town of Bandipur, the Siddha Gufa cave and the holy confluence at Devghat.
- Province
- Gandaki
- Headquarters
- Damauli
- Area
- about 1,578 km²
- Places on Firfirey
- 3
About Tanahun
Tanahun lies in the middle hills between Kaski and Gorkha, with Lamjung to the north, Chitwan and Nawalpur to the south and Syangja to the west. The Seti and Madi rivers meet at Damauli, the district centre, while the Marsyangdi runs along its eastern side and the Kali Gandaki and Trishuli meet at Devghat in the south. Elevations range from warm river valleys to cooler ridges.
Magar, Gurung, Newar, Brahmin-Chhetri and other communities live here, and farming and highway trade sustain much of the economy. The poet Bhanubhakta Acharya was born in the district. Travellers come to stay in the hilltop town of Bandipur, walk to the large Siddha Gufa cave below it, raft the Seti river, and visit the pilgrimage site of Devghat and the Byas cave at Damauli.
Places in Tanahun
Temple, monastery or heritage site
Devghat
A sacred confluence of the Kali Gandaki and Trishuli near Narayangarh, with ashrams, temples and a great Maghe Sankranti fair.
Temple, monastery or heritage site · 666 m
Siddha Gufa
A large limestone cave with chambers full of stalactites, on the forested slope below Bandipur.
Getting there
The Prithvi Highway between Kathmandu and Pokhara crosses the district, passing Dumre and Damauli; Damauli is a couple of hours from Pokhara and most of a day from Kathmandu. Bandipur is a short climb by road from Dumre. The nearest airports are Pokhara and Bharatpur.
Best time to visit
Autumn and spring are best for views from Bandipur and for walking; the monsoon brings heavy rain and landslide delays on the highway, and winter is mild with misty mornings in the valleys.
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.