Rajbiraj

Rajbiraj, (Nepali: राजबिराज) a mid-sized town in south-eastern Nepal, 16 kilometers north of the Indian border. It is the administrative headquarters of the Saptari district. It has an airfield with flights to Kathmandu. The government planned to convert the airport to an international airport but the program is currently stopped because of Scarcity of funds. It is well connected to Nepal's cross-Terai "east-west" highway that runs about 10 km north and east from the main town area. Rajbiraj is one of the few cities that was given the status of municipality when Nepal's monarchy was restored in the 1950s. It is also the headquarters of the Sagarmatha Zone, as well as Saptari district. It is the first planned municipality of Nepal. It was planned as Jaipur City of India. The City has been chosen as model city in Nepal and Nepal government plans to develop it as one of the model cities in Nepal. People of the city request development agencies like world bank, IFC, ADB and IMF to provide funding to the development of this Town. Indian Government is requested to provide road connectivity to the town given its close proximity to India and large number of people of Indian origin. The town is now recognised as Educational capital of Eastern Nepal with various schools and colleges opening. It currently has an operating medical college and a nursing college. Couple of Engineering college are also planned to be opened. There are many temples in and near Rajbiraj. chhinmasta Bhagwati,(which is in sakhada village)Devi mandir and Kankalini are the famous temples near Rajbiraj. Chinnamasta meaning without head is so called because the body of Goddess Durga fell here during the fight with auras. This is called one of the Shakti Peeth and people fom across Nepal and India visit this temple during Dusshera. The Raj in the name was given from a very famous and sacred temple called Rajdevi.

Rajbiraj, has an industrial area which was established with the help of Indian Government. However it couldn't be operated because of lack of local banks who are not eager to lend to Businessmen. The area is currently under banked. Notable areas of Town include Tribhuwan/ Gajendra Chowk, Neta Chowk, Rajbiraj Nagarpalika, Rupni Road, Mahendra Uddyan, Pipri Gachi, Kanchanpur Road, Kharsal Tol, Lilja Tol, Pokhrel Tole etc.

from : www.wikipedia.org