![Muktinath Chowk, Birtamod](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Muktinath_Chowk%2C_Birtamod.jpg)
Birtamod (
Nepali: बिर्तामोड नगरपालिका) is a municipality in
Jhapa District
Jhapa ( ne, झापा जिल्ला; ) is a district of Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal named after a Rajbanshi word "Jhapa" meaning "to cover" (verb). The latest official data, the 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the d ...
of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. It is the commercial, educational and transport hub of
Jhapa District
Jhapa ( ne, झापा जिल्ला; ) is a district of Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal named after a Rajbanshi word "Jhapa" meaning "to cover" (verb). The latest official data, the 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the d ...
. Sarnamati
Bazar
Bazar may refer to:
* Bazar, Afghanistan
* Bazar, Azerbaijan
* Bazar, Mardan, Pakistan
* Bazar, Ukraine
In Iran
* Bazar, East Azerbaijan
* Bazar, Gilan
* Bazareh-ye Qarnas, North Khorasan Province
* Bazargah, Qazvin, Qazvin Province
* Bazar, Sou ...
, Dhulabari Bazar, Dhaijan Bazar, Charali Bazar, Shivasatakshi Bazar, Kamatoli Bazar, Chakchaki Bazar and
Surunga
Surunga is a trade center of Jhapa District. It is located in Kankai Municipality in Jhapa District in the Province No. 1 of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 16,747 people living in 2996 ...
Bazar are some of the nearest local towns/settlements connected to Birtamod. it is one of the fastest growing city in Nepal. Birtamod is the largest city of Jhapa as well as in
Mechi zone
Mechi ( ne, मेची अञ्चल ) was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restructuring of zones to provinces, comprising four districts; namely Ilam, Jhapa, Panchthar and Taplejung. Its headquarters are at Ilam. It comes und ...
.
History
The town was under the
Anarmani Village Development Committee and was transformed into a municipality in May 2014. It merged with
Charpane VDC and then merged with Garamani VDC in 2017.
Birtamod was originally part of a great forest. Due to the presence of
mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
s and the threat of
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, very few people lived here. Later, the forests were cleared off for cultivating the fertile lands. Slowly, people of the hills started to migrate here. These peoples were accompanied by the Nepalese who returned home from the Indian territories of
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
. The ethnic communities, Rajbanshi, Dhimal, etc. are the indigenous people of Birtamod and Jhapa as a whole. Birtamod started to rise when the
East West Highway passed through it. Being at the physical center of the district, it started to rise as a center for commercial activities. Birtamod took a greater rise at the time of the
Maoist insurgency
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...
when trade and banking of the whole Jhapa district became concentrated in Birtamod.
Transportation
Birtamod is connected to all parts of the country by a central highway, the
Mahendra Highway
Mahendra Highway (), also called East-West Highway () runs across the Terai geographical region of Nepal, from Mechinagar in the east to Bhim Datta in the west, cutting across the entire width of the country. It is the longest highway in Nepal a ...
which runs throughout the length of the country from east to west.
Chandragadhi
Bhadrapur ( ne, भद्रपुर) is a town and municipality in Jhapa District in the Province No. 1 of southeastern Nepal. It lies on the banks of the Mechi River, and shares borders with Bihar state, India on the south and West Benga ...
(Bhadrapur) Airport is located in
Bhadrapur (about 12 km from Birtamod) and serves 5 to 6 daily flights to and from
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
.
Buddha Air
Buddha Air Pvt. Ltd ( ne, बुद्ध एयर) is an airline based in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, Nepal, near Patan. It operates domestic as well as international services within Nepal and India, serving mainly large towns and cities in Nep ...
,
Yeti Airlines
Yeti Airlines Pvt. Ltd. ( ne, यती एअरलाइन्स) is an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The airline was established in May 1998 and received its Air Operators Certificate on 17 August 1998. Since 2019, Yeti Airlines is ...
,
Shree Airlines
Shree Airlines Pvt. Ltd. ( ne, श्री एयरलाइन्स) is an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal, operating domestic services within Nepal, including chartered helicopter flights. The airline also conducts charter and non-charter ...
and
Saurya Airlines
Saurya Airlines Pvt. Ltd ( ne, सौर्य एयरलाईन्स) is an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal. As of August 2017, the airline serves five destinations across three provinces of Nepal from its hub at Tribhuvan International A ...
are some of the airlines that have daily flights to and from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. There are various means of transportation in Birtamod but the major means of transportation is via local bus.
Major cities nearby
*
Damak
Damak (Nepali: दमक), a city in eastern Nepal is one of the oldest municipalities in Jhapa District in Province No. 1 of Nepal. It is situated between the Ratuwa River in the east and the Maawa River in the west. It has Sivalik Hills in it ...
*
Mechinagar
Mechinagar ( ne, मेचीनगर) is a municipality in Jhapa District, Province No. 1, Nepal and is the main entry point from India on Nepal's eastern border. Nepal's custom office is in Kakarvitta ( ne, काँकडभिट्टा), ...
*
Surunga
Surunga is a trade center of Jhapa District. It is located in Kankai Municipality in Jhapa District in the Province No. 1 of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 16,747 people living in 2996 ...
*
Bhadrapur
*
Arjundhara
Arjundhara is the name of a temple that is situated in south-eastern part of Nepal. It is situated in Jhapa district, Province No. 1 in Nepal. It is 45 minutes on flight from Kathmandu to Bhadrapur and 30 minutes car ride from Bhadrapur to Arjund ...
*
Charali
Demography
Caste And Ethnic groups
Languages
Climate
The climate of Birtamod is hot and humid during summer, and mild and dry during winter. During the summer, temperatures can reach 38 degree Celsius, and the low in winter is about 2 degrees Celsius. Rainfall is abundant during the
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
season (June–September). There is little or no rainfall during winter, which makes it ideal for harvesting crops such as rice, wheat and mustard.
Industry and agriculture
Because of the fertile soil, the land around Birtamod is well suited for agriculture.
Rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
,
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
and
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
are some of the crops that are grown seasonally. Rice and Wheat is cultivated during the monsoon season when there is abundant rainfall, and harvested during the dry winter months. Several large
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
estates and processing factories are located just east of Birtamod.
Giri Bandhu Tea Estate
Giri Bandhu Tea Estate is a large tea company based in Jhapa, Nepal. It was founded in the early 1960s by late Shamsher Giri, Tek bahadhur Giri, Padam Bahadur Giri, and Bhagawan Giri, and is one of the biggest players in the Nepalese tea industry. ...
(गिरी बन्धु चिया बगान), New Giri Bandhu and Sons Tea Estate, and Buttabari Tea Processing are the major ones. Apart from agriculture the industrial trends are growing. Various cement factories are present to fulfill local requirement of cements at small scale production capacity.
The revolution of information technology in Nepal has effects in Birtamod. The establishment of an IT industry in Birtamod take more effective in Human Resource in Birtamod for outsourcing business.
Bitamod has a shopping mall called Hanuman Central.
Lot of new ecommerce delivery companies are now delivering products to local residents too along with supporting local retailers. Most prominent one is sanohaat.com.
Business
Birtamod got its business identity as trading hub with the passage of
Mahendra Highway
Mahendra Highway (), also called East-West Highway () runs across the Terai geographical region of Nepal, from Mechinagar in the east to Bhim Datta in the west, cutting across the entire width of the country. It is the longest highway in Nepal a ...
and
Mechi Highway
Mechi Highway ( Nepali: मेची राजमार्ग) is a two-lane freeway in Eastern Nepal, spanning about 268 kilometers in length. The highway connects all the districts of Mechi zone, hence the name ''Mechi''. It runs from the VDC of ...
. Production of hills started being collected and distributed from Birtamod. In the similar fashion, imported products started being sent to hills via Birtamod. Shorty, after being a trading hub, manufacturing activities started at about Birtamod. Alongside, started the rise of service sectors. One can get almost everything at retail and wholesale market of Birtamod that is imported into Nepal. Major products manufactured about Birtamod are: Steel, Cement, Ply, Concrete blocks, Plastic Pipes, Tea, Bricks, alike. Major services available at Birtamod are: School and College Education, Accounting, Business Consultation, Audit, Banking, Transportation, etc.
Culture
The culture of Birtamod is a mix of cultures of various ethnicities, but these two festival seasons are the most important, partly because of 68% of Nepal's population being Hindu and 18% of the population being Buddhist.
*Lhosar:(ल्होसार) This festival is celebrated three times once a year. The various combination of Buddhism community such as major community of Tamang celebrate
Sonam Lhosar
Sonam Lhosar is a new year festival of the Tamang people, Tamang and Hyolmo people, Hyolmo people of Nepal and the Sikkim and Darjeeling regions of India. It falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice which is usually the Magh (Nepal ...
in Marga, Sherpa Community celebrate
Gyalpo Lhosar
Gyalpo Losar is a new year festival of Sherpa people of Nepal and Sikkim and Darjeeling regions of India. The festival is celebrated every year from ''Falgun Shukla Pratipada'', the second day of the waxing moon until the full moon.
Gyalpo Los ...
in Falgun as well as Gurung Community celebrate
Tamu Lhosar
Tamu Lhosar is a new year festival of Gurung people of Nepal and Sikkim and Darjeeling regions of India. It is celebrated on every 15th Poush (December/January) of the Nepali calendar. Similar to other Lhosars, the Gurung people also represents t ...
in Poush.
*Dashain: (दशै)
Dashain
Dashain or Bada'dashain, also referred as Bijaya Dashami in Sanskrit, is a major Hindu religious festival in Nepal. It is also celebrated by Hindus of Nepal and elsewhere in the world, including among the Lhotshampa of Bhutan and the Burmese Gur ...
is celebrated by the Hindu's and is an exciting time for families to get together and meet relatives and each other. This festival lasts for 15 days. Celebrations and shopping are common during this time and so are religious ceremonies.
*Tihar and Dipawali: (तिहार)
Tihar lasts five days, including a day called Laksmi Puja which coincides with Dipawali.
Dipawali
Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali (IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is on ...
is a Hindu festival of lights and colors. People light up their house with little lamps called diya, generally fueled with mustard oil, and burst firecrackers all night long during the five days of Tihar.
Incidents
* March 22, 2006: Nine policemen and three
Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
rebels were killed during a clash at Birtamod police station and traffic office. A group of Maoists, loaded in three trucks attacked the office at around 7:00 am. In the attack, 20 policemen and two civilians were injured. The injured civilians were under detention and were being held in police custody when the attack took place. Most of the injured policemen were airlifted to Kathmandu for immediate medical treatment because the local hospitals where not able to handle severe trauma victims. Several Maoist rebels were also killed and injured when the truck carrying the rebels overturned during retreat.
*October 27, 2017: Locals started a rebellion against the government for not investigating a child's unknown death a week prior. The police were forced to control the rebellion using weapons and gas. Three of the rebels were killed on the spot and six others including some policeman were fatally injured. The injured were treated in a local hospital. Locals in rage struck the whole eastern part of Nepal for three days. The debate was settled by a discussion between government officials and the victims.
Images
Birtamode city of jhapa district.JPG
Birtamode city of jhapa district1.JPG
Birtamode city of jhapa district2.JPG
Footnotes
{{Province No. 1
Populated places in Jhapa District
Nepal municipalities established in 2014
Municipalities in Province No. 1
Municipalities in Jhapa District