Narayani ( ne, नारायणी अञ्चल) was one of the fourteen

zones Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

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 ma ...

until the restructuring of zones to

Provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, located in the central south of the country. The headquarter of Narayani zone was

Hetauda Hetauda ( ne, हेटौडा, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in the Makwanpur District of Bagmati Province in central Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of the Makwanpur District and the capital of Bagmati Province as declared by m ...

. Narayani Zone is named after the Narayani River which is on the western border of the zone, separating it from the Gandaki and

Lumbini Lumbinī ( ne, लुम्बिनी, IPA=ˈlumbini , "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth ...

zones. Narayani means beloved of Narayan which is

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

his sister, and Narayan refers to

Lord Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

(the preserver) in the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

religion.

Geography

Narayani contained parts of the

Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

, Inner Terai, and Hill regions of Nepal, but it did not contain any of the Mountain or Himalayan region. Narayani is rich in flora and fauna. Considering the plain Terai, bordering India (to the south), where arnas (wild bulls) run to the hills from in fall, landscape structure of Narayani can be considered unique. Narayani River and

East Rapti River The East Rapti River flows from east to west through the Chitwan Valley in Nepal, forming the northern border of the Chitwan National Park. It joins the Narayani River inside the protected area.Bhuju, U. R., Shakya, P. R., Basnet, T. B., Shresth ...

are the main rivers of Narayani zone. Bishajari and Garuda are some of the few lakes in Narayani.

Administrative subdivisions

Narayani was divided into five districts; since 2015 the two northern districts have been redesignated as part of

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province ( ne, बाग्मती प्रदेश, ''Bagmati Pradesh'') is one of the seven provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. The province is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest provin ...

, while the three southern districts have been redesignated as part of

Province No. 2 Madhesh Province ( Nepali/ mai, मधेश प्रदेश) is a province of Nepal that was formed after the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal. It is Nepal's most populous province, and smallest province by area. It borders Province N ...

History

Narayani used to be all forest. Settlement started after the Anglo-Nepal War. Devghat, where people go for meditation, is in this area. It is one of the most religious places of Nepal.

Economy

Birgunj-Pathlaiya 25 km industrial corridor having major industries of Nepal is in Narayani zone. It is the third largest industrial area of the country.

is the industrial area where the Hetauda cement factory (government owned organization) is. The main transit point of business transaction is in Birgunj joining to

Raxaul Raxaul is a sub-divisional town in the East Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated at the India-Nepal border with Birgunj city (Nepal). Raxaul is a major railway junction. The Indian border town of Raxaul has become one ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, a dry port of Nepal and India.

Nepal Oil Corporation Nepal Oil Corporation Limited (NOC) ( ne, नेपाल आयल निगम लिमिटेड) is a monopoly state owned trading enterprise of Nepal that imports, stores and distributes various petroleum products in the country. In Nepa ...

Amlekhganj Amlekhganj (''also'' Amlekhgunj) ( Nepali:अमलेखगंज) is a town and Village Development Committee (now Sub Metropolitan City) in Bara District in the Narayani Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had ...

, Dabur Nepal in Bara District,

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

, Bottlers Nepal (Terai) in

Chitwan Chitwan District (, , ) is one of 77 districts of Nepal, and takes up the southwestern corner of Bagmati Province. Bharatpur, largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu, is its administrative centre. It covers . In 2011 it had a population of 579 ...

and other several industries are in Narayani Zone and play leading role in national economy.

Important cities and towns

Some important cities and towns are

Birganj Birgunj ( ne, वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhesh Province of southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entry ...

, Parwanipur, Jitpur, Alau,

, Bharatpur, Narayangarh, Kalaiya, and

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

Miscellaneous

Narayani hosts Nepal's oldest and most famous national park:

Chitwan National Park , iucn_category = II , location = Central Terai of Nepal , established = 1973 , nearest_city = Bharatpur , map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#India#South Asia , relief = 1 , label = Chitwan National Park , label_position = top , coordina ...

(932 km²), considered to be one of Asia's richest nature reserves, renowned for its

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present i ...

s and the

Indian rhinoceros } The Indian rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros unicornis''), also called the Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red Li ...

. To the southeast the park is complemented by the Parsa National Park with another 499 km². As of 2014 the Zone now hosts the beauty contest of Miss Glam Narayani, wherein winners are given direct entry to Miss Glam Nepal. Narayani is one of the few zones that was left relatively untouched by 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 Ch ...

. It is a relatively prosperous zones of Nepal with a trading market with India whose effect can be easily seen in the border town of

Birgunj Birgunj ( ne, वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhesh Province of southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an en ...