Birganj (Nepali: वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhes Pradesh in southern Nepal.
It lies 135 km (84 mi) south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul on the border of the Indian state of Bihar.
Birganj was one of the first three municipalities formed during the rule of Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana.
In July 1959 From Sugauli King Rajendra Bikram Shah has a history of setting up a military camp in Alau of Parsa district.
Before the establishment of Birganj Bazar, the surrounding villages of Bagahi, Alau, Barewa, Kalaiya, Parsauni, Inaruwa, and Chhapkaiya existed.
To establish Birganj Bazar in a forest covered area, Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana appointed his trusted duo Siddhvir Mathema and Dhadjavir Mathema (two brothers), respectively in Birganj as the rulers of Mal Ada and Kath Mal Ada.
In this connection, Siddhvir Mathema distributed free land and timber and provided cash assistance to the homeowners in Birganj.
Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana's special man Siddhivir Mathema, was accused of conducting an inspection of a reservoir treaty and carrying out three lakh irregularities on his forehead.
When Siddhivir showed the calculations he had spent on setting up Birganj Bazar, he was declared invalid and an order was issued to pay the money immediately.
Of these, 78.6% spoke Bhojpuri, 6.5% Nepali, 5.5% Maithili, 3.1% Urdu, 1.9% Rajasthani, 1.5% Newar, 0.7% Tharu, 0.6% Hindi, 0.4% Rai, 0.1% Bengali, 0.1% Magar, 0.1% Punjabi, 0.1% Tamang, 0.1% Uranw/Urau, and 0.1% other parties as their first language.
[13] In terms of ethnicity/caste, 18.1% were Musalman, 9.6% Kurmi, 6.5% Yadav, 6.4% Kanu, 3.6% Hill Brahmin, 3.6% Teli, 3.2% Dhanuk, 3.1% Sonar, 3.1% Tharu, 3.0% Kalwar, 2.9% Chamar/Harijan/Ram, 2.8% Koiri/Kushwaha, 2.3% Newar, 2.2% Marwadi, 2.1% Kathabaniyan, 2.1% Kayastha, 1.9% Chhetri, 1.9% Dusadh/Paswan/Pasi, 1.8% Terai Brahmin, 1.6% Baraee, 1.6% Mallaha, 1.4% Nuniya, 1.4% other Terai, 1.3% Rajput, 1.2% Hajjam/Thakur, 1.2% Lohar, 1.2% Tatma/Tatwa, 1.1% Dhobi, 0.9% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.7% Kumal, 0.7% Musahar, 0.5% Kumhar, 0.5% Rai, 0.4% Halkhor, 0.4% Tamang, 0.3% Dom, 0.3% Magar, 0.3% Mali, 0.2% Badhaee, 0.2% Bengali, 0.2% Bin, 0.2% Halwai, 0.2% Kahar, 0.2% Kewat, 0.2% Natuwa, 0.2% Rajbhar, 0.2% Thakuri, 0.1% Damai/Dholi, 0.1% Gaderi/Bhedihar, 0.1% Gurung, 0.1% Jhangad/ Dhagar, 0.1% Kami, 0.1% Majhi, 0.1% Punjabi/Sikh, 0.1% Sudhi, 0.1% Yakkha and 0.1% others.
The 69-kilometre (43 mi) Amlekhgunj-Raxaul oil pipeline connecting the two countries has been laid along the Pathlaiya-Simara-Jitpur, Parwanipur and Birganj bypass roadway.
In the ancient times, the pilgrims stopped at Birganj in the midst of their journey between Lumbini and Bodh Gaya (India).
The mound is protected by a boundary wall, and future excavations may well tell us about the history of not just Birganj but also its importance to Buddhism 2,500 years ago.
Parsa National Park which is 33 km (21 mi) from the city, known for inhabiting Royal Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Common Leopard (Panthera pardus) and also various species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Thus, Birganj has direct connectivity to major Indian cities like – Patna, Varanasi, Haridwar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Allahabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Amritsar, Guwahati, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ranchi, Raipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, etc.
There are regular bus services to all major cities and towns in Nepal including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Patan, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Dharan, Butwal, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Kakarvitta, Janakpur, Bhairahawa (Lumbini), Bharatpur (Chitwan), etc.
Birganj bus park is the centre to find buses for any route, Horse driven carts locally called Tanga have historically been the mode of transport for the Madheshi people.
Now, broad gauge railway line connects Raxaul to the Sirsiya (Birganj) Inland Container Depot (ICD) that became fully operational in 2005.
Talks have been held to reopen the railway route from Birganj to Amlekhganj in Nepal by converting it to broad gauge because of its socio-economic importance.
Goods are transported to and from India via Birganj dry port, which is the key terminal of surface cargo delivery to Nepal.
This cargo point on the south connects the heart of the country, Kathmandu, via another key industrial city, Hetauda.
It is also served by Tribhuvan Highway, extending from the Indian border at Raxaul through Birgunj and Hetauda to Kathmandu with frequent bus service.
Nepal national cricket team's players Haseem Ansari, Aarif Sheikh, Avinash Karn and Irshad Ahmed hail from Birganj.
Many local newspapers like Prateek, Loktimes Daily, Kripa, Bhojpuri Time, Birgunjsanjal, Jana Aawaz etc.
TEDxBirgunj was successfully held on 17 December,[22] that was the first ever TED event conducted in Terai region of Nepal.
Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Teej, Krishna Janmasthami, Maha Shivaratri, Durgapuja, Chhath, Dipawali, Maghi and Ram Navami are major festivals celebrated in Birganj.
People of Madheshi ethnicity occupies greater portion of population which includes castes such as Chaurasiya,Chaudhary-Tharu, Jaiswal, Gupta, Sah, Singh, Kushwaha, Yadav, Mahato, Rauniyar, Patel, and others from the Hindu community.
Dal, bhat, roti, vegetable curry, and achar (pickle) are the most widely consumed food items.
Food such as Pav Bhaji (bread and vegetable curry) and Chaat (snack made with potato as the main ingredient) are relatively popular.