[2] It connects Nepal from Kakarbhitta (Mechinagar Municipality) to West Mahendra Nagar in the east.

Bharatpur city and Chitwan Valley are located towards the central part of this highway.

The major destinations along and around the highway are Mechinagar, Bhadrapur, Itahari, Janakpur, Birgunj, Bharatpur, Butwal, Siddharthanagar, Nepalganj, and Bhim Dutta.

[1] Other towns on the Mahendra Highway are Birtamod, Damak, Inaruwa, Lahan, Narayangadh, Bardibas, and Chisapani.

It was only limited to the Rapti river in the west and did not include the 4 western districts of Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur which were famously known as Naya Muluk.

[3] It was precisely to end this dependence on India that King Mahendra initiated the idea for an east-west highway, after whom it is now named.

[2]From Mechinagar (Kakarvitta), the highway runs relatively smoothly for 108 kilometres (67 mi) to Itahari.

20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Mechinagar are the junctions for routes to Ilam at Charali and for Bhadrapur at Birtamod.

[2] Itahari is the road junction, with Biratnagar, on the Nepal-India border, to the south and Dharan and Dhankuta to the north.

[2] Janakpur lies 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the Mahendra Highway junction Dhalkebar.

The two highways join to cross the Siwalik Range to Hetauda in Chitwan Valley.

The 109 km Dhalkebar-Pathlaiya section of the road in this highway was built by soviet Union[8] while the Pathlaiya - Hetauda Section being part of the Tribhuvan highway was already built completed by India in 1956 however was only handed over to Nepal government in 1965.

The highway turns north to cross the Dudhwa Hills (350m ascent) into Inner-Terai Deukhuri Valley, then crosses the West Rapti River, which has no relation to the East Rapti River of Chitwan.

Just beyond the river (291 km from Hetauda), the highway reaches Bhalubang, where a spur road continues north into Pyuthan and Rolpa districts.

35 km beyond Lamahi, Rapti Highway departs north for Salyan and Rukum districts.

Kohalpur, 428 km west of Hetauda, is the junction for highway south 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to Nepalganj and the border with India and north to Birendranagar in Surkhet.

From Kohalpur the highway passes the Kusum-Ilaka forest, which is being eyed as a potential extension area of Bardia National Park, which lies to the north-west of Nepalganj, on the Nepal-India border.