Dharan an Introduction

Dharan is a beautiful and multicultural town of eastern Nepal. It lies on Sunsari District and Koshi Zone. It is also a major town of Nepal and the town of many different races and ethnic groups.

The town of Dharan was established when a thick jungle was cleared for a small human settlement in 1890s. In 1902 the then Prime Minister Juddha Sumshere Rana established a small village at the foot of Vijayapur hillock and named Chanrdranagar (now Purano Bajar), and steady growth of the settlement got into a shape of town in course of time. It was declared a municipal town in 1960. However, the history of Vijayapur village goes back more than 225 years.

In the beginning there was a thick jungle where the modern town of Dharan stands now. Fellers had set up dharan (wooden platforms to saw logs). That's how the town got it's name.

The British Gorkha Recruit Center was established in 1953 and this increased the flow of people and expansion of the town. In 1962, Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones and 75 districts and Dharan was made the Zonal Headquarters of Kosi Zone. At first the town was divided into eleven wards, but in 1980 Banjjhogara Gaon Panchayat at the east and Ghopa Gaon Panchayat at the west were added to Dharan Town Panchayat. This expansion led to re-formation of the wards, and thus the town was divided into nineteen wards.

Home of many different races, castes, creeds and an ethnic group, Dharan is proud to be a center of education, health, tourism and trade. And it's trying to come up not only as a model municipality in the eastern region but also in the whole of Nepal.