Janakpur

1. Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City

Janakpurdham or Janakpur is a sub-metropolitan city in Dhanusha district under Province No. 2. The city is a centre for religious and cultural tourism. It has been declared as the temporary capital for Province no. 2 until Province Assembly votes for a permanent capital.

This city was founded in the early 18^th century. According to oral tradition, an earlier city existed in the area, known as Janakpurdham, which was the capital of the Videha dynasty that ruled Mithila region in the ancient times.

Janakpur has a very important cultural significance. According to Ramayana, King Janaka’s palace is thought to have been located in ancient Janakpur. King Janaka he found a baby girl in a furrow, named herSita and raised her as his daughter. When she was older, he offered her in marriage to anyone who was able to lift the bow of Shiva that was left near Janakpur a thousand years earlier. Many royal suitors tried, but only Rama, prince of Ayodha achieved the success.

The city is located about 225 km south-east from country’s capital and has the population of 173,924 according to National Census, 2011, making it the largest Sub-Metropolitan city of Nepal. Janakpur is currently the third largest city in the Terai and seventh largest in Nepal.

Until the 1950s, Janakpur remained as a cluster of rural hamlets resided by farmers, artisans, priests and clerks. After India got independence, Janakpur developed as a commercial centre and became the capital of the Dhanusa District in the 1960s.

Janakpur is one of the fastest developing cities of Nepal. The city offers good health care facilities and a number of private schools, colleges as well as administrative and health centers. The economy of this metropolis is mostly based on religious tourism, agriculture, trade and business and local industries.

This city is center for Mitila tradition and the paintings on pottery, walls and courtyards made by Maithili women called Mithila Art.

Janakpur attracts migrants from the surrounding areas who come to the city for medical, education as well as job related opportunities. The largest employer was the Janakpur Cigarette Factory Limited and Janakpur Railway until 2013, both were closed due to irregularities. Zonal Hospital, Zonal Police Facility and banking sector is present in this sub-metropolis making the lives of the citizens easy.

As of 2011, Janakpur sub-municipality has 19,195 households with a population density of 4,000 people per square kilometer. In 2015, it was declared a sub-metropolitan city incorporating 11 surrounding villages. Maithali language is widely spoken in this area as the first language while Nepali, Hindi and Marwari languages are also used widely.

More than 90 percent of the total population is Hindu, with the rest being Muslims and Buddhists.

The centre of Janakpur is dominated by the impressive Janaki Mandir to the north and west of the bazaar. This temple, one of the biggest in Nepal, was built in 1898 by Queen Brisabhanu Kunwari of Tikamgarh.

This sub-metropolis has a total area of 100.20 square kilometer and is elevated up to 74 meter from the sea level.

Divided into 25 wards, this sub-metropolis has Lal Kishor Sah and Rita Kumari Mishra as Mayor and Deputy Mayor as respectively.

Regulated under the Municipal Council, this sub-metropolis is divided into four departments including, Administration, Economic, Planning and Technical and Social Welfare and Sanitation.

The table below shows the current law, procedures and guidelines active in Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City.

Table 1. List of laws, procedures and guidelines adopted by Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City:

Fiscal Profile:

Table on fiscal profile of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City:

Source: http://janakpurmun.gov.np/en