Districts
Koshi Province
Udayapur उदयपुर
Triyuga, gateway hills to the east
Udayapur occupies a broad inner-Terai valley drained by the Triyuga River, with its headquarters at Gaighat between the eastern hills and the plains. The district carries Nepal's principal cement works — the Udayapur Cement Industry, commissioned in 1993 with Japanese support and drawing limestone from the Sindhali hills, long an anchor of the national construction supply. Beyond industry, the forested valley is a quieter, less-visited corner of the eastern lowlands.
About Udayapur
Udayapur sits in a broad inner-Terai valley drained by the Triyuga River, an agricultural and light-industrial district that sees very little through-tourism. The Udayapur Cement Industries plant at Jaljale, commissioned in the early 1990s with Japanese technical support and drawing limestone from the Sindhali hills, is the district's economic anchor. Beyond industry, the forested Tapli Pokhari at around 1,800 metres is an important local pilgrimage lake, and the riverbanks of the Triyuga provide easy day-excursion territory. The district's eastern edge abuts the corridor toward the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve.
Udayapur is quintessential middle-Nepal transition country — part Terai plains, part forested foothills — and its character is that of a working agricultural district rather than a visitor destination. The headquarters at Gaighat is a growing town with road connections east toward Saptari and north-west toward Sindhuli, and it functions as a staging post for journeys along the Sagarmatha Highway toward Okhaldhunga and the hill districts above. Travellers who stop here usually do so out of logistical necessity rather than by design.
At a glance
- Headquarters
- Gaighat
- Known for
- Triyuga, gateway hills to the east
Getting there
Gaighat is around 290–300 km from Kathmandu via the BP Highway and Sagarmatha Highway — a 7–8 hour drive or bus journey through Sindhuli and Okhaldhunga terrain. No commercial airport serves the district directly; the nearest is Biratnagar (about 140 km east). Local buses connect Gaighat to the Mahendra Highway corridor at Lahan and to Okhaldhunga to the north.