Okhaldhunga is located in Sagarmatha Zone in the eastern development region. It is the headquarter of Okhaldhunga district covering an area of 1074 sq. km. This place is one of the beautiful places with many things to explore here. Okhaldhunga gets its name from ‘Okhal’ which means grinding stone.

Ancient stories of Okhaldhunga

There are many ancient stories about how this place got its name. Some of them includes during:

• Mahabharata period
It is believed that Bhim ate his food by eating rice in Okhal. A deep holes stone. At the district headquarter there’s a large grinding stone named as Okhaldhunga.

• Malla Regime
The other story is believed that Bhim Mall was sent to eastern part leading the troops for extension. At that time Kiraat were ruling Okhaldhunga and by displacing the Kiraats of that place the reached this place and ate food by beating rice in a deep holes stone like Okhal. And because of that this was named as Okhaldhunga.

Fact of Okhaldhunga

This place is the birthplace of a famous poet and writer Siddhicharan Shrestha. Also known as ‘Yug Kabi’ of Nepal. Most of his poems and composers describe this place. He has described how beautiful this place is and consists of every part of this place (rivers, birds, greenery, everything). This place is a home of beautiful environments with lots of big waterfalls and scenic beauty.

Demographic

The population of this place was recorded 147984 in the census of 2011. Most people of Tamang, Rai, Magar, Newar, Sherpa, Gurung, Satar, Nathali, Limbu, Abadhi live with their cultural practices.

Connectivity

• Roadway
A two day walk is needed from Katari for the best option as the headquarters is yet to be connected with the national highway.

• Airway
Flight to Rumjatara Airport which is about 5.3 km away from the headquarters.

Climate of this place

The climate zone includes upper tropical, subtropical, temperature and subalpine with the elevation ranging from 300 to 4000 m.

Attractions

This place is a home of crystal clear springs and waterfalls which includes
• Pomali
• Lipu
• Pattle
• Sepli
• Raatmate

Also there are some Gumbas
• Riyal Gumba
• Dolakhark Gumba
• Tolu Gumba and others

Many people here come to visit famous cave : Chandistha Cave

And temples
• Chandi Devi Temple
• Kirateshwor Mahadev Jahakali Temple

This place also offers a breathtaking views of mountains including
• Mt.Everest
• Mt.Kanchenjunga
• Mt.Gaurishankhar

Khoji Tholedemba
This is the highest and most attractive hill in western Okhaldhunga offering high mountain views and flora. With diverse culture of ethnic groups Sunuwar, Sherpa, Chettri

Ancient forts
Before the unification of Nepal, different kingdoms with different rulers were there. To guard their territory fort used to be placed. Okhaldhunga has many fort places like
• Okhaldhunga Gadi
• Chisankhukot Gadhi
• Chyanmakot Gadhi
• Taluwa Gadhi
• Bhaluithumka Gadhi

Famous for
Okhaldhunga is also famous for Slate stone and copper mines.
Coffee is done here. Nepal produces and supplies tons of Cardamom every year. And this place is one of the supplying location.

Optional Adventure
On the way to Okhaldhunga we can have an adventure experience by rafting in Sunkoshi river and Bhote Koshi river. To add more excitement.

Reaching Okhaldhunga

It takes about 6 hours or more to reach Siddhicharan, Okhaldhunga which is about 220km away from Kathmandu. The journey up to there is bumpy with off-road experience. As no direct connection with the national highway. Choosing an airway might be an easy option. Flight to Rumjatar Airport connects the people of Okhaldhunga with people from Lukla, Biratnagar and Kathmandu. With the air service providers: Nepal airlines and Tara airlines. Although choosing an airway is the best option but with the roadway we get a monumental experience of everything throughout the journey which we may miss by airway.

Best time to visit
The best time to travel this place is during October to December and February to April.