Birgunj, in Parsa district of Nepal’s Madhesh Province, is known as the “Gateway to Nepal” — the busiest land port on the India–Nepal border, facing the Indian rail-head of Raxaul. Most of Nepal’s overland trade passes through its customs, and its landmark Ghantaghar (clock tower) and the temple of Gahwa Mai anchor a bustling, cosmopolitan city.
Long part of the western Mithila / Bhojpuri-Maithili contact zone, Birgunj sits near the old Karnat capital of Simraungadh, tying the modern frontier city to one of the deepest layers of the region’s history.