Madhesh Province

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Madhesh Province

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Settlement type
Country India
State
District
Subdivision

Madhesh Province (Template:Langx) is a province of Nepal in the Terai region with an area of Template:Cvt covering about 6.5% of the country's total area. It has a population of 6,114,600 as per the 2021 Nepal census, making it Nepal's most densely populated province and the smallest province by area.[1][2] It borders Koshi Pradesh to the east and the north, Bagmati Province to the north, and India’s Bihar state to the south and the west. The border between Chitwan National Park and Parsa National Park acts as the provincial boundary in the west, and the Kosi River forms the provincial border in the east. The province includes eight districts, from Parsa in the west to Saptari in the east. It is a centre for religious and cultural tourism.[3]

Etymology

The word madhesh is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit madhya desh (मध्य देश), literally the middle country, which refers to "the central region, the country lying between the Himalaya and the Vindhya mountains".Template:Sfn[4] However, in the context of Nepal, Madhesh refers to the region in the Nepal Terai located south of the Siwalik Hills.[5][6] Madhesh has also been defined as the cultural and linguistic space existing as a basis for identity among the people of the Terai.[7]

History

Madhesh Province was founded with the provisional name Province No. 2 in September 2015 in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal.[8] It received its current name on 17 January 2022, when the provincial assembly declared Janakpur as its capital.[9]

Geography

As per Central Bureau of Statistics, Madhesh Province covers about Template:Cvt of Nepal's total area of Template:Cvt. With 6,114,600 inhabitants as of 2021, it is Nepal's second most populous province.[10][11] Madhesh Province is surrounded by the Chitwan District to the west, Makwanpur District and Sindhuli District and Udayapur District to the north, Sunsari District to the east, and India to the south.[12] The province has Template:Cvt of arable land, making it the country's most agriculture-dominated province. The west of the province contains part of Parsa National Park, while part of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve lies within the east. The province is biodiverse, and is crossed by migrating elephants.[13]

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Climate

Average temperatures and precipitation for selected communities in Madhesh Province[14]
Location August

(°F)

August

(°C)

January

(°F)

January

(°C)

Annual

Precipitation (mm/in)

Gaur 91/77.9 23/9.1 73.4/48.4 32.8/25.5 1590.2/62.6
Siraha 89.6/76.3 32/24.6 72.1/47.3 22.3/8.5 1293.1/50.9
Birgunj 84.7 29.3 60.8 16 1862.2/73.3
Jaleshwar 84.4 29.1 61.2 16.2 1492.9/58.8
Malangawa 84.4 29.1 60.8 16 1817.7/71.6
Janakpur 84.2 29 60.8 16 1516.5/59.7
Rajbiraj 83.3 28.5 60.4 15.8 1223.3/48.2
Lahan 83.3 28.5 60.3 15.7 1231.4/48.5

Demographics

According to the 2021 Nepal census, the province has a population of 6,114,600: 3,065,751 males and 3,048,849 females. The province with 20.97% of the country's population has the second-highest population after Bagmati Province in the country, and is the densest province in the country with a density of 633 people per square kilometre.[10]

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Ethnic groups

Maithils are the largest ethnolinguistic group. Yadav is the largest group among the Madhesi people in the province making up around 15.2% of the population. Muslims are the second largest group making up 13% of the population. Teli (5.3%), Kushwaha(koeri) (4.5%), Chamar (4.4%), Kurmi (3.0%), Musahar (2.9%), Dusadh (2.79%), Mallaah (2.26%), Maithil Brahmin (2.2%), and Karan Kayastha (1.5%) are other Madhesi pandit (8.0) groups in the province. Bahun and Chhetri are the largest Khas Arya groups in the province making up 2.34% and 1.99% of the population, respectively. Tharu (5.27%) and Dhanuk (3.49%) is the largest non-Madhesi, non-Khas Arya group followed by Tamang (2.17%).[15]

Languages

The Maithili language is spoken by 45.36% of the total population of the province. Bhojpuri is spoken by 18.81% and Bajjika is spoken by 18.44% of the population. Nepali is the province's official language, but is spoken as mother tongue by only 5.76% of the population. Tharu (4.17%), Urdu (4.08%), and Tamang (1.65%) are other languages spoken by a minority of the population.[16]

The Language Commission of Nepal has recommended Maithili, Bhojpuri and Bajjika as official languages of the province, and Urdu, Tharu and Tamang as additional official languages for specific regions and purposes in the province.[17]

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Religion

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Hinduism is the most followed religion in the province, being followed by 84.24% of the population. Islam is the second largest religion with 13.28% of the population being Muslims, and Buddhism is followed by 2.21% of the population.[18]

Government and administration

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Executive

Template:Main The Governor acts as the head of the province while the Chief Minister is the head of the provincial government. The present Governor and Chief Minister are Surendra Labh Karn and Krishna Prasad Yadav respectively.

Legislative

Template:Main The province has 107 provincial assembly constituencies and 32 constituencies.[19]

Madhesh Province has a unicameral legislature, like all of the other provinces in Nepal. The term length of provincial assembly is five years. The Provincial Assembly of Madhesh Province is temporarily housed at the District Education Office in Janakpur.[20]

Party Parliamentary party leader Seats
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | CPN (UML) Saroj Kumar Yadav 25
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Nepali Congress Krishna Prasad Yadav 22
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | People's Socialist Party, Nepal Saroj Kumar Yadav 19
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Janamat Party Mahesh Prasad Yadav 13
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Loktantrik Samajwadi Party Abhiram Sharma 9
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | CPN (Maoist Centre) Bharat Prasad Sah 9
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | CPN (Unified Socialist) Govinda Bahadur Neupane 7
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Rastriya Prajatantra Party 1
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Nepal Federal Socialist Party 1
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Nagrik Unmukti Party 1
Total 107

Judiciary

The Chief Judge of the Janakpur High Court is the head of the judiciary.[21] The acting chief justice is Binod Sharma.[22]

Administrative subdivisions

Template:See also Madhesh Province is divided into eight districts, which are listed below. A district is administrated by the head of the District Coordination Committee and the District Administration Officer. The districts are further divided into municipalities or rural municipalities. The municipalities include one metropolitan city, three sub-metropolitan cities, and 73 municipalities. There are 59 rural municipalities in the province.[23]

Name Headquarters Population (2011)
Dhanusha District Janakpur 754,777
Sarlahi District Malangawa 769,729
Bara District Kalaiya 687,708
Rautahat District Gaur 686,722
Saptari District Rajbiraj 639,284
Siraha District Siraha 637,328
Mahottari District Jaleshwar 627,580
Parsa District Birgunj 601,017

Infrastructure

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Roadways

Mahendra Highway is the major highway in the province running longitudinally across the province.[24] The Tribhuvan Highway also crosses a part of the province and connects it to the Kathmandu Valley and India.Template:Citation needed

Railways

Template:Main

File:Janakpur Railway Station, Nepal Railway 20200918 02.jpg
Janakpur Train Station is the largest Railway Station in Nepal

Railway projects are managed by Nepal Railways. Janakpur has been proposed as the main station for the Template:Cvt long east–west metro railway project that is planned to be extended to India and China for connecting Nepal Railways with Indian Railways and China Railway.[25]

Airports

Madhesh Province has three domestic airports:

Under construction Airport:

Culture

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Mithila Paag

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File:Paag-mithila4.jpg
Mithila Paag

The Paag is a headdress in the Mithila region of Nepal and India worn by Maithil people. It is a symbol of honour and respect and a significant part of Maithil culture. The Paag dates back to pre-historic times when it was made of plant leaves. It exists today in a modified form. The Paag is wore by the whole Maithil community. The colour of the Paag also carries a lot of significance. The red Paag is worn by the bridegroom and by those who are undergoing the sacred thread rituals. Paag of mustard colour is donned by those attending wedding ceremonies and the elders wear a white Paag.

Paintings

File:Madhubani Mahavidyas.jpg
Mithila painting featuring God Shiva-Parvati and the Mahavidyas

Madhubani art is practiced in the Mithila region. It was traditionally created by the women of different communities of the Mithila region.[26] This painting as a form of wall art was practiced widely throughout the region; the more recent development of painting on paper and canvas originated among the villages around Madhubani, and it is these latter developments that may correctly be referred to as Madhubani art.[27]

File:Madhubani art.jpg
Madhubani_art

Artists create these paintings using a variety of mediums, including their own fingers, or twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks. The paint is created using natural dyes and pigments. The paintings are characterised by their eye-catching geometrical patterns.

Cuisine

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Maithil cuisine and Bhojpuri cuisine are part of Nepalese cuisine. Maithil is a culinary style which originated in Mithila while Bhojpuri cuisine originated in the Bhojpuri region.[28] Some traditional dishes of Madhesh are:

Dances

Jhijhiya

Template:Main Jhijhiya is a cultural dance from the Mithila region.[30]

File:Women performing Jhijhiya dance.jpg
Women performing Jhijhiya dance

Jhijhiya is mostly performed at time of Dusshera, in dedication to Durga Bhairavi, the goddess of victory.[31] While performing jhijhiya, women put lanterns made of clay on their head and they balance it while they dance.[32]

Domkach

Template:Main Domkach is a folk dance performed in Mithila and Bhojpur regions of Madhesh Province.[33]

Jat Jatin

Jat Jatin is based on folk songs of Mithila and Tharu community which they perform from Shrawan Purnima to Bhadra Purnima. It is based on the love story of hero jat and heroine Jatin and their lives.[34]

Gauna dance

The Dance is based in Mithila Tradition and popular in Janakpur region of Nepal. This dance is performed in the religious occasions.

Politics

As a political center of the country, Madhesh Province is home to prominent leaders like Ram Baran Yadav, Bimalendra Nidhi and Pradeep Giri from the Nepali Congress, Mahantha Thakur from Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal, Matrika Yadav from CPN (Maoist Centre) and Dharmanath Prasad Sah, Bansidhar Mishra, Ram Chandra Jha from the CPN (Unified Socialist) who have been ministers at various point of time and are still active at National level.[35] In local level, Nepali congress remains the single largest party.[36]

Notable people

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  • Ruby Rana, First Miss Nepal, crowned in 1994
  • Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, First President of Nepal
  • Bimalendra Nidhi, MP and Former deputy prime minister
  • Pradeep Yadav (Nepalese politician), Former Minister for Health and Population of Nepal, currently serving as the Minister of Water Supply of Nepal.
  • Madhav Kumar Nepal, Former Prime minister
  • Mahindra Ray Yadav, continues winning Nepalese politician, former minister, present member of parliament
  • Upendra Yadav, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister
  • VTEN, Rapper from Rautahat
  • Pradeep Giri, Former socialist politician and respected socialist thinker
  • Chitra Lekha Yadav, Former education minister, currently ambassador of Nepal in Australia.
  • Bina Jaiswal, Nepalese Politician, Rastriya Prajatantra party
  • Aashiq Ali Mikrani, martyr of the Terai/Madhesh movement
  • Nanyadeva, (1097-1147CE) Founder of Karnat dynasty, Simraungadh-Bara
  • Gangadeva, king of simraungadh
  • Harisimhadeva, (until 1324CE), Last ruler of karnat Dynasty who fled to Kathmandu valley
  • Mahantha Thakur, Veteran Madheshi politician and leader of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party
  • Lalbabu Raut, First Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, representing the People's Socialist Party, Nepal
  • Bibek Yadav, Nepalese cricketer who has represented the national team in international matches
  • Anil Kumar Shah, A right-handed batsman from Janakpur, Sah has represented Nepal in international cricket and is a key player for the Madhesh Province cricket team
  • Deepak Rauniyar, film director Fromm Saptari; he is best known for his movie Rajagunj
  • Rabindra Jha, a prominent Nepalese actor, comedian, and scriptwriter, widely recognized for his versatile performances in the Nepali entertainment industry.
  • Najir Husen, Actor
  • Santosh Shah, a distinguished Nepalese chef renowned for his significant contributions to promoting Nepalese cuisine on the international stage
  • Dhirendra Premarshi, Maithili poet and writer

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Population and Housing Census 2011. Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  2. ↑ सबैभन्दा बढी जनसंख्या हुने प्रदेश मधेश. ekantipur.com. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  3. ↑ Rastriya Samachar Samiti (2004). "More Indian tourists visit Janakpurdham". Himalayan Times, 17 January 2004.
  4. ↑ Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Prasad Prakashan(1957–1959)Template:Dead link
  5. ↑ Sectional President's Address: Ethnicity and National Unification: The Madheshis of Nepal. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress({Template:Year).
  6. ↑ Nepal Conflict Alert. www.crisisgroup.org(2 September 2015).
  7. ↑ Origin and Development of Madheshi Movement in Nepal. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress({Template:Year).
  8. ↑ Formation of provinces in Nepal. Office of Attorney General (Nepal).
  9. ↑ Janakpurdham declared Province 2 capital (With video). Nepal Press(2022). Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 2021 Nepal census
  11. ↑ Provinces of Nepal. statoids.com. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  12. ↑ Big 3 draw new 7-province map. Republica(22 Aug 2015). Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  13. ↑ Nepal's Madhesh province lacks in biodiversity research and conservation. Mongabay(2023). Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Nepal Travel Weather Averages. Weatherbase. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nationaldata
  16. ↑ Table 5: Mother tongue and sex. Census Nepal 2021. Central Bureau of Statistics.
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named langcomreport
  18. ↑ Table 5: Religion and sex. Census Nepal 2021. Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  19. ↑ CDC creates 495 constituencies. The Himalayan Times(2017-08-31). Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  20. ↑ First Provincial Assembly meeting begins in 4 provinces. The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  21. ↑ High Courts get their chief judges. The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  22. ↑ उच्च अदालत जनकपुर. Supreme Court Nepal. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  23. ↑ स्थानिय तह. 103.69.124.141. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  24. ↑ The Rough Guide to Nepal{{#if:Reed|, Reed}. Rough Guides(2002). ISBN 9781858288994
  25. ↑ Nepal, India agree on five rail projects. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  26. ↑ Madhubani Painting{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Abhinav Publications(2003). ISBN 9788170171560
  27. ↑ Carolyn Brown Heinz, 2006, "Documenting the Image in Mithila Art," Visual Anthropology Review, Vol. 22, Issue 2, pp. 5-33
  28. ↑ The Story Behind Nepalese Cuisine And Dishes That Are Worth Trying. Slurrp. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  29. ↑ Choice in Chaos: A Bharatpedian'S Autobiography{{#if:Bhadani|, Bhadani}. Partridge Publishing(2017-03-16). ISBN 978-1-4828-8891-1
  30. ↑ Tourism Perspective in Bihar{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. APH(1999). ISBN 9788170249757
  31. ↑ Social and cultural life of the Nepalese{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Mohit Publications(1999). ISBN 978-81-7445-092-0
  32. ↑ Tourism Perspective in Bihar{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. APH(1999). ISBN 9788170249757
  33. ↑ Domkach. Folklibrary.com. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  34. ↑ Jat Jatin dance.
  35. ↑ The Politics of Province 2, Kumar, Mukesh Pokhrel and Ramesh(10 April 2021). Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  36. ↑ NC poised to be the largest party in Province 2, Republica. My Republica. Retrieved 2021-07-28.

Works cited

  • Regionalism and National Unity in Nepal{{#if:Gaige|, Gaige}. Vikas Publishing House(1975)
  • Education, Nationalism, and Conflict in Plural Society in Nepal: Terai Region in the Post-Maoist Context{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Hiroshima University Partnership Project for Peace Building and Capacity Development(2013)
  • Thapa Politics in Nepal: With Special Reference to Bhim Sen Thapa, 1806–1839. Concept Publishing Company.

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