Dolakha District

Dolakha, often known as Dolkha or Dholkha (Nepal Bhasa:दोलखा जिल्ला)Listenⓘ), a part of Bagmati Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Charikot as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,191 km2 (846 sq mi) and had a population of 204,229 in 2001 and 186,557 in 2011.[1]Dolkha postal code begins from 45500 and the main headquarters is in Dolkha the administrative center of this district consists of 11 post offices. It is a district with a strong religious affiliation. It is popularly known amongst most Nepalese for the temple of Dolakha Bhimeshawor.

Dolakha District
दोलखा
District
Mount Chhobo Bamare
Mount Chhobo Bamare
Dolakha District (dark blue) in Bagmati Province
Location of district in Bagmati Province
Country   Nepal
ProvinceBagmati Province
Admin HQ.Charikot (Bhimeshwar and namdu
Government
 • TypeCoordination committee
 • BodyDCC, Dolakha
Area
 • Total2,191 km2 (846 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total186,557
 • Density85/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+05:45 (NPT)
Postal Codes
1457
Main Language(s)Dolkhali Nepal Bhasa
Websitewww.ddcdolakha.gov.np

The name Dolkha arose from Newar Community. In the classical Nepal Bhasa language "Dol" or "Dwāl" means Thousand, and "Khā" means houses which means "The place that have thousand houses".

Bhimeshwar Temple

The Bhimeshwar temple is located in Dolakha Bazar of Bhimeshwar. The main statue of this temple is God Bhim. Bhimsen, Bhimeshwar, or Bhim of Dolakha is noted as one of the most popular throughout the country. He was the second prince of Panch Pandav and notably worshiped by the traders or merchandisers as their god. In Dolakha, the roofless temple constitutes the idol of Bhimsen, which is triangular in shape and made of rough stone. The idol in the temple is said to resemble three different gods: Bhimeshwar in the morning, Mahadeva during the day and the Narayana in the evening.

Local legend has it that ages ago, 12 porters coming from elsewhere stopped at this spot and made three stone stoves to cook rice. After a few minutes, it was noticed that one side of the rice grains was cooked but the other side was raw. When the Porter flipped the cooked side up, the cooked rice became raw again when it came in contact with the triangular-shaped black-stone. One of the porters became very angry and stabbed the stone with "Paneu" (laddle), which cut the stone and out of the cut flowed blood coated with milk. Later they realized that the stone is God Bhim. Worshippers started pouring in to pray to God Bhim. There are many faith-challenging incidents about the Bhimsen of Dolakha. The miraculous things of Bhimsen statue of Dolakha include sweating fluid like drops of warm water. People believe that if any bad incident is happening or going to happen in near future in the country then Bhimsen himself tries to protect his people by warning them through sweating etc.

From the point of view of Shree Bhimeshwar Shivapuran, there was a kingdom of Bhima that was blessed by God Brahma at the side of a mountain peak. The people, who lived in the Bhima's kingdom had to live very sorrowful lives from the Bhima and so they prayed to god Shiva to save their lives. Then God Shiva came from Gaurishanker and killed the king Bhima. According to the history after Bhima's death, the statue of God at that spot was named -Bhimeshwar (भिमेश्वर).

Dolakha is also home to another holy temple - Kalinchowk Bhagawati. It is situated in high mountains at an altitude of about 3842m and the pilgrims are known to walk a long and dangerous route via the mountains to the temple. But, in 2018 the government started a new cable car service for the comfort of the pilgrims. The temple is believed to have strong spiritual power and known to fulfill the prayer of the pilgrims. [2]

Geography and climate
Climate Zone[3] Elevation Range  % of Area
Upper Tropical 300 to 1,000 meters
1,000 to 3,300 ft.		  1.9%
Subtropical 1,000 to 2,000 meters
3,300 to 6,600 ft.		 26.2%
Temperate 2,000 to 3,000 meters
6,400 to 9,800 ft.		 28.5%
Subalpine 3,000 to 4,000 meters
9,800 to 13,100 ft.		 16.6%
Alpine 4,000 to 5,000 meters
13,100 to 16,400 ft.		  9.4%
Nival above 5,000 meters 17.4%

Demographics
Historical population
Census yearPop.±% p.a.
1981 150,576—    
1991 173,236+1.41%
2001 204,229+1.66%
2011 186,557−0.90%
2021 172,726−0.77%
Source: Citypopulation[4]

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Dolakha District had a population of 186,557.

As their first language, 65.2% spoke Nepali, 15.9% Tamang, 8.0% Thami, 4.5% Sherpa, 2.3% Jirel, 1.9% Newari, 0.9% Sunuwar, 0.3% Magar, 0.2% Maithili, 0.1% Bengali, 0.1% Majhi, 0.1% Surel and 0.1% other languages.[5]

Ethnicity/caste: 33.4% were Chhetri, 16.8% Tamang, 9.4% Newar, 9.2% Hill Brahmin, 9.0% Thami, 4.8% Sherpa, 4.3% Kami, 2.4% Jirel, 2.2% Damai/Dholi, 2.2% Sarki, 1.6% Magar, 1.5% Gharti/Bhujel, 1.0% Sunuwar, 0.7% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.5% Gurung, 0.2% Majhi, 0.2% Thakuri, 0.1% Badi, 0.1% Rai and 0.3% others.[6]

Religion: 67.8% were Hindu, 22.3% Buddhist, 8.1% Prakriti, 1.6% Christian and 0.1% others.[7]

Literacy: 62.5% could read and write, 3.5% could only read and 33.9% could neither read nor write.[8]

Administration

The district consists of 9 Municipalities, out of which two are urban municipalities and seven are rural municipalities. These are as follows:[9]

Former Municipalities and Village Development Committees (VDCs)
Map of the VDCs in Dolakha District

Prior to the restructuring of the district, Dolakha consisted of the following municipalities and Village development committees:

  • Near Charikot
    Near Charikot
  • Dolakha Bhimsen Temple
    Dolakha Bhimsen Temple
  • Kalinchowk
    Kalinchowk
  • Jiri
    Jiri
  • Khari dhunga Dolakha Nepal
    Khari dhunga Dolakha Nepal
  • Himalayan range GAURISHANKAR
    Himalayan range GAURISHANKAR
  • View
    View

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dolakha District.
  1. "National Population and Housing Census 2011(National Report)" (PDF). Central Bureau of Statistics. Government of Nepal. November 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-18.
  2. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Kalinchok_bhagawati_Statue.JPG
  3. The Map of Potential Vegetation of Nepal - a forestry/agroecological/biodiversity classification system (PDF), . Forest & Landscape Development and Environment Series 2-2005 and CFC-TIS Document Series No.110., 2005, ISBN 87-7903-210-9, retrieved November 22, 2013
  4. "NEPAL: Administrative Division". www.citypopulation.de.
  5. NepalMap Language
  6. NepalMap Caste
  7. NepalMap Religion
  8. NepalMap Literacy
  9. "स्थानिय तह" (in Nepali). Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

27°40′N 86°2′E

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