Wikipedia
Butwal is a sub-metropolitan city and the urban core of a rapidly growing urban agglomeration in Nepal. It lies in Western Development Region, Lumbini Zone in Rupandehi District and is the administrative headquarter for Lumbini Zone. It is situated at the bank of Tilottama River Tinau River, 265 km west of Kathmandu, 161 km south of Pokhara, 147 km east of Ghorahi, Dang and 22 km north of Siddharthanagar Bhairawaha, at the northern edge of the Terai plain below the Siwalik Hills. Its name, Butwal is derived from Batauli Bazaar, the town's oldest area which is located on the west side of Tinau river.
Geographically, Butwal is the intersection of Nepal's two differnet National Highways, Mahendra Highway and Siddhartha Highway. It connects western Nepal with capital Kathmandu through highway and air links (via airport at Siddharthanagar). It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Nepal for education, infrastructure, highway, marketing, health and safety, communication, trade and banking sectors. It has highway connections to the Indian border at Sunauli and to the hilly towns in Tansen and Pokhara valley, and has held the title of being "The Best City in Nepal" four times in a row.
Some notable areas of Butwal are:
A few metres before the Butwal gate (The gate from which Butwal City commences), The Industrial Area accompanying 'Charange', a residential area, notable for ravishing natural beauty.
The following areas commence as the entry on Butwal Gate reading "Welcome to Butwal" Banner.
- Traffic Chowk - also known as center of Butwal
- Amar path - usually known as a shopping line for clothing, food, furnishings, etc.
- Golpark, residential area on the shades of mountains
- Milan chowk - commercial area
- Devinagar - largest residential area; one of the fastest growing areas in Butwal
- Rajmarga chauraha - Intersection of Mahendra Highway and Siddhartha Highway
- Bus park - City's ground transportation hub and hotel area
- Sukkha nagar - residential area
- Haat bazaar - weekly organized Bazaar (Saturdays and Wednesdays)
- Deepnagar - residential area at the foothills of Siwalik range
- Paari Butwal, also known as Batauli
- Maina Bagar - Automobiles zone
Butwal was officially declared a sub-metropolitan city on 2 December 2014 by combining two neighbouring VDCs Motipur and Semlar.