Belbari

Belbari, officially known as Belbari municipality, is one of the major suburbs of Morang district, Koshi Zone.It lies in the eastern Terai region of Nepal. It was officially upgraded to become a municipality in 2014 AD, which is 2070 BS , which otherwise was a Village Development Committee prior to that change. In order to meet the requirements to become a municipality, Belbari VDC merged Kaseni VDC with itself, making it larger in total area.Belbari spreads over an approximate area of 25 square miles. All of the area is plane land, geographically. It is bordered on North and East by the largest and the densest forest of Nepal, the Char Koshe Jhadi . It is bounded on the northeast by Char Koshe Jhadi, while to the east lies another suburb, Laxmimarga. Similarly, the north part is bounded by Kerabari VDC and Letang municipality, while to the west and southwest lie the Kosiharaincha municipality and Kaseni VDC. As of 2011 Nepal census the total population of Belbari was 24076, which included 5724 households.EtymologyThe name Belbari derived from two different Nepali names "Bel" and "Bari", i.e. "बेल" र "बारी"= बेलबारी. In English, Bel is called wood-apple. Elephant apple and monkey fruit are its other name. Its scientific name is Limonia acidissima. Bel is a native tree native of Nepal, and Bari means a dry land(s). So as a myth, it is believed among older generations that the name Belbari means "the land of the Bel(s)" (Bel-nai-bel bhayeko thau). Religiously, the Bel leaves have its own value in Hindu religion for sacred purpose. Especially leaves of Bel use in the worship, rituals and temples. Basically, for the worship fulpati should be prepared, fulpati is a variety of mixed flowers along-with the leaves of Bel which is sacred thing for the God and Goddess. Some ethnic people Rai, Limbu and Dhimal also use Bel's leaves in their rituals such as dhami/jharki (Shamans) of Rais and Limbus, and Bhumi Puja (worship of the earth) of Dhimals. Today Bel trees can be found in the Charkose Jhadi.