Malangwa, Madhesh, Nepal

🇳🇵 Malangwa (मलंगवा) is a town, a municipality, and the headquarter of Sarlahi District in Madhesh Province of Nepal. The district's oldest municipality, it is in parliamentary constituency 2. From the Mahendra Highway 25 km (16 mi) south of Nawalpur, a small highway side town. Situated at an altitude of 79 meters (259 ft) above sea level, Malangwa is near the Indian border at Sonbarsa. There is a customs checkpoint at the border crossing.

Etymology Its name is derived from Malang Baba, a saint who is worshiped by both Hindu and Muslim. An annual fair is held in his honor during the month of Chaitra Malangbaba puja at which people offer chadar and pray for their well-being.

Demographics According to the municipality, Malangwa had a 2012 population of 46,516 people in about 7,500 households. Most had Madhesi(Yadav, Kayastha, Kalwar, sahuji/sah, koeri and Brahman), Newari and Marwadi backgrounds.

Geography: Location Malangwa is bordered on the north by kabilasi Municipality; on the south and south-east by Sonbarsha, Sitamarhi district, Bihar, India; on the east by Brahampuri Rural Municipality on the west by Kaudena Rural Municipality.

Malangwa shares a border crossing with India. No documents are required to cross the border, but many edible and electronics products are restricted. A customs office tracks vehicles entering Malangwa with an Indian vehicle registration number, and taxes are imposed on heavy items entering Nepal.

Media To promote local culture, Malangwa has four FM community radio stations: Radio Madhesh (89.3 MHz), Radio Malangwa (93.6), Swarnim FM (96.3) and My FM (107.4). Major daily newspapers are the Madhesh Post, Loktantrik, the Sarlahi Times and the Sapthaik Times.

Nepal Telecom have 4G network coverage with better speed and Ncell have 3G network coverage; UTL Nepal and Smart Cell are other available cellular networks. ADSL, Nepal Telecom, NCELL and a private internet service are Internet service providers in the town.

Cinemas Malangwa has two movie theaters, which attract cross-border audiences. These are Raj Shree Cinema and Pushpa Talkies. The theaters show Nepali, Bollywood, South indian hindi dubbed and Bhojpuri-language Movies.

Attacks Two attacks have occurred in Malangwa, the first at the end of the Nepalese Civil War. The town was attacked by Maoists on April 5, 2006, at 8:00 pm. The insurgents fired at soldiers guarding government offices and security posts and attacked a jail, freeing more than 100 inmates (including some of their comrades) before fleeing. The Russian-built, night-vision-equipped MI-17 helicopter with the call sign RAN-37 took off from Kathmandu at 10 pm to counter the attack. Eyewitnesses reported that the helicopter hovered for an hour, returned after refueling in Simra and exploded in mid-air at about 1:30 am; eight of the 10 soldiers aboard were killed. Five police personnel, four Maoists and two civilians were reported killed in clashes. Security personnel, including Chief District Officer Bhojraj Adhikari, were abducted and later released. A high alert was sounded along the 800-kilometre (500 mi) Indo-Nepal border immediately after the incident. Across the border in India, a joint Sashastra Seema Bal and CRPF team maintained surveillance on the border to thwart any further attacks.

On September 13, 2013, 10 people were injured (three critically) when a bomb exploded in a district office at about 11:45 am. Office records were destroyed in the ensuing fire.

Earthquakes Although Malangwa experienced severe tremors from the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, it had no significant damage. However, the town was destroyed by the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake.

Sport The most popular sports in Malangwa are cricket and football. For sports, Two playgrounds are used mostly for sports: Covered Hall & DDC Field.

Transport Malangwa, 204.1 km (126.8 mi) by road from Kathmandu, is connected to other parts of the country by bus. Bus service runs to Kathmandu, Birgunj, Janakpurdham, Pokhara, Biratnagar, Dharan, Gaur, and Bharatpur, and the town has one of Nepal's largest bus stations. The Malangwa-Nawalpur Highway (MG Highway) joins the East-West Highway at Nawalpur, connecting Malangwa to all major Nepalese cities.

The nearest domestic airport, Janakpur Airport, is in Dhanusha District; Nijgadh International Airport is under construction in Nijgadh. International passengers use Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport for international flight.

All major cities of India may be reached on Indian Railways, and the government of India has built a four-lane highway from Sonbarsha to Patna. The Sitamarhi Junction railway station is about 36 km (22 mi) from Malangwa, and tanga and rickshaw service is available to go across the border.

Cycles, rickshaws and taxis serve the city centre, and auto rickshaws are available for longer distances. Electric rickshaws are popular.

Economy: Tourist Industry A number of tourists access the border connection with India and visit temples in Malangwa like Malangbaba, Durga Devi Temple, Rajdevi Temple, etc.