Ichchakamana Rural Municipality initiates renovation process of Upardangadhi

KATHMANDU, July 30: Ichchakamana Rural Municipality has initiated the renovation process of Upardanggadhi, a historical area of Chitwan.
According to Dan Bahadur Gurung, chairman of Ichchakamana Rural Municipality, the renovation process of Kot Ghar, Kathe Bridge, Door, and surrounding temples has been started in coordination with the Department of Archeology. He shared that the renovation process has started in line with the design and monitoring of the Department of Archaeology.
Staining that renovation work is being carried out with the help of internal resources of the village, Chairman Gurung said that a specific budget has also been requested from the federal and state governments for the development of the fort. He said that along with the restoration of the fort, the land conservation work has also been carried forward.
Gadhi, which is connected with the history of Chitwan and the country as a whole, is going to be made a tourist destination by giving priority to the village council. This year, the rural municipality has allocated a budget for the development of the tourist area including the fort. "The budget of the rural municipality is not enough for the development of Upardanggadhi", Gurung said, "We will develop it by requesting the provincial and central governments to allocate the needful budget."
He informed that Ichchakamana temple, Pathibhara, Sinraichuli, and Jalbire waterfall will be developed as an integrated tourist destination along with the old headquarters and Nepal British battle site Upardanggadhi.
The number of visitors coming to see this historical fort has increased following the start of the development of road networks and necessary infrastructures. Upardanggadhi can be easily reached by motorcycle and small vehicles in about an hour from the district headquarters, Bharatpur. Shaktikhor also has witnessed a steady flow of local tourists visiting the area.
Resident Ganesh Bahadur Thapa said that the number of tourists visiting here has increased recently adding that hundreds of people come here daily to visit, take photos, and get information about the historical fort.
Several homestays have already started operations in the area given the growing number of tourists visiting the area. 
Kalika Municipality, which is connected with Ichchakamana, is also building tourism infrastructures by connecting with Upardanggadhi. Vinod Regmi, the head of the municipality, said that the road infrastructure has been built to reach Upardanggadhi and that they are working to develop tourism activities by connecting the two municipalities.
He said that although there is good potential for tourism promotion in the hills of Chitwan, which has been overshadowed due to the lack of necessary infrastructure. Until the early 1960s, Upardangadhi was the headquarters of Chitwan. As mentioned in history, till 1970, a government base was operated from the area.
Shatrubhanjan Shah, the grandson of Prithvi Narayan Shah and the son of Bahadur Shah, built the fort during the war against the British forces to protect Nepal.
There are carved stone walls surrounding the fort. Inside there is a weapon house, a well, and a two-room house. Sunrise and sunset can be easily observed from Upardangdi, which is 1,275 meters above sea level.
According to residents, the rural areas of Annapurna, Lamtang, Ichchakamana, Kalika Mandir, Devghat, Gorkha, Tanahun, and Chitwan can be easily seen from here. This picturesque place is surrounded by the thin settlements of the Chepang, Magar, and Gurung communities. These castes have their original traditions, culture, and customs.