Palpa is a mid-hill district in Lumbini Province, western Nepal, with its headquarters at Tansen, a Newar bazaar town at around 1,350 metres on the Siddhartha Highway between Butwal and Pokhara. The district holds Rani Mahal, a Rana-era palace on the bank of the Kali Gandaki, and Srinagar hill above the town. Tansen is also the home of dhaka, the woven cloth used for the Nepali topi.
Of the ten districts in this province, Palpa is the one that works as a destination in the ordinary sense. It is easy to reach, it has hotels people actually recommend, and Tansen is genuinely one of the more attractive small towns in Nepal: brick-paved lanes too narrow for cars, Newar houses with carved windows, and a bazaar that has been trading in the same place for centuries.
Where is Palpa?
Palpa lies in the eastern part of Lumbini Province, with Rupandehi to the south, Nawalparasi to the south-east, Syangja and Tanahun across the Kali Gandaki to the north-east, Gulmi to the north-west and Arghakhanchi to the west. The district covers roughly 1,373 square kilometres, running from about 150 metres where the Tinau leaves the hills to around 1,935 metres on the highest ground.
Tansen sits on a saddle in the Mahabharat range with the ground falling away steeply on both sides, which is why the views are what they are and why the town has never sprawled. The Siddhartha Highway climbs to it from Butwal in about an hour and a half and continues north to the Kali Gandaki crossing and on to Pokhara.
Tansen: the town itself
Tansen was the seat of the Sen kingdom, one of the more powerful of the pre-unification hill states, until Gorkha annexed it in 1806. That history left a Newar merchant population, a street plan of stepped lanes and courtyards, and a set of buildings that look far more like the Kathmandu Valley than like anything else in western Nepal.
The Amar Narayan temple, built in the early nineteenth century, is a three-tiered pagoda with woodcarving of a standard rarely found outside the valley, and it is the single best building in the district. The Bhagawati temple anchors the other end of the bazaar and hosts the Bhagawati Jatra, the town's big annual festival. Tansen Durbar, built in the 1920s as the regional administrative palace, was burned during the conflict in 2006 and has since been rebuilt; the Sitalpati, an octagonal pavilion in the square outside it, is the town's meeting point and its unofficial emblem.
Beyond the individual buildings, the thing to do in Tansen is walk. The lanes are steep, largely traffic-free and full of workshops: metal beaters making karuwa water jugs, weavers at dhaka looms, and small kitchens turning out the sweets the town is locally known for. Two hours of unplanned wandering here is better value than any itinerary.
Rani Mahal on the Kali Gandaki
Rani Mahal is a Rana palace standing on the bank of the Kali Gandaki below Tansen, built in 1893 by General Khadga Shamsher Rana in memory of his wife Tej Kumari. It is a three-storey European-styled building in an improbable location, half a day from anywhere, with the river running past the terrace. It has been restored after long neglect and is often described locally as the Taj Mahal of Nepal, which oversells it, but it is a genuinely strange and memorable place.
Getting there is part of it. The walk down from the Tansen area takes two to three hours on a good trail through villages and terraces, dropping steeply the whole way, and the climb back up is harder than people expect. There is road access now for those who would rather not walk. Go early, carry water, and give yourself time at the bottom rather than turning straight round.
Srinagar hill and the mountain view
Srinagar Danda rises directly above Tansen to around 1,525 metres and takes half an hour to walk up from the bazaar. From the top, on a clear morning between October and February, the skyline shows Dhaulagiri, the Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre, with the Kali Gandaki valley in between. It is the best mountain view in the province and it costs nothing but a short climb.
The hill is planted with pine and is a local park in practice, busy at dawn with walkers from the town. There is a viewing area and a tea stall. Do not leave it until the afternoon, because the haze builds through the day and the view closes down, and do not plan on it at all between March and September when the air rarely clears.
Palpa district at a glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Province | Lumbini Province |
| District headquarters | Tansen, at around 1,350 m |
| Area | About 1,373 square kilometres |
| Elevation range | Roughly 150 m in the southern valleys to about 1,935 m on the highest ridges |
| Main viewpoint | Srinagar hill, around 1,525 m, half an hour above the bazaar |
| Signature craft | Dhaka handloom cloth and beaten-metal karuwa water jugs |
| Journey time from Butwal | About one and a half hours on the Siddhartha Highway |
| Journey time from Kathmandu | Nine to eleven hours by bus, or fly to Bhairahawa and drive up in two hours |
The Sen kingdom and how Palpa lost it
Palpa was the seat of a Sen state that at its height controlled a large part of the western Tarai and the hills above it, and for a long period it was one of the more serious powers in the region. Its rulers held territory that reached down into what is now Rupandehi and Nawalparasi, and the revenue from that lowland ground is what paid for the town.
Gorkha's expansion reached it late. Where most of the Chaubise principalities fell during Prithvi Narayan Shah's campaigns in the eighteenth century, Palpa held on until 1806, when the last Sen ruler was killed in Kathmandu and the state was absorbed. The town then became a regional administrative centre under the new state and later under the Ranas, which is why the Tansen Durbar and the surrounding offices exist at the scale they do in a hill town of this size.
The practical legacy for a visitor is that Tansen has continuous urban history rather than a recent bazaar built along a road. The lanes, the courtyards and the temple siting all date from when this was a capital, and that is what makes it different from every other district headquarters in the province.
Beyond Tansen: the rest of the district
Three things pull people out of the town. Ridi Bazaar sits on the Kali Gandaki at the Gulmi and Syangja boundary and is the significant religious site of the wider area, with the Rishikesh temple and a large Maghe Sankranti fair in mid-January. Bhairabsthan, a short drive from Tansen, is a Bhairav temple known for the very large iron trident standing in its courtyard, and it is busy on Saturdays. Satyawati, further out, is a small hill lake with a night vigil tradition attached to it.
None of these is more than a half-day. Together with Rani Mahal and Srinagar they make Palpa the one district in this province where a visitor can fill three or four days without leaving, which is why it is the sensible base if you are seeing the eastern hills of Lumbini Province as a whole.
Dhaka cloth and the crafts of Tansen
Dhaka is the geometric patterned handloom cotton used for the dhaka topi, the cap that is the standard formal headwear for Nepali men, and for the shawls and blouse pieces worn with it. Tansen is the town most associated with weaving it, and small workshops around the bazaar still run handlooms rather than power looms. Visitors can watch, and buying directly from a weaving workshop rather than a Kathmandu shop is both cheaper and more useful to the people who made it.
The other Tansen craft is metalwork, particularly the karuwa, a spouted water jug in brass or copper that is both a household object and a standard wedding gift. The beating shops are audible before they are visible. Between the two, Palpa has the strongest surviving craft economy in the province, and it survives because there is domestic demand rather than tourist demand.
Getting there, staying and when to come
Tansen is on the Siddhartha Highway, an hour and a half up from Butwal and about four hours south of Pokhara. From Kathmandu, buses take nine to eleven hours, or you can fly to Bhairahawa in Rupandehi and drive up in around two hours, which is what most people short of time do. Local buses and jeeps serve the rest of the district from the Tansen bus park.
Accommodation is the best in the province outside the Tarai cities, with several mid-range hotels and guesthouses in and around the old town, some in restored Newar buildings. October to February is the season: clear air, cold nights and the mountain view working. March to May is warm and hazy, and the monsoon is heavy on this side of the hills. Two nights is the right length, three if you are walking to Rani Mahal. Onward, Ridi and the Kali Gandaki are covered at Ridi Bazaar, the river system at the rivers of Nepal, the next district north at Kaski and Pokhara, and the seasonal picture at the best time to visit western Nepal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Palpa district in Nepal?
Palpa is in the eastern part of Lumbini Province, between Rupandehi to the south and the Kali Gandaki river to the north-east, with Gulmi to the north-west and Arghakhanchi to the west. Its headquarters is Tansen.
What is Tansen known for?
Tansen is an old Newar bazaar town at around 1,350 metres, the former seat of the Sen kingdom. It is known for the Amar Narayan temple, its stepped brick lanes, dhaka handloom weaving and beaten-metal karuwa water jugs.
How do you get to Rani Mahal?
On foot it is a two to three hour descent from the Tansen area on a trail through villages and terraces, with a harder climb back. There is also road access. Rani Mahal was built in 1893 on the bank of the Kali Gandaki.
Can you see the Himalaya from Tansen?
Yes, from Srinagar hill above the town, about half an hour on foot. Between October and February a clear morning shows Dhaulagiri, the Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre. From March the haze usually closes the view.
How do you get to Tansen from Kathmandu?
Buses take nine to eleven hours via Butwal and the Siddhartha Highway. A faster option is a flight to Bhairahawa in Rupandehi followed by a two-hour drive up into the hills.
What is dhaka cloth?
Dhaka is a geometric patterned handloom cotton used for the Nepali topi and for shawls and blouse pieces. Tansen is the town most associated with weaving it, and small handloom workshops around the bazaar still produce it.
How many days do you need in Palpa?
Two nights covers Tansen, Srinagar hill and the bazaar. Add a third if you want to walk down to Rani Mahal and back without rushing.
