Town or village
Diktel
The ridge-top headquarters of Khotang district, a quiet hill bazaar in the Rai heartland between the Dudh Koshi and Sun Koshi.
Koshi Provinceखोटाङ
Khotang District
Steep Rai hill country above the Dudh Koshi and Sun Koshi, best known for the Halesi-Maratika Caves, sacred to Hindus and Buddhists alike.
- Province
- Koshi
- Headquarters
- Diktel
- Area
- about 1,595 km²
- Places on Firfirey
- 3
About Khotang
Khotang is a hill district of Koshi Province, bounded by the Dudh Koshi river to the west and the Sun Koshi to the south. Okhaldhunga lies across the Dudh Koshi, Bhojpur to the east, Solukhumbu to the north and Udayapur to the south. The land climbs from hot river gorges to high, cool ridges, with the headquarters at Diktel set on a ridge in the middle of the district.
Khotang is a stronghold of the Rai people, with many Kirat languages spoken, and its villages live largely by terraced farming of maize, millet and rice. Outside visitors are few, but pilgrims come in large numbers to the Halesi-Maratika Caves, revered by Hindus as an abode of Shiva and by Buddhists as the place where Guru Rinpoche meditated. Walkers also find quiet ridge trails and village life here.
Places in Khotang
Temple, monastery or heritage site · 1,346 m
Halesi-Maratika Caves
A limestone cave temple in Khotang held sacred by Hindus as Halesi Mahadev, by Buddhists as Maratika, and by the Kirat Rai as an ancestral place.
Town or village
Lamidanda
A ridge-top village and small airstrip in western Khotang, used as a gateway to the Halesi-Maratika caves.
Getting there
Roads reach Khotang from the south via Udayapur and Gaighat, and from neighbouring hill districts, though the final stretches are often rough and slow, making it a long day's drive or more from the Terai. Lamidanda in the district has a small airstrip with occasional flights from Kathmandu.
Best time to visit
Autumn and spring are the best seasons, with stable weather for travel and pilgrimage; the monsoon makes the hill roads difficult and landslide-prone, and winter is dry and pleasant by day but cold at night on the ridges.
Treks in Khotang
A ridge walk of about 10 to 13 days through the Kirat Rai hills of Khotang and Bhojpur in eastern Nepal, past the sacred Salpa Pokhari lake to Silichung (about 4,150 m), with homestays and mountain views.
- Days
- 11 days
- Maximum altitude
- 4,153 m
- Difficulty
- Moderate
Other districts in Koshi Province
Editorial draft: the district overview is being checked. Headquarters and Nepali names: nepal-places dataset (MIT). Area and map position computed from the district boundaries of the Government of Nepal, Survey Department, via OCHA.