My stay in Bhairahawa had always been confined to the crowd and dust of this small Nepali town about 300 kilometers south-west of Kathmandu. Bhairahawa has been a gateway to Lumbini (Gautam Buddha's birth place) and a small but important trade and travel route to India.
Since long I wanted to see the Jagdishpur Reservoir in Kapilvastu, one of the important wetlands in the country. During my school days I had once been to Kapilvastu on a family trip but back then i wasn't so passionate about birds or any other form of wildlife. I did keep pets as a kid, but it was in the later years i started to develop more interest in nature and wildlife. Nature always fascinates me and I am really relaxed and in peace of mind when I'm somewhere far from the cities. So, we two, Santosh dai the pillion and me on the handle bar headed west about 45 kilometers past lumbini. It took us about an hour with a quick stops for some kids-fishing-road-side-wallows hille-machha (very local fish species that can even survive the mud with little water..... Wonder-Gills) views, stare into the infinite rice fields or just stretch some legs. The roads are straight and quite smooth as compared to the potholes of Kathmandu.
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| Remains of Shakya Kingdom in Tilaurakot |
After reaching Kapilvastu, we headed towards Tilaurakot. Tilaurakot is
the remains of the ancient Shakya kingdom to which Gautam Budhha was
born as a prince. It is one of the important Buddhist shrines besides Lumbini. The Tilaurakot excavations includes the boundary wall .
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| Mayadevi temple in Tilaurakot |
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| Peepal trees outgrow the Mayadevi temple |
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| Excavated boundary wall of Tilaurakot |
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| Pilgrims paying homage to stupa |
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| Local drums |
After seeing around Tilaurakot, the next destination we had to cover was Jagdishpur Reservoir. I was very much excited about seeing flocks of migratory birds especially the water birds which migrate from as far as Siberia, Russia. On the other hand, I was very skeptical about finding many birds as it was just the mid of November and the cold winter was a month away. Still we were lucky to see some ducks and water fowls.
The most interesting moment was the gradual sunset over reservoir water.
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| Road along the canal to Jagdishpur lake |
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| Local farmer |
While looking around for a tea shop and a quick snack, we came across this team of local youth who were performing bollywood items for Deusi-Bhailo program. Deusi-Bhailo is part of the Tihar ( also Deepawali) festival in Nepal where people especially youths go around the neighborhood for blessings. It is different in the hills but in the Terai you find Indian influences.
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| Heroine steps in |
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| Jagdishpur resorvoir |
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| Birdies |
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| sunset |
