Heritage · Simraungadh
Ranivas temple and the Karnata palace site
Visit the Ranivas complex north of the market, with its Ram Janaki temple built in 1878 by Jagat Jung Rana on what local belief holds is the site of the old Karnata palace. Allow one to two hours.
The Ranivas complex, also called the Ram Janaki temple or Mahal Sarai, stands about 1 km north of Simraungadh's market and 2 km from the Indian border. Its grounds are large, and the temple and palace buildings sit among trees and fields. Weekday mornings are usually quiet, with a few worshippers and families walking the grounds.
The present temple dates from 1878. In 1877 Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepal's powerful prime minister, died at Patharghat in Rautahat while returning from a hunting camp in the Simraungadh area. His queen, Hiranya Garbha Devi, asked before her death that a temple be built, and their son Jagat Jung Rana built it the following year. The story ties the Rana era to this corner of the Terai.
Local tradition holds that the complex stands on the ruins of the Karnata palace, and that a later Mithila king built a palace here for his daughter. Ask your guide to show you old bricks and carved stones around the site. Remove shoes at the temple and visit early before the heat. Carry water.
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Questions
Who built the Ranivas temple in Simraungadh?
The present Ram Janaki temple at the Ranivas complex was built in 1878 by Jagat Jung Rana, son of Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana. It fulfilled the wish of Jung Bahadur's queen, Hiranya Garbha Devi, after he died in 1877 returning from a hunt in the area.
Is the Karnata palace still visible at Simraungadh?
Not as a standing building. Local tradition holds that the Ranivas complex stands on the old palace site, and old bricks and sculptures turn up around it. The clearest surviving feature of the Karnata city is its long earthen ramparts and ditches.
How much time do I need at the Ranivas complex?
One to two hours is enough to see the temple, walk the grounds and look at old stones with a guide. Combine it with the Kankali temple and Jharokhar Pokhari for a full morning in Simraungadh.
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