The bazaar that made the karuwa
Chainpur's place on the ridge between the Arun valley and the higher hills made it a natural trading post. Grain, ghee, cardamom and herbs came down from the villages; cloth, salt, metal and tools came up from the south. Merchants and craft families settled along the ridge, and the bazaar became one of the best known in the eastern hills. Its shop-houses, with goods on the ground floor and family rooms above, still follow the pattern of those trading days.
Metalwork became its trade. Workshops here have cast and carved brass and bronze for generations, making plates, bowls, lamps and especially the karuwa, the spouted water jug that a bride's family gives in eastern Nepal and that sits on the shelf of many hill homes. A Chainpur karuwa is recognised by its weight and the carving on its body and spout. Blacksmiths in the area are also known for their khukuri knives.
Chainpur was the district headquarters of Sankhuwasabha until the offices moved to Khandbari, and in 2014 it became the centre of a new municipality formed from five former village areas. The workshops face competition from cheap factory-made goods, aluminium and steel, and fewer young people take up the trade, many leaving instead for jobs abroad. But several families still work in the old way, and a Chainpur karuwa remains a gift that carries weight, in both senses.
