The Araniko Highway or NH 03 () connects

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

with

Kodari Kodari is a small village located at the border with Tibet-China. The village is located at the end–point of the Arniko Highway, which connects Kodari with the capital city of Kathmandu. Kathmandu is away from Kodari. Kodari is a major border ...

, northeast of the

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley (), also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley (, Newar language, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः), National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayas, Hima ...

, on the

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

border. It is among the most dangerous of highways in Nepal due to extremely steep slopes on each side of the road from Barabise onwards; massive

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

s and bus plunges are not uncommon, especially after rains. At the

Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge The Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge (; ) is a bridge spanning the Sun Kosi river, linking Kodari in Sindhulpalchok District, Nepal, and Zhangmu, China. Description Opened in 1964, the bridge was the only official border crossing between the t ...

, it connects with

China National Highway 318 China National Highway 318 (G318) is a trunk road in China that runs east-west from Shanghai in East China to Zhangmu on the China-Nepal border. It is the longest of the China National Highways at in length and runs west from Huangpu District ...

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

, and eventually to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

History

The road was built in the 1960s with help from the Chinese on an older yak track. They also planned to expand the road in 2012, but keeping the route open was made more difficult by landslides from monsoons. The road became a conduit for a large amount of trade between China and Nepal, and also for some trade between India and China when it is open. Till 2021/023 this highway used to named as National Highway 34.

Etymology

The highway is named after

Araniko Aniko, Anige or Araniko (, zh, 阿尼哥; 1245–1306) was one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal and the Yuan dynasty of China, and the artistic exchanges in these areas. He was born in Kathmandu Valley during the reign of Abhaya Malla. He ...

, a 13th-century Nepalese architect who introduced Nepalese architectural styles to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and

. It is said that he walked all the way from Tibet to China by the route which is now named after him.

Route

Dhulikhel Dhulikhel is a List of cities in Nepal, municipality in Kavrepalanchok District of Nepal. Two major highways, the B.P. Koirala Highway, B.P. Highway and the Araniko Highway pass through Dhulikhel. Araniko Highway connects Kathmandu, Nepal's capi ...

, about from Kathmandu and at an altitude of , is the last major town in the Kathmandu Valley through which the Araniko Highway passes. After

the road descends into the beautiful

Panchkhal Panchkhal () is a Municipality in Kavrepalanchok District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. Panchkhal has an area of 103 km2 and population density of 386.6/km2, according to the 2011 census. Glacial strand retreat and fluvial inc ...

Valley. A road junction at Lamidanda, around 12 km from Dhulikhel, leads to Palanchowk where Palanchok Bhagawati Temple is situated. About five minutes' drive beyond the town of Panchkhal a dirt road takes off to the left, giving access to the

Helambu Helambu is a region of highland villages in Nepal, about 80 km from Kathmandu. It is the home of the Hyolmo people. The word Hyolmo derives from the word Helambu. The Helambu region begins at the Lauribina La pass and descends to the M ...

region. About 8 km later the highway touches Dolaghat, a thriving town at the confluence of the Indravati and the

Sun Kosi The Sunkoshi, also spelled Sunkosi, is a river that is part of the Koshi or Saptkoshi River system in Nepal. Sunkoshi has two source streams, one that arises within Nepal in Choukati, and the other more significant stream that flows in from N ...

rivers and the departure point for many rafting trips. The turn-off to Jiri is another 14 km away, on the right. Lamosangu is a few kilometres after the Jiri turn-off, on the Arniko Highway. Next comes Barabise, the final destination for many buses from Kathmandu. Just before Barabise is the confluence of the Bhote Kosi and Sun Kosi rivers. The remaining part to the Nepal border village of

the road runs alongside the Sun Kosi with extremely steep Himalayan mountainsides that are very prone to landslides during and immediately after rains (including the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

). Beyond Kodari is the border town of

Zhangmu Zhangmu () or Dram in Tibetan (), or Khasa in Nepali, is a customs town and port of entry located in Nyalam County in Tibet, China close to the Nepal-China border, just uphill and across the Bhotekoshi River from the Nepalese town of Kodari. ...

in Tibet. File:Zangmu frontiere.JPG, Friendship bridge between Zhangmu and Kodari File:NEPAL Route 2.JPG, Arniko Highway in Kodari after border with China File:NEPAL Phulping Bridge 02.JPG, Araniko Highway: pulping bridge, just after border with China File:Kodari highway.JPG, Araniko Highway in Kodari (Népal) just after border with Chin File:NEPAL Last-Resort 001.JPG, Koadri (Népal), last resort bridge on la Bothe-Kosi river Araniko Highway-42-Mittagsrast in Tatopani-2014-gje.jpg, Tatopani spa Araniko Highway-38-Kontrollpunkt-LKW-2014-gje.jpg, Checkpoint File:Dolaighat bridge.JPG, Dolaghbat on Bothé-Kosi river File:6 Lane Araniko Highway as seen from Madhyapur, Thimi.jpg, Araniko Highway as seen from Madhyapur, Thimi

Significance

The Aarniko Rajmarg provides Nepal's overland link with China. However, it is of limited use as an alternative route for transport of goods, as it is cheaper to ship Chinese goods via

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

than to truck them through China's Tibet region. This situation is subject to change with major investment in road and rail on the Tibetan side.

Closures

The route was closed by the April 2015 earthquakes, but was re-opened in early August 2015. The route sustained heavy damage because of landslides triggered by the earthquake. In 2014 the highway was closed after landslides, but re-opened in September 2014. The landslide shut the route to Kathmandu for 46 days until a new alternate route could be built for Rs. 15.5 million. The landslides that closed it the summer of 2014 were called the Sunkoshi landslides, and the section of the highway near the Tibet border is especially prone to landslides.

References

External links

Nepal HighwaysDepartment of Roads
{{Authority control Highways in Nepal Sites along the Silk Road 1960s establishments in Nepal Transport in Kathmandu Roads in Bagmati Province