}
Kanepokhari () is a pond () that gives its name to the
Kanepokhari Rural Municipality
Kanepokhari Rural Municipality () is a ''Gaunpalika'' (rural municipality) located in the center of Morang District, Koshi Province, Nepal.
Location
The Bayarban, Keroun, Kanepokhari, Keroun and Hoklabari Village development committee (Nepal), Vi ...
in
Morang District, Province No. 1, Nepal.
Location
The pond is about east of
Itahari
Itahari () is a sub-metropolitan city in the Sunsari District of Koshi Province in Nepal. Itahari city has grown as an important business hub of eastern Nepal. It is the second most populous city in eastern Nepal after Biratnagar. Situated 25 ...
and west of
Damak
Damak ( Nepali: दमक) is one of the oldest municipalities in Jhapa District of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. It is situated between the Ratuwa River in the east and the Maawa River in the west. It has Sivalik Hills in its north and ends ...
.
[
Google Maps shows Kanepokhari in the forest area to the east of the section of the Kanepokhari–]Rangeli
Rangeli is a Municipality and rural market town in Morang District in the Koshi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. This municipality was formed merging existing four villages i.e.Amgachhi, Babiabirta, Darbesa and Rangeli itself since May 2014.
At the t ...
Road that runs south from Kanepokhari village to Aitabare village.
The pond is north of the Aitabare-Sukrabare Road, which defines the southern boundary of the forest area.
In the past the pond was home to rare fishes, turtles and snakes, and the waters were used by migratory birds and forest deer.[
]
Name
There are different stories about the origins of the pond's name.
One is that an old woman who lived near the pond sold ear ornaments to the Dhimal
The Dhimal or Dhemal () are ethnic group residing in the eastern Terai of Nepal and West Bengal of India. They are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group of the eastern Terai. They mainly reside in Morang and Jhapa districts of Nepal and Darjee ...
people to wear during festivals, and the name comes from ''Kane Gahana'', meaning "ear ornaments".
Another is that people used to eat near the pond during festivals, and the name comes from ''Khajapokhari'' (food pond), which evolved into ''Kanepokhari''.
A third story is that in the Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
period King Virata
Virata (, IAST ''virāṭa'') was the King of Matsya, a prominent figure in the Indian epic ''Mahabharata'', and the titular character of the epic's fourth book, '' Virata Parva'', which recounts the Pandavas’ year of ajnatavasa—incognit ...
ordered a cattle herder named Kane to dig the pond to provide water to his cows, and the pond is named after the herder.[
]
Shrinkage
In 2012 it was reported that lakes in Eastern Nepal were drying up, and some could disappear completely, due to a combination of climate change, deforestation, human activities and encroachment.
Kane Pokhari was among the ponds that had been saved from the brink of disappearance due to local initiatives.
In May 2019 it was reported that the lake had shrunk from five ''Bigha
The bigha or beegah (, , Assamese: বিঘা) is a traditional unit of measurement of area of a land, commonly used in northern & eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal. There is no "standard" size of bigha and it varies considerably from place ...
s'' in area to just one ''Bigha''.[
]
Tourism potential
In June 2018 it was reported that the community forest users committee of the Kanepokhari rural municipality was building structures around the Kanepokhari pond and the Bhuluwa wetland area to develop it into a tourist site.
Notes
References
{{Reflist
Lakes of Koshi Province
Morang District