Bhitiharwa
Bettiah is also home to Mahatma Gandhi's 'Satyagraha'. In April of 1917, he camped at the
Hazarimal Oharmashala here and toured the interiors of the district, meeting peasants and noting their complaints against the Indigo planters. Not far from Bettiah is Bhitiharwa in
Gaunaha block where Gandhiji and his wife Kasturba set up an 'ashram'. This is an important centre of the Gandhi circuit in Champaran.
In 1938, during his second visit to Champaran, the Mahatma set up a cluster of Basic
schools here. Vrindavan, a village just about seven km from Bettiah, is another important place
associated with the father of the nation.
The Gandhi Museum at Motihari, 55 km east of Bettiah, takes you back in history.
Bettiah Raj and neighbouring Ramnagar Raj held vast expanses of forest along the Nepal
border. The Valmiki Tiger Reserve is a major tourist attraction in the area.
Bhikhna Thori,where King George Vstayed on a 'shikar' or hunting expedition in 1911, is
a beautiful locale on the Nepal border, located as it is on the edge of the forest in the
Himalayan foothills.
Bettiah's surroundings also form an important segment of the Buddhist circuit with stupas
at Lauriya-Nandangarh and at Kesaria in East Champa ran. The Ashokan pillars at Lauriya-
Nandangarh and Areraj (East Champa ran), as also two headless pillars at Rampurwa, draw
tourists from far and wide. |
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