Chandragiri

Chandragiri is a municipality in Kathmandu District in Bagmati Province of Nepal, on the southwestern rim of the Kathmandu Valley. It was declared a municipality on 2 December 2014 by merging eleven former village development committees, among them Balambu, Thankot, Satungal and Matatirtha, and the urban administration sits in Balambu. Its population was 85,195 at the 2011 census and had grown to 136,860 by the 2021 census. The name joins the Sanskrit words for moon and hill. Main attractions include Chandragiri Hill with its cable car and Matatirtha, famous for the Matatirtha Aunsi festival honouring mothers. The older settlements are mostly Newar, while newer areas hold many Brahman, Chhetri, Tamang and Magar residents. For centuries the area served as a gateway into the Valley.