Kamalamai is a municipality in Sindhuli District, in the Bagmati Pradesh of central south Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 39,413 people in 9,304 households. The city is located in the Sindhuli Valley of central south Nepal. The historic symbol of the valley, Sindhuli Gadhi fort, is at the peak of a hill of the Mahabharata range. The city is in the plain valley made by the Kamla River. Kamalamai Municipality is the largest municipality of Nepal according to area.
History
The occupation of the Kuti Pass in about 1756 stopped the valley's trade with Tibet. Finally, King Prithvi Narayan Shah entered the valley after the victory of Kirtipur. King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu sought help from the British and so the East India Company sent a contingent of soldiers under Captain Kinloch in 1767. The British force was defeated at Sindhuli by Prithvi Narayan Shah's army. It was the first time a British force was defeated in Asia. The British soldiers were completely taken aback by the geography of the place. They were equipped with modern arms and ammunition like guns and cannons but the Gorkha army was brave and they had a better understanding of the terrain. The place where the army of the British Empire was defeated has widely gained popularity. It is called "Sindhuli Gadhi" and is of great historic significance to Nepal.
Kamalamai municipality has a good facility of education up to SLC levels. Suryodaya, Bhagwati, Siddhasthali,Swiss are one of the best boarding in Sindhuli district and Janakpur zone. The quality of +2 levels too is fine here. Many private colleges run +2 commerce affiliated to HSEB. However, the number of +2 science colleges are very few. Science college like Kamala Higher Secondary School is providing good practical based education to students of Sindhuli. This college has been serving as the central of excellence for all science students throughout Sindhuli valley. There are also colleges to teach technical educations. The technical subjects affiliated with CTEVT are also taught here.
Higher education
There are many colleges which facilitate higher education. There are a large number of colleges running courses with affiliation to universities of Nepal. Colleges like Sindhuli Multiple Campus fall under this category. Kamala Science Campus enables students to acquire Bachelor of Science courses.
The new section of B.P. Koirala Highway to Kamalamai from Kathmandu opened in 2011 and continues on to Bardibas, though most areas only allow one lane of traffic with hairpin turns. The rest of the route to Bardibas is even and therefore much less dangerous. An old road that connects Dharan through Inner Tarai is going to reopen for the easier movement through the Inner Tarai Valleys of Sindhuli and Udayapur of Western Region to Dharan of Eastern Nepal. Long-route buses run under the local authority in the headquarters which has bus routes to cities like Kathmandu, Janakpur, Biratnagar and Pokhara.
Local
Local transportation consists of minibuses and minivans while most of the parts of Kamalamai are inaccessible to vehicles. Nowadays, auto rickshaws are also used here.
Media
To promote local culture Kamalamai Municipality has three FM radio stations - Sindhuligadhi FM - 92 MHz, Radio Siddhababa - 98.4 MHz and Radio Sahara - 104.2 MHz. The KM Club holds various events in colleges of Sindhuli.
