It has not been a hundred years since the district headquarters of Rupandehi was shifted from Bethari to Bhairahawa. However, to understand how the ancient city of Bhairahawa in western Nepal was named and excavated, we have to go back about 450 years ago.

Mani Mukunda had attacked the Kathmandu Valley three times in three years since 1582. In the third attack, he looted five idols of Lord Bhairav ​​from areas that did not pay him taxes. The main idol of the idol is in Bhairavsthan in Palpa, says historian Vijay Sagar Shrestha.

The remaining four are also around Tansen and Butwal. The Bhairavsthan temple in Palpa established a Guthi to worship Lord Bhairav ​​in Bhairahawa village at that time. Historian Shrestha said that after the Guthi was established and the worship of Bhairav ​​began, Bhairahawa was named 'Bhairav'.

He said that after naming Bhairav, there was a local custom of adding 'ha' and 'va' to the words after the place name, so it became 'Bhairahawa' while pronouncing it. However, due to the abundance of trees and bushes of the Bayar-Bayarai, it is also heard that it has become Bhairahawa instead of Bairahawa, said historian Shrestha.

Not only Bhairahawa, the word Hawa is added after the names of many places in Kapilvastu and Rupandehi in western Nepal. Moreover, Hawa is added after the names of the headquarters of two districts. Similarly, ‘Hawa’ is also added to the names of specific places in the bordering Indian region. Why was the word Hawa added?

Experts say that Hawa identifies specific places. Lumbini Buddhist University Research Center Director Prof. Dr. Giri Giri said that there is a practice of adding the word Hawa after specific places to preserve local temples, identity, traditions, culture and events. Names are also named after caste to establish ethnic identity and civilization.

Another important historical city in western Nepal, Taulihawa, also has the word Hawa after its name. Folklore expert Pashupati Mani Tripathi said that Taulihawa was named after the famous Taulishwarnath temple in Madhya Bazaar. He said that Taulihawa was formed by adding Hawa to the word Tauli, which refers to a settlement in the place of Baba Taulishwarnath Mahadev.

The archaeological site Krakuchhand, the birthplace of Buddha and the place where the Indian Emperor Ashoka built a pillar, also has the word Hawa after it. Many years ago, when a fire broke on a pillar buried under the soil, the pillar was divided into three pieces (gotas). Senior archaeologist Basanta Bidari said that after the pillar broke and divided into gotagotas, the word Hawa was added after gota, resulting in Gotihawa. In the Dawi language, Hawa means a small settlement. That is why it is said that a place with a small settlement came to be called Gotihawa.

Another important archaeological site, the birthplace of Buddha under Kanak and the place where the Indian Emperor Ashoka built a pillar, was previously home to a large number of reed bamboo species. Since reeds are abundant, the word Hawa was added later to indicate the special characteristics of the place. It is said that Nigalohawa became Niglihawa as a corruption of Nigalohawa.

Similarly, another important archaeological site in Kapilvastu Municipality-9 is Sagarhawa. The Chinese traveler Heungsang has mentioned in his travelogue that when Magadha King Bidudab attacked the ancient capital of the Shakya dynasty, 9,990 Shakyas were massacred in Sagarhawa. Senior archaeologist Vasant Bidari said that since there was a battle in Sagarhawa, the word Sangram was corrupted to Sagar and the word Hawa was added to it and Sagarhawa was called.

Dhamanihawa Stupa is located near the ancient Sakya capital Kapilvastu (Tilaurakot). Dhamanihawa Stupa is also a corruption of Dhamma Stupa and became Dhamanihawa. Hariraj Sharma, a literary figure knowledgeable about culture, said that the word ‘Hawa’ came to be added due to the local language spoken in those areas where the Madhesi community is in the majority.

Fragments of burnt, baked bricks are found scattered on the south side near Tilaurakot. Archaeologists say that it was an industrial and weapons-making workshop in the Buddhist period. Bricks covered in rust (murcha) are found there in the Dawi language. When rusty bricks are found, the locals add the word ‘hawa’ to ‘murcha’ and call it Murchahawa Kot.

Similarly, the naming of Bardahawa village in Kapilvastu Municipality 2 is interesting. Long ago, a bull had been destroying crops in Bardahawa and causing great damage to farmers. So a non-Hindu cut off the head of the bull and killed it. After that, an invisible force began to cause great suffering in the village at night.

The villagers panicked and set up a shrine under a peepal tree near the village and offered an idol of a headless bull, praying for peace and happiness. The bull is called Bard in the Vadhi language. The old man says that the place where the bull caused trouble was named Bardahawa by adding the word Hawa.

There is a place called Hardihawa in Yashodhara Rural Municipality of Kapilvastu. Turmeric was cultivated in abundance in that place on the highlands. Turmeric is called Hardi in the Vadhi language. That is why the name of the place is Hardihawa by adding the word Hawa to Hardi.

There is a lake called Gaidahwa near Lumbini in Rupandehi. A hundred years ago, wild animals including rhinos and tigers used to come to the lake to play. Locals used to have encounters with wild animals. The lake was called Gadhaha in the Dawi language. Since rhinos used to enjoy the Gadhaha, the locals started calling the place Gaandahawa by adding the word Hawa to Gaandahawa, said local Sandeep Gupta.

Londihawa village is in Gaandahawa rural municipality. The village, which is located on the Lumbini-Fiyarline road section, had a large number of Lonias. Since the Lonias lived there, who cultivated vegetables by profession, they named it Lonihawa to reflect their ethnic identity.

Meudihawa village is located in the south near Bhairahawa Bazaar in Rupandehi. This place, located in Siddharthanagar Municipality-2, is also called Jhandibazaar because the flag of victory was planted there. Meudihawa is a historical place where a front was established in 2007 under the leadership of KI Singh and under the advice of Gopal Shamsher in the process of ending the Rana dynasty that ruled Nepal for 104 years.

Places in Kapilvastu are named Mainihawa, Piparhawa, Murandihawa, Kacharihawa, Nibihawa, Patkhawa, Belhawa, Semarhawa, Kajahawa and Kajarhawa. Most of the places are archaeological and historical places. There are places named Paklihawa, Kotihawa and Koilihawa in Rupandehi. Similarly, there are places named Kakrahawa, Pakdihawa and Piparhawa in the border area of ​​India.

Although the name of Bhairahawa city is more popular, administrative work is now done under the name of Siddharthanagar Municipality. The reference to the naming of Siddharthanagar is linked to Gautam Buddha. Siddharthanagar was previously called 'Bhairava'. However, since Gautam Buddha's name was Siddhartha and he was born in this area, the name 'Bhairava' was later changed to Siddharthanagar, as mentioned in the Independent World Fund Wikipedia.

Bhairava Nagar Panchayat was declared on Magh 22, 2024 BS by combining the then Mujauli, Bagaha and Padsari village panchayats of Rupandehi and the entire area of ​​Paklihawa village panchayat.

The proposal to rename the city as 'Siddharthanagar' was recommended by the Nagar Panchayat and passed by the District Panchayat at the initiative of litterateur and social worker Komal Dutta Tiwari. After that, the then government sealed the name of Bhairava as Siddharthanagar with effect from Chaitra 29, 2033 BS. Although the name Siddharthanagar is still in use in government work, the general public knows it as Bhairava.