Pashchim Champaran occupies an area of 5228 Sq. km. As per 2001 census, the total population of the district is 3,043,044. It is located between 26°16' and 27°31' north latitudes and between 83°50' and 85°18' east longitudes.

The economy of the district of Pashchim Champaran is chiefly agrarian. Farmers of the region are involved in cultivation of paddy, sugarcane, and cane reeds. One of the popular agro-based industries of the district is sugar mills established at Majhaulia, Bagaha, Ramnagar, Narkatiaganj, Chanpatia and Lauria.

Some of the places of tourist interest in the district of Pashchim Champaran are Valmikinagar, Bank of Triveni, Bawangarhi, Bhiknatohari, Saraiya Man, Sumeswer Fort, Brindavan, Bhitiharawa Ashram, Nandangarh and Chankigarh, and Ashoka Pillars.

Bettiah is the headquarters of West Champaran district in the state of Bihar, in India. It is an agricultural trade centre, it also manufactures brass, metalware and leather goods. The seat of the Bettiah Raj estate, established in the 17th century, it contains the Maharaja's Palace and a number of temples beside other places to visit.

There is a Roman Catholic Mission, established in 1740. At 23 Kilometres North-West, Lauriya Nandangarh is located where an Asokan Pillar and some funeral mounds said to be the only indisputably Vedic monuments identified in India.

Lauriya Nandangarh
About 28 Kilometres North-West of Bettiah at Lauriya Nandangarh, lie an Asokan Pillar and some funeral mounds, the only indisputably Vedic monuments identified in India. Recent excavations at one of these mounds produced a mixture of contents, including punch-marked coins, cast copper coins, apart from terracotta figurines and clay sealings of the first century B.C. Four of these mounds were excavated in 1904-07 and two of them yielded a deposit of burnt bones with charcoal and a gold leaf with a Mother-goddess figure , they were regarded by the excavator to be Vedic burial tumuli. After the re-examination in 1935-37, they were definitely recognized to be stupas of mud or mud-bricks with baked-brick revetments (in two cases with actual brick-lining). Nandangarh, about two kilometres, from the Asokan Pillar, represents a fortified habitation-site. At one end of the site was excavated a large brick stupa, reared up on multiple polygonal terraces with large number of re-entrant angles. This edifice, of the early centuries A.D., is the earliest example of a terraced stupa, which culminated in the celebrated monuments of Paharpur in Bangladesh and Borobudur in Java, both dating from circa A.D. 800.

Sub Divisions
Bettiah, Bagaha, Narkatiyaganj. Blocks Bettiah, Sikta, Mainatand, Chanpattia, Bairia, Lauria, Bagaha-1, Bagaha-2, Madhubani, Gaunaha, Narkatiaganj, Manjhaulia, Nautan, Jogapatti, Ramnagar, Thakraha, Bhitaha, Piprasi.

Location
225 Kilometres north-west of Patna. It is located at 26.81?N Latitude and 84.50?E Longitude, 65 metres above Mean Sea Level

Best time to visit
Visit October to March. How To Get There By air
How To Get There By air
Nearest air-port is Patna, about 225 Kilometres from Bettiah.

By Rail
From Delhi : Saptakranti Express, Satyagrah Express
From Mumbai : Avadh Express
From Kolkata : Howrah-Gorakhpur Express
From Jammu : Amarnath Express

By road
Luxurious bus services between Bettiah and Patna and other places. Getting Around Auto Rickshaw, Cycle Rickshaw, Tonga, Bus and Unmetered Taxi. Places To Stay Large number of good quality hotels are present at Bettiah