Nautanwa

Nautanwa is a town and Nagar Palika in Maharajganj district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is about 87 km from Gorakhpur, 68 km via NH29 and NH730 from Maharajganj and 7 km from Sonauli Indo-Nepal Border.GeographyNautanwa is located at. It has an average elevation of 89 metres (291 feet). The town is located in the Terai region, in the foothills of the Shiwalik Himalayas.Nautanwa is a Tehsil/Block in the Mahrajganj District of Uttar Pradesh. According to Census 2011 information the sub-district code of Nautanwa block is 00944. There are about 259 villages in Nautanwa block.GeologyBrick clay is abundant everywhere and bricks are made outside the town areas. The soil in the area is light sandy or dense clay of yellowish brown colour. The sand found in the rivers is medium to coarse grained, greyish white to brownish in colour and is suitable for building construction.HistoryThe land seems to be blessed by Buddha's presence. On North (Kapilvastu, Lumbini, Nepal) it has the birthplace of Buddha, and south of it has the death place of Buddha. And on the east is Sita's Birthplace Janakpur(Nepal). As per local ethnohistorical record, it is said that this place is very much related to Buddha. This place is associated with the Buddha period. It is said this is the place where Gautam while renouncing the worldly life and travelling for searching for knowledge travelled through this place. After coming from Kapilvastu (present day it is the region between Birdpur tehsil of Sidharthnagar district and Taulihwa region of Kapilvastu district of Lumbini Anchal of Nepal) towards the eastern India present day Bihar region, he changed his princes cloth and gave to his attended and wore new cloth of ascetic life. It symbolizes the attending just a new body of sage or knowledge seeker instead of prince puzzled in worldly pleasure. That is region why this name Nau-new and Tan-body is called.