Kavrepalanchok Districtकाभ्रेपलाञ्चोक जिल्ला

Kavrepalanchok — usually shortened to Kavre — is the mid-hill district immediately east of the Kathmandu Valley, spanning 1,396 km² of ridges and farming valleys drained by the Roshi, Punyamata and Indravati rivers. Its towns grew up on the old trade route from Kathmandu to Tibet: the Araniko Highway climbs out of the valley through Banepa and the headquarters Dhulikhel, famous for its close-up Himalayan panorama, while the BP Highway to the eastern Tarai branches off here, making the Banepa–Dhulikhel corridor one of Nepal's busiest crossroads outside the capital.

The 2021 census counted 364,039 people, declining 0.46% per year since 2011 as the district's villages — many badly damaged in the 2015 earthquakes — lose workers to Kathmandu and abroad. Tamangs are the largest community (33.8%), followed by hill Bahuns and Chhetris, with strong Newar populations in the old towns. Agriculture (notably vegetables and dairy for the Kathmandu market, with Panchkhal's valley a major producer) dominates, but the district has an unusual institutional economy: Kathmandu University, one of Nepal's oldest universities, sits above Dhulikhel, the town hosts a well-known community hospital, and Banepa was developed as Nepal's information-technology park site.

Kavre's religious landscape is among the richest in the hills. Namobuddha, where legend says a previous Buddha offered his body to a starving tigress, is one of the holiest Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Nepal; the medieval Newar town of Panauti preserves a celebrated temple ensemble at a sacred river confluence; and the hilltop Palanchok Bhagwati temple, which gives the district half its name, draws worshippers from across the region.