Vyas, also spelled Byas () is a municipality of Tanahun District located in Gandaki Province in Nepal and incorporates the village Damauli, the district headquarters, for which the municipality is also often referred to as Damauli. The municipality was established by merging the former Village development committee Damauli with several of its neighbors, the most recent merger being the one with Pokhari Bhanjyang in 2014. It lies on the bank of Madi Khola.
It is one of the municipalities, which could be formed after the re-establishment of multiparty democracy in 1991 A.D. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, it had a population of 70,335 people living in 18,339 individual households.
Many scriptures including Himwat khanda of Skanda purana mentions that Sage Vedavyasha was born in an island nearby confluence of two Gandaki rivers, (माद्रिका शुक्लगण्डक्यो:संगमे) which lies in a present day Damauli city of Tanahun district in Nepal. After his name, the municipality was named as Vyash nagarpalika.
Demographics At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Vyas Municipality had a population of 71,051. Of these, 64.7% spoke Nepali, 14.7% Magar, 6.6% Gurung, 4.7% Newar, 4.6% Darai, 1.0% Urdu, 0.8% Bote, 0.6% Bhojpuri, 0.5% Tamang, 0.4% Dura, 0.3% Maithili, 0.2% Chepang, 0.2% Hindi, 0.1% Bhujel, 0.1% Kumhali, 0.1% Rai, 0.1% Tharu and 0.1% other languages as their first language.NepalMap Language district-72, province-4, country-NP
In terms of ethnicity/caste, 20.1% were Magar, 15.4% Hill Brahmin, 13.1% Chhetri, 8.5% Gurung, 8.1% Newar, 7.9% Kami, 4.9% Darai, 4.2% Sarki, 3.7% Damai/Dholi, 2.2% Gharti/Bhujel, 2.0% Kumal, 1.9% Musalman, 1.9% Thakuri, 1.2% Bote, 1.1% Dura, 1.0% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.7% Tamang, 0.3% Chepang/Praja, 0.3% Rai, 0.2% Badi, 0.2% other Dalit, 0.1% Kathabaniyan, 0.1% Teli, 0.1% Tharu, 0.1% Yadav and 0.2% others.NepalMap Caste
In terms of religion, 88.8% were Hindu, 6.0% Buddhist, 2.1% Christian, 1.8% Muslim, 0.5% Prakriti, 0.4% Bon and 0.4% others.NepalMap Religion
In terms of literacy, 79.9% could read and write, 2.0% could only read and 18.0% could neither read nor write.NepalMap Literacy
Ward Profile There are 14 wards in Vyas Municipality:
+ Vyas Municipality Ward Profile Present WardFormer Municipality/VDCFormer WardWard Chairman1Vyas 1 Ramesh Chandra Hadkhale 2 Vyas 2 Kashiram Shrestha 3 Vyas 10 Anup Rana 4 Vyas 11 Man Bahadur Gurung 5 Vyas 6,7,8 Bishnu Kumar Shrestha 6 Shyamgha V.D.C Jiwan Gurung 7 Kyamin V.D.C, 1,3,7-9 Krishna Prashad Neupane 8 Kyamin V.D.C and Risti V.D.C6, 1-5,7-9 Yuwaraj Gurung 9 Kyamin V.D.C, Tanahunsur V.D.C, Satiswara V.D.C(2,4,5),(6,7,8),(6,9) Suresh Thapa 10 Vyas5,9 Khemraj Pokhrel 11 Vyas, Ghansikuwa V.D.C, Tanahunsur V.D.C(3,4),(6),(4,5,7,9) Dal Bahadur Dura 12 Ghasikuwa V.D.C2-5,7,8 Bam Bahadur Ale 13 Vyas12,13,14 Basanta Ale 14Keshavtar2-7 Kaji Man Shrestha
Media To promote local culture Vyas has four FM radio stations. That are Radio Bhanubhakta, Damauli F.M, Smart F.M, and Madi Seti FM, all of which are community radio stations.
Transportation Vyas lies on Prithvi Rajmarg, a highway from Kathmandu to Pokhara.
References
External links UN map of the municipalities of Tanahu District