Origin

Rhinocerous

The name Chitwan is a composite of the Sanskrit words चित्त, transliterated "citta" meaning heart and वन, transliterated "vana" meaning jungle or forest. Thus, the meaning of Chitwan is Heart of the Jungle.

Industry

Chitwan is famous in Nepal because of its dominant production of mustard from which mustard oil is produced. This popularity of the mustard plantation in Chitwan is attributed to the predominant soil type of the place. The soil in Chitwan is mostly of the type silt. The silty nature of the soil is in turn attributed to the flooding over the ages in the past from the rivers like Gandaki. Chitwan is also profusely spotted with lands with soil type clay which are very good for use as rice fields. Other popular cash crops in the region are maize and wheat. The soil there is also very good for growing various types of vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, radish, potato, broccoli, cucumbers, pumpkins, and carrot.
Chitwan hosts 80% of the country's poultry industry, and is also famous for floriculture, mushroom cultivation and bee keeping.
At present Chitwan's largest business area, Narayangarh, is less accessible due to the movement of the main bus terminal due to the previous king's son's anger with the politics of the citizens of the city. This bus terminal is however no longer in use following a successful people's movement in 2006. It is believed that Nepali leftist revolutionary leader Prachanda spent his childhood and youth in Chitwan. Chitwan is adapting the New Community Movement South Korean model of development.