Surunga is a trade center of Jhapa District. It is located in Kankai Municipality in Jhapa District in the Koshi Province of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 16,747 people living in 2996 individual households. Surunga is one of the rapidly developing towns of Jhapa district. It is situated on the bank of the Kankai River (also known as Kankai Mai by the locals).
Geography
It is bordered by Ilam district on the north mostly while it also shares a border with Khudnabari VDC, Kankai river flows to its west (on the western bank of which lie Shivasatakshi), to the east lies Ghailadubba and Arjundhara VDCs and at the south it is surrounded by Sharnamati and Dangibari VDCs. Being one of the few villages in Jhapa through which East-west Highway runs also makes the village one of the most important towns in the region. It has significant religious importance due to its being on the bank of Kankai river where the famous Koti Hom Religious Area is situated.
Surunga was named after its historical meaning: Surung (Tunnel). It is believed that five brothers from Hindu mythology mahabharat along with their mother kunti escaped from the palace and finally reached Surunga underground.
Population
Estimated population in 2001 census was around 17,000 but currently this could be around 35,000 with a large influx of people from different villages of Eastern hills and various parts of India. Ethnicities in Surunga are Bhramin, Chhetri, Satar, Kami, Damai, Newar, Bhujel, Tamang, Agrawal, Rajbanshi, Dhimal, Sarki, Magar, Rai and Limbu among others. Out of all the ethnicities, Satar and Rajbanshi are underprivileged in Surunga.
Education
In Surunga is located the government-run Kankai Madhyamik Vidyalaya, which caters for around 3,000 students every year not only from Surunga but also from surrounded villages. The boarding schools are Shree Pashupati English Secondary School, Shree Harikul Model Higher Secondary School, Paragon Academy Secondary School, Champa Flowers Academy, Jhapa Marigold English School, Mai valley English School, Dibya Ratna English Secondary School, Shree Banubajha English school (Surunga 7), Janaki primary school (Surunga 8), Devkota Education Foundation and Hamro Pathashala.
There are other primary boarding schools in Surunga. For higher education, Kankai Multiple Campus is running courses for certificate, bachelors and masters levels. Shree Harikul Model Higher Secondary School also runs higher secondary education also known as 10+2.
Kankai Higher Secondary School is the pioneer school in Surunga. It also runs classes in symbolic language up to grade 10 for hearing-impaired students.
Economy
Surunga's main economy rests on agriculture. However, now remittance, local businesses and tourism also contribute significant amount to the economy of Surunga village. In recent times, real estate business is also a vital means of economic activities. The cost of land is increasing each day making about 10 million for one Katha in main points of Surunga. It contains a group of A-graded banks certified by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) which includes NRB, Agricultural Development Bank(ADBL),BiratLaxmi Development Bank, Excel Development Bank, Sunrise Bank, NMC Jhapa, Prithivi Saving and Credit Society. And simultaneously a group of 'saving and credit' companies are also working handsomely. Leading among them is Bhagwati Saving and Credit Pvt Limited which has more than 400 share members.
Koti Hom (a hom ritual in Hindu religion) was conducted by late yogi Naraharinath, a Hindu yogi and philosopher, in 1985. Now Koti Hom is going to be developed as a tourist place. Movie filming and photography can be done there paying a little charge in KotiHom Dharmik Sthal Bikash Samiti (a committee which manages the Koti Hom area).And also a place for trekking freaks called jhandi dada (झन्दी डाँडा) which is located in boarder of surunga which is shared with illam.