Qibla · Lumbini Province
Qibla direction in Nepalgunj
To face the Kaaba in Nepalgunj, turn to 269.6° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (0.4° south of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,264 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Nepalgunj should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 269.6°, the Qibla of Nepalgunj. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 270° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Nepalgunj
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 0.4° towards south: the result is the bearing of 269.6°. The direction is close to due west, which makes it easy to remember.
Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Nepalgunj, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Nepalgunj is a handy reference, because the prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Nepalgunj to Mecca points to 260.1° (west), 9.5° away from the correct 269.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 17 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
How is the figure of 269.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Nepalgunj (28.0500° N, 81.6167° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.
Distance from Nepalgunj to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,264 km from Nepalgunj as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,187 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 31 min, although most pilgrims from Nepalgunj connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Nepalgunj run 2.8 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Nepalgunj rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nepalgunj
On 178 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nepalgunj while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 April 2027 it happens at 17:45 local time.
On 173 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in May (31 days), for instance on 1 April 2027 at 06:53.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | — | — |
| 15 March 2027 | — | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 17:45 | 06:53 |
| 15 April 2027 | 17:00 | 07:30 |
| 1 May 2027 | 16:11 | 08:13 |
| 15 May 2027 | 15:32 | 08:50 |
| 1 June 2027 | 14:55 | 09:31 |
| 15 June 2027 | 14:40 | 09:51 |
| 1 July 2027 | 14:46 | 09:52 |
| 15 July 2027 | 15:10 | 09:33 |
| 1 August 2027 | 15:51 | 08:53 |
| 15 August 2027 | 16:28 | 08:13 |
| 1 September 2027 | 17:12 | 07:20 |
| 15 September 2027 | 17:48 | 06:35 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | — |
| 15 October 2027 | — | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Nepalgunj: at 15:03 and 15:12 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Nepalgunj compared with other cities
Compared with Kathmandu, 366 km away, the Qibla in Nepalgunj is turned 2.1° further anticlockwise (269.6° against 271.7°), and Mecca is 364 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Birendranagar (61 km), prays towards 268.9°, a difference of 0.7°.
Across the 13 cities in Nepal on this site, the Qibla ranges from 268.3° in Dhangadhi to 273.9° in Biratnagar, a spread of 5.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Nepal.
Qibla in cities near Nepalgunj
- Birendranagar268.9° · 61 km
- Dhangadhi268.3° · 124 km
- Butwal270.9° · 185 km
- Pokhara270.5° · 232 km
- Bharatpur, Bagmati Province, Nepal271.4° · 280 km
- Birgunj272.3° · 342 km
Qibla in Nepalgunj: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Nepalgunj?
It is 269.6° from true north, which is west: 0.4° south of west.
How far is Nepalgunj from Mecca?
4,264 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,187 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Nepalgunj?
On 178 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Nepalgunj not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 260.1°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Nepalgunj at 269.6°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 269.6° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.