Ghanta Ghar, situated in the middle of Birgunj, has turned into a structure that identifies the city. The tower was established four decades ago with the help of Japanese school kids from Yogano, Japan, who raised money for the construction and sent a Japanese branded Seiko clock-face for the tower.
The Ghanta Ghar was built in 1976 with an active participation from the then zonal commissioner Lakshya Bahadur Gurung and the locals. It was the time of the Panchayat System and the Nagar Panchayat, where board members of the Nagar Panchayat made a decision to give the space, where Ghantaghar currently situated, to a businessman for the development of a petrol pump. Few of the board members of the Nagar Panchayat and the then deputy mayor Gopal Prasad Adhikari were against the decision.
