Duradanda is one of the mid-hills in Lamjung District between Kirenche river in the north and Paudi river to the south. Lamjung is one of the six districts in Gandaki Zone in central Nepal. Duradanda used to have six village development committees according to the older local body structure: Chandreshwor, Duradanda, Dhuseni, Ishaneshwor, Neta, and Purankot. The new constitution has restructured the local bodies and these VDCs are formally non-existent. The name 'Duradanda' is composed of two terms: Dura= historical Dura tribes + danda= hill in Nepali. Duras inhabited this place from the historical times and were important political game players in the past, especially when Nepal was fragmented into 22–24 tiny Kingdoms, known as Bayise Chaubisi rajyas. Duradanda is considered to be the place of origin of the 'Dura' tribe. Duras have their own language and culture but are being forgotten because of an increasing influence from other cultures. Dura language, in fact, is no longer in use as the tribe uses the Nepali language. Only old generations knows the language, and not many people of this generation are alive at this time. Thus, Dura culture is in danger of being lost completely. Apart from Duras, Duradanda is also known for famous historical movements called 'Halo Kranti ' and 'Siksha Kranti '. Sarvodaya High School was one of the oldest school in the entire region of Central Nepal. Thus, people from very far places used to come to Duradanda to gain formal school education from Sarvodaya High School. At that time, young people who wanted to come here seeking school education from far villages used to say: "Duradanda kei chhaina tadha, janchhu ma ta sikshya ko khojima" meaning that "Duradanda is no longer far and I want to go there seeking my education". There were no hostels, so the youngesters used to live as guests in locals' houses, preferably relatives. In return, they had to bring commodities or to provide labor services for household and/or farm works. How to reach Duradanda? One can enter Duradanda from 'Satrasaya Phant', which is about an hour of leisurely walk west from Sundarbazaar. According to the recent local bodies reformation in Nepal, the entire hill of Duradanda represents ward number 3 of Sundarbazar Municipality. Now reaching Duradanda is much more easier. You can use bus services from several main cities and from Sundarbazaar. Duradanda VDC: "Duradanda" used to be name of one of the Village Development Committees within the broader Duradanda hill in the past but Duradanda VDC was only a small part of Duradanda. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census the VDC had a population of 2135 people living in 430 individual households. The VDC has only one high school named 'Sanskriti Sadan' at village Archalyani. There are a total of nine wards in Duradanda VDC and among them are Puranadehi known as Tiwari Gaun. In terms of literacy and prominence the Neupane and Adhikari have held high status in Government and literature.
