Shree Antu is a hilltop village in Ilam district, eastern Nepal, known as the place where the country sees its first sunrise. The view tower on the ridge stands at 2,328 metres. On a clear morning you watch the light arrive over the plains of India before it reaches anywhere else in Nepal.
It sits in Ward 4 of Suryodaya Municipality. The name Suryodaya means sunrise, which tells you what the area is built around.
Quick answers
Where is Shree Antu? Ilam district, Koshi Province, eastern Nepal, right on the border with West Bengal in India. It is in Nepal, not Sri Lanka.
How high is Shree Antu? The view tower sits at 2,328 metres, about 7,638 feet.
What is it famous for? Nepal’s first sunrise, tea gardens, and views towards Kanchenjunga.
How far from Ilam Bazaar? About 35 km to Antu Pokhari, one and a half to two hours by road, then another twenty minutes up to the ridge.
Best time to go? October to December for the clearest mornings.
How long do you need? One night. Sleep on the ridge, watch sunrise, leave after breakfast.
Where exactly is Shree Antu?
Shree Antu is in Ilam district, in Koshi Province, in the far east of Nepal. The village borders West Bengal in India, and the ridge looks straight down into the Indian plains.
This needs saying plainly because search engines get it wrong. Type the name in and you will find results about Sri Lanka, Sinhala and Tamil. Those have nothing to do with this place. Shree Antu is Nepali, in Nepal, and the language spoken there is Nepali, along with Lepcha within the Lepcha community.
The village covers about 24 square kilometres and had 5,127 residents at the 2021 census. It is a farming community first and a viewpoint second.
Why is Shree Antu famous?
Because of where the sun comes up.
Nepal runs a long way east to west, and Shree Antu sits near the eastern edge at enough height to catch the light early. That is the whole reputation. People come up the evening before, sleep at Antu Pokhari, and stand out in the cold at dawn.
The second reason is what you see once the light arrives. On a clear morning the view runs from Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, across the hills of eastern Nepal and down over the plains. Tea gardens cover the slopes below the ridge.
The third reason is quieter. Shree Antu is home to a Lepcha community, one of the smaller indigenous groups in this part of Nepal, with their own language and traditions. Most visitors come for the sunrise and leave without noticing this. It is worth noticing.
How high is Shree Antu?
The view tower on Shree Antu hill stands at 2,328 metres, which is 7,638 feet above sea level.
That matters for two practical reasons. It is cold before dawn, colder than people expect coming up from the plains, and warm clothing is not optional in winter. It also means the ridge sits in cloud for long stretches of the year, which is why the season you choose decides whether you see anything at all.
For comparison, Ilam Bazaar sits at roughly 1,200 metres. You are climbing more than a kilometre above the district’s main town to get here.
Antu Pokhari and Antu Danda are not the same place
This trips people up, including most of what is written online. Worth getting straight before you plan anything.
Shree Antu is the village and the wider area. Antu Pokhari is the pond, and it is where most road directions actually lead. Antu Danda is the ridge above, with the view tower on top. This is the sunrise spot.
When a guide tells you how long it takes to reach Shree Antu, check which of the two it means. Most quoted times are to the pond, and the ridge is another twenty minutes beyond it.
How do you get to Shree Antu?
Antu Pokhari is about 35 km from Ilam Bazaar and the drive takes one and a half to two hours. From the pond it is roughly another twenty minutes up to Antu Danda.
| Leg | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Ilam Bazaar to Antu Pokhari | 35 km | 1.5 to 2 hrs |
| Antu Pokhari to Antu Danda | short climb | about 20 min |
| Jeep drop point to the view tower | on foot | about 5 min |
Budget two to two and a half hours from Ilam Bazaar to standing at the tower.
Come straight from Bhadrapur, not via Ilam Bazaar
Most itineraries send you to Ilam Bazaar first and out to Shree Antu from there. If sunrise is what you came for, do not.
Bhadrapur airport to Shree Antu is about 60 km and takes under two hours by car. Bhadrapur to Ilam Bazaar alone is about 64 km and two and a half hours, and you would still have the run out to the ridge after that.
Land, drive straight up, sleep at Antu Pokhari, go up for sunrise. Do Ilam Bazaar and the tea gardens on the way back down.
The jeep does not reach the viewpoint
This is the part nobody mentions. A jeep gets you close to Antu Danda but not to the tower itself. It stops at a nearby point and you walk the last five minutes or so.
That is when the road is in good condition. When it is not, the drop point moves further back and the walk gets longer. In bad conditions you walk the whole way up.
Two things follow from this. Ask about road condition when you book a jeep, because the answer changes your morning. And carry a torch or headlamp, since that final walk happens in the dark if you are going up for sunrise.
Coming from Kathmandu, flying into Bhadrapur and continuing by road is the sensible option. The overnight bus to Ilam works, but stacking a hill climb onto sixteen hours of bus makes for a hard day.
Full detail on reaching the district is in the Ilam travel guide.
When is the best time to visit Shree Antu?
October to December gives the clearest mornings and the best odds of seeing Kanchenjunga.
| Season | Months | Sunrise odds |
|---|---|---|
| Post-monsoon | Oct to Nov | Best. Clear air, clean views |
| Winter | Dec to Feb | Very clear, very cold before dawn |
| Spring | Mar to May | Warmer, hazier, mountains often lost |
| Monsoon | Jun to Sep | Cloud sits on the ridge. Green, but no view |
The mistake people make is booking Shree Antu in monsoon because the tea gardens look best then. They do. You also stand a good chance of seeing nothing at sunrise except grey.
Cloud can settle on this ridge for days at a stretch. Even in a good month, one morning is a gamble and two mornings is insurance. If the view matters to you, stay two nights.
What is there to see and do?
The view tower and sunrise
The tower on the ridge is the reason most people come. Get there before first light, not at it. The sky changes for a long time before the sun clears the horizon, and the colour before sunrise is often better than the moment itself.
Antu Pokhari
Antu Pokhari is a pond near the village, reached by a narrow road that climbs to the lakeside. It is a short visit and a local landmark rather than a spectacle. Worth combining with the ridge rather than travelling for on its own.
Tea gardens
Shree Antu has around 567 hectares under tea. Unlike the wide open slopes at Kanyam, the gardens here run across steep hillside, which makes them harder to walk and better to photograph.
The border ridge
The village sits against the West Bengal border, and the ridge gives you a clear look into India. Standing in one country and looking down into another is a strange, quiet thing that most visitors enjoy more than they expect.
Cardamom and garlic country
Beyond tea, the area farms about 123 hectares of cardamom and garlic. Walking through the village in the growing season, this is what you smell.
Where do you stay?
Homestays are around Antu Pokhari, not up on Antu Danda itself. Nobody sleeps at the viewpoint.
That matters for your morning. From the homestays it is roughly twenty minutes up to the ridge, then the short walk from where the vehicle stops. So you are not rolling out of bed at the tower. Budget about forty minutes between waking and standing at the top, and arrange your ride the night before.
It is still far better than the alternative. Driving up from Ilam Bazaar before dawn means leaving around three in the morning on a hill road in the dark. Staying at Antu Pokhari turns that into a twenty minute run.
Bring warm layers regardless of season. It is cold up here before sunrise, and homestay bedding is not always built for it.
Common mistakes
Coming for one morning. Cloud decides whether you see anything. One night is a coin flip. Two nights and the odds get much better.
Driving up at dawn instead of staying. You arrive cold, late, and after the best colour.
Underdressing. People come up from Jhapa in the heat and forget they are climbing to 2,328 metres. Before dawn in December it is genuinely cold.
Assuming the jeep reaches the tower. It does not. You walk the last stretch, in the dark, on a road whose condition decides how long that walk is. No torch makes it worse than it needs to be.
Treating it as a stop rather than a stay. Shree Antu rewards an evening, a night and a morning. Passing through in daylight, you have seen a hill with a tower on it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Shree Antu famous for?
Nepal’s first sunrise. The view tower at 2,328 metres looks east over the Indian plains, and on clear mornings the light reaches here before anywhere else in the country. It is also known for tea, cardamom, and its Lepcha community.
Which place in Nepal gets the first light of the sun?
Shree Antu in Ilam district is the place best known for it, which is why the surrounding municipality is called Suryodaya, meaning sunrise.
What is the height of Shree Antu?
The view tower stands at 2,328 metres, or 7,638 feet, above sea level.
How far is Shree Antu from Ilam?
Antu Pokhari is about 35 km from Ilam Bazaar, which is one and a half to two hours by road. Antu Danda ridge, where the view tower stands, is another twenty minutes beyond the pond. Most quoted travel times stop at the pond, so add that leg when you plan.
Is Shree Antu worth visiting?
Yes, if you come in the right season and stay the night. In monsoon, or as a daylight stop, it is easy to leave wondering what the fuss was about.
Can you see Kanchenjunga from Shree Antu?
On clear mornings, yes. Autumn and winter give the best chance. It is never guaranteed.
Is Shree Antu in Sri Lanka?
No. Shree Antu is in Ilam district, Koshi Province, eastern Nepal. Search engines confuse the name with Sri Lanka, but there is no connection.
What crops are grown in Shree Antu?
Tea across roughly 567 hectares, plus around 123 hectares of cardamom and garlic.
Before you go
Shree Antu fits into a wider trip, and the 3 day Ilam itinerary shows where it sits. Shree Antu is a one night trip that people try to do in an afternoon. Come up in the evening, eat with your homestay at Antu Pokhari, and sleep early. Leave about forty minutes before first light, so you reach the tower before the sky starts changing.
If you have been recently and something here has shifted, particularly road conditions or homestay availability, tell me and I will update it.