North India · Uttar Pradesh
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia
About Gorakhpur
- Riverside
Where it is
Gorakhpur is a city in the Purvanchal region of eastern Uttar Pradesh, on the Rapti River where it is joined by the Rohini, about 100 km from the Nepal border.
History
The city takes its name from the yogi Gorakshanath, a revered saint of the Nath tradition, whose monastery and temple stand at its heart. The region lies close to places from the Buddha's life, and Kushinagar, where he died, is a short drive east. Under British rule Gorakhpur became a district headquarters, and in 1922 the nearby Chauri Chaura incident led Gandhi to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement.
People
Bhojpuri and Hindi are the everyday languages, with Urdu also spoken. At Makar Sankranti huge crowds offer khichdi at the Gorakhnath temple, and potters in nearby villages are known for their GI-tagged terracotta.
Known for
- Gorakhnath Math and temple
- Gita Press, publisher of Hindu scriptures
- Ramgarh Tal lake
- Terracotta horses and elephants
- One of the world's longest railway platforms
Did you know?
Gita Press, founded in Gorakhpur in 1923, is regarded as the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts, with hundreds of millions of books printed in many Indian languages.
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