Asia >> South Asia >> India >> Plains >> Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is a state in the Plains region of India.

Regions

  • Doab region
  • Rohilkhand region
  • Awadh region
  • Nothern Bagelkhand
  • Purvanchal

Major Cities

  • Lucknow - The capital of Uttar Pradesh, also home to one of the IIM.
  • Agra - The tourist Capital of India. Home to 3 World Heritage Site, including the Taj Mahal
  • Allahabad - A holy place where the rivers Ganga, Yamuna & Saraswati meet.
  • Ayodhya - Birth Place of Lord Ramji
  • Jhansi - historic city where Queen Laxmibai fought for freedom from the British in the revolt of 1857
  • Kanpur - once known as the "Manchester of India", now famous for its leather works and the IIT
  • Mathura - Birth Place of Lord Krishna
  • Varanasi - Holy city on the bank of River Ganges

Other Cities

  • Aligarh. Famous for it locks and Aligarh Muslim University.
  • Bareilly
  • Chitrakoot. It is believed that Lord Ram bathed (RAMGHAT)here with Laxman and Sita Ji on their arrival in Chitrakoot.The famous saint-poet Tulsidas is also believed to have lived here for quite some time.It is the place where he is believed to have darshan of Ram and Laxman. Tulsidas was preparing sandal-paste for himself,when Ram and Laxman appeared before him as two children
  • Sarnath. The site of the Buddha Sakyamuni's first teaching after gaining enlightenment.
  • Vrindavan — holy city of Krishna's childhood, ISKCON (Hare Krishna) temples and windows

Culture and History

Uttar Pradesh has the largest population of nearly 167 million. Its is also the fifth largest state in terms of land area. The western plain is the most urban region. Agriculture is the most important section of the UP’s economy, employing about three-fourths of the work force. Uttar Pradesh has the largest production of food grain and oil seeds in India. In addition, UP ranks the first in the production of wheat, maize, barley, gram, sugar cane, and potatoes. The three most important industries of UP are sugar, cotton fabrics and diversified food preparations. Goods carrier equipment, photostat machines, chemicals, polyester fiber and steel tube galvanized sheets are the other big industries of UP.

The Kathak dance style, the most popular classical dance form in India, nourished in UP. Today, foreign countries have also learned this elegant dance form to perfection: the beautiful Veronique Azan as an example. The countryside songs and dances are significant traits of local culture. Uttar Pradesh famous for handicrafts such as, carpet weaving, hand printing, chikan (a type of embroidery), metal enameling, brocade and brass, and ebony work. Also, UP has the biggest Brass and Copperware manufacture area in India.

The history of the State of Uttar Pradesh is very ancient and interesting. It is recognised in the later Vedic Age as Brahmarshi Desha or Madhya Desha. Many great sages of the Vedic times like Bharadwaja, Gautam, Yagyavalkya, Vasishta, Vishwamitra and Valmiki flourished in this state. Several sacred books of the Aryans were also composed here. Two great epics of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata, appear to have been inspired by Uttar Pradesh.

In the sixth century BC, Uttar Pradesh was associated with two new religions - Jainism and Buddhism. It was at Sarnath that Buddha preached his first sermon and laid the foundations of his order, and it was in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, where Buddha breathed his last. Several centres in Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya, Prayag, Varanasi and Mathura became reputed centres of learning. In the medieval period, Uttar Pradesh passed under Muslim rule and led the way to new synthesis of Hindu and Islamic cultures. Ramananda and his Muslim disciple Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and many other intellectuals contributed to the growth of Hindi and other languages.

Uttar Pradesh preserved its intellectual excellency even under the British administration. The British combined Agra and Oudh into one province, and called it United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The name was shortened to the United Provinces in 1935. In January 1950, the United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh.

The State is bounded by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Haryana in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the south, and Bihar in the east. Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct regions, (i) Southern hills and (ii) Gangetic plain.

Talk

Travel to Uttar Pradesh - Visa Requirements

Tours and Getting around Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh tourist attractions and sightseeing

1.Sangam, Anand Bhavan, Minto Park, Sita Samahit Isthal, Company Garden, New yamuna Bridge, and lots more in the holy city Allahabad(Prayag). 2.Ghats at Varanasi(Kashi). 3.Nawab's or Royal city Lucknow.

Uttar Pradesh city tours

Take a holy dip in Sangam at Allahabad and visit ghats at Varanasi

Uttar Pradesh Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Guavas and allu tikki of Allahabad

Uttar Pradesh nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Stay safe

Utter Pradesh lead India's kidnapping statistics by quite a substantial margin with 4.478 cases reported in the 2008, 16 percent of all kidnappings happening in the country. While this mainly concern to natives, as always travel sensibly and remain vigilant.

Get out

Destinations in Uttar Pradesh:

This page was last edited by Stefan Ertmann. Based on work by Peter Fitzgerald, Jani Patokallio, shrishail math, Nick Roux, Stacy Hall, Ravikiran Rao and Satyen Kumar, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme and WindHorse, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

Didn't find what you were looking for?
Submit your question to the Uttar Pradesh travel forum
Subject
Question / Comment
Note: HTML tags will be removed.
Your Name (required)
Your Email (will not be published) (required)
Website (Optional)

Note: Hitting submit you grant Traveltips24 the right to edit, display and store the content you provide.