Gorakhpur (or Gorakshpur) is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the Nepal border. It is the administrative headquarter of Gorakhpur District and Division.

•Located in the Terai region, in the foothills of the Shivalik Himalayas.

•Located o­n the banks of river Rapti & Rohin, a Ganges tributary originating in Nepal.

•Home to the Gorakshnath Temple (Gorakhnath Math).

•Houses the Gita Press, world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts.

•Headquarters of the North Eastern Railways Zone of the Indian Railways.

•Birthplace of Lord Buddha is at Lumbini near the border o­n Nepal side.

•A religious centre with many historic temples and Buddhists sites

•Gorakhpur takes its name and fame from renowned, ascetic 'Gorakshnath', who was an eminent profounder saint of 'Nath Sampradaya'. A famous shrine 'Gorakhnath' was built in his honour o­n the same spot where he practised austerities and attained Nirvana. Guru Gorakshnath popularized “Hast Yoga” a form of yoga which concentrates o­n mastering of natural powers. Gorakhnath Temple is a major tourist attraction in the city. The Gorakhshapitheshwara (Head Priest of Gorakhnath temple) is the cultural head of the city. Yogi Adityanath is the present Mathadheesh.

·Geographical shape of Gorakhpur City is of a bowl, surrounded by the river and other small streams o­n three sides. West of the city is guarded by Rapti River while the east is surrounded by Sal Forests, with a major tourist attraction, Vinod Van. South is having the large stretch of a lake, Ramgarh Taal and north is the plinth of city's advancement.

·Gorakhpur has 10 railway stations within its city limits -

1Gorakhpur Junction

2Gorakhpur Cantt

3Domingarh

4Kusmhi

5Nakaha jungle

6Maniram

7Sahjanwa

8Unaula

9Sihapar

10Jagatbela.

·Historical Background-

•Imambara, an 18th-century dargah, is located about 2 km from the railway station in Gorakhpur. Imambara is the dargah of Roshan Ali Shah, a Sufi saint. It preserves a dhuni (smoke fire), and is famous for its gold and silver Tazia

•Gorakhpur district was the scene of the Chauri Chaura incident of February 4, 1922, which was a turning point in the history of India's freedom struggle. Enraged by police atrocities, a crowd of 2,000 people burnt down the Chauri-Chaura Police Station, killing nineteen policemen.

•Born at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Ram Prasad Bismil was a great revolutionary and believed in armed struggle against the British rulers. As the main accused in the famous Kakori conspiracy case of 1925, he was hanged to death in Gorakhpur District Jail o­n 19 December 1927. From the gallows of Gorakhpur jail he spoke his last words " I wish the downfall of the British Empire " which became true after 20 years. His last rites were performed at Rajghat o­n the banks of Rapti.

·North Eastern Railway Headquarters and Mechanical Workshop-

Gorakhpur Railway Station is located in the heart of the city of Gorakhpur in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway. The station offers Class A1 railway station facilities. It has the distinction of having longest platform, 1.35 km long, of India. A 100m highmast National Flag has been commissioned recently o­n 1^st Jan.2019 in the circulating area of the station. Station is equipped with modern passenger amenities like Lifts, Escalators, Train information LED displays, Wi-Fi, AC louges, LED lighting, water vending machines, Sanitary napkin dispensing machines, water coolers, tiled platforms etc. The mechanical workshop, NER, Gorakhpur was established in 1903. Steam engines were maintained here for a long time, but now Cranes, diesel engines, coaches, and wagons are the main subjects of maintenance here. Presently it is having the world's longest railway platform.

•Air Force Station

An air force station in Gorakhpur was established in 1963, with a variety of planes and services, most notably Jaguar fighter planes and the second oldest helicopter unit of Indian Air Force. The air force station, Gorakhpur which is extremely vital for the Defence of the eastern part of the country is equipped with the latest and most sophisticated fighter planes and equipments and comes under the Central Air Command (CAC) headquartered at Bamrauli, Allahabad. It has Jaguar fighter planes and is known for Cobra Squadran. It also has a jaguar training center.

•Gorkha Recruitment Depot (GRD)

GRD, established in 1886, a recruitment center of Gorkha soldiers for Indian army, is situated in Gorakhpur and recruits the Gorkhas of Nepalese origin from the Anchals of Mahakali, Seti, Bheri, Rapti, Karnali, Dhaulagiri, Lumbini and Gandaki areas of Nepal.

•Media

Gorakhpur has All India Radio and Doordarshan broadcasting and relay centres. A number of Hindi newspapers including Dainik Jagran, Hindustan, Amar Ujala, Aaj, Swatantra Chetna and Rashtriya Sahara are printed here. FM radio station, Radio Mantra (91.9 MHz) of Jagran Group also operates.

•Art & Music

Terracotta Town, Aurangabad, is situated at a distance of 17 km from Gorakhpur city. There are many villages, which are famous for terracotta products. o­ne of the main features of Gorakhpur's culture is a tradition of folk-songs and folk-dances. Folk-songs are also performed at various festivals during the year. The kaharwa is sung at Deepawali, the Alha and the kajari during the rainy and winter nights, and the Phaag during Holi.

•Neer Nikunj Water Park

This is a water sports cum amusement park. Amusement park is equipped with- bowling alley, shooting range, toy train, paint ball, go carting, dance floor, musical rides, merry go round, bull rides, caterpillar and many more. Food outlets, activity games, gaming arcade are other attractions of the park. Banquet hall & a lawn are also there for company/corporate meetings & other functions.

•Vinod Van

Vinod Van is o­ne of the Zoos of East Uttar Pradesh. It is situated in the lush and green forest of Kushmi Jungle. Large no. of animals like deers, antelopes, cheetal, monkeys, Neelgai, foxes, snakes, rabbits and crocodiles are housed here. It also has an aviary that has a variety of species of birds.

•Rail museum

The city has a well- maintained rail museum where the history and antique locomotives & wagons of can be seen. The museum also has a toy train for children. The rail museum is situated near the headquarters of North Eastern Railway. This rail museum was inaugurated in July 2007 and is o­ne of its own kinds in Uttar Pradesh. The major attraction of this museum is Lord Lawrence steam engine, which was built in 1874 in London and brought to India by sea. It was the first engine used by NER.

•Lord Buddha Sangrahalay (Museum)

The museum houses rare and priceless items related to Lord Buddha and his life. About 2000 pieces of metal and stone sculptures, terracotta, potteries, thankas, miniature paintings etc. have been displayed in the galleries. In the second gallery, miniature paintings of Rajasthani, Pahari and Bundi styles are o­n display. In the third gallery, old sculptures are displayed which are very useful for iconographical studies. In the fourth gallery, terracotta from various Buddhist sites like Sarnath, Rajdhani, Kopia are o­n display. Animal figures, pots, seals, Suka-Sarika, eight headed Ganesha, dakini and human figures ranging from Maurayan period down to Gupta period are there.

•Veer Bahadur Singh Planetarium (Taramandal)

The Planetarium was opened to public o­n 21 December 2009. This state of the art planetarium is based o­n Digital Technology. Six CRT based projectors are installed by Evans & Sutherland, USA. It has become new destination for students who want to explore about the planets and the universe.

•Ramgarh Taal (Lake)

Ramgarh Taal is a lake located in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It covers an area of 723 hectares and its embankment is 18 km long. Boating and Water-sports facilities are operational here.

•Maheshara Lake, Maniram Gorakhpur

It is located o­n Gorakhpur-Nepal road, 14 kilometers from Dharmshala taxi stand. Bhojpuri Films’ shooting has been done here.

·Notable Residents-

•Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of UP

•Prem Chand, Renowned Writer

•Raghupati Sahay ( Firaq Gorakhpuri),Writer, Poet, Critic

•Prem Maya Sonir, International Hockey player, Arjun Awardee

·Syed Modi, International Badminton player, Arjun Awardee

•Narendra Hirwani,International Cricket Player

•Anurag Kashyap, Film director and screenwriter

•Laxmikant -Pyarelal, Bollywood music composer

•Saurabh Shukla, BollywoodActor

•Billy Arjan Singh, Eco-conservationist, Author

•Amrita Sher-Gil, Renowned Poet and Painter

•Yogananda Paramahansa, Yogi and Author

•G C. Mishra, Padamshree (2002 for Science and Technology)

•Gita Press

Gita Press is a unit of Gobind Bhawan Karyalaya registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The institution's main objective is to promote and spread the principles of Sanatana Dharma, by publishing Gita, Ramayana, Upanishads, Puranas, Discourses of Saints, other books & magazines and marketing them at highly subsidised prices. "Kalyan" in Hindi and "Kalyana-Kalpataru" in English are monthly magazines brought out by the institution.

•Leela Chitra Mandir

This Art Gallery of Gita-press displays the leelas ( exploits ) of Shri Rama and Shri Krishna portrayed in 684 paintings by famed artists of the past and present. Other paintings, including Mewari style paintings of the Shri Krishna Lila are also o­n exhibit. All the 700 verses of the Bhagvad Gita are displayed o­n marble plaques affixed to the walls.

·History -

Ancient Gorakhpur, comprised the districts of Basti, Deoria, Azamgarh and parts of Nepal-terai. This region, earlier known as Gorakhpur Janpad, has been an important centre of Aryan civilization.

Gorakhpur was a part of the famous kingdom of Koshal, o­ne of sixteen mahajanpadas in 6th century B.C. The earliest known monarch ruling over this region with his capital at Ayodhya was IKSVAKU, who founded the solar dynasty of Kshatriya. It produced a number of illustratious kings till the accession of Ram, who was the greatest ruler of this dynasty. It was an integral part of the erstwhile empires of Maurya, Shunga, Kushana , Gupta and Harsha dynasties. In medieval period, for a long period, it remained under the sway of the muslim rulers, from Qutub-Ud-Din Aibak to Bahadur Shah. o­n Akbar's reorganisation of the empire, Gorakhpur gave its name to o­ne of the five Sirkars comprising the province of Avadh.

Modern period was marked by the transfer of this region by the Nawab of Avadh to the East India Company in 1801. With this cession, Gorakhpur was raised to the status of a 'DISTRICT. The first collector was Mr. Routledge. In 1829, Gorakhpur was made the headquarters of a Division, comprising the districts of Gorakhpur, Ghazipur and Azamgarh. In 1865, new district Basti was carved out of Gorakhpur. Latter was further split up in 1946 to form new district Deoria. Third division of Gorakhpur led to the creation of district Mahrajganj in 1989.

·Cultural & Historical Importance of Gorakhpur -

1Lord Buddha, founder of Buddhism, had renounced his princely costumes at the confluence of rivers Rapti & Rohini here and then proceeded further in the quest of truth in 600 BC.

2It is also associated with Lord Mahavir, 24th tirthankar, founder of Jainism, who had visited this city to preach.

3Next event of importance was the association of Gorakhpur with Gorakhnath in the twelfth century. His samadhi at Gorakhpur attracts a large number of pilgrims every year.

4Most significant event in the medieval period, however, was the coming of mystic poet and famous saint Kabir to Maghar. Born in Varanasi, his workplace was Maghar where most of his beautiful poems were composed. It was here that he gave the message to live in peace and religious harmony. Co-existence of 'Samadhi' and 'Makbara' at his burial place in Maghar attracts a large number of followers.

5Gorakhpur is also identified with the Gita Press, the world famous publisher of the Hindu religious books. Gita Press is in fore-front in dissemination of religious and spiritual consciousness across the country.

6Gorakhpur rose to great eminence due to the historic 'CHAURI CHAURA' incident of 4th Feb., 1922, which was a turning -point in the history of India's freedom struggle. Enraged at the inhuman atrocities of the police, the volunteers burnt down the Chauri-Chaura Police Station, killing nineteen policemen. Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement launched in 1920.

7An important event took place at Doharia (In Sahjanwa Tehsil ) o­n 23rd August,1942. In response to the famous Quit India Movement of 1942, a meeting was held to register protest against the British Government but the latter responded with unprovoked firing, killing nine and injuring hundreds. A Shaheed Smarak, in their memory, stands there.