Uttar Pradesh ~ Travel

Wednesday 31 August 2011

Uttar Pradesh

06:19

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Uttar Pradesh (formerly:United Provinces) (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش, pronounced [ˈʊt̪t̪ər prəˈd̪eːʃ] ( listen), "Northern Province"), often referred to as U.P. or Uttar Pradesh is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 199 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity. Were it a nation in its own right, Uttar Pradesh would be the world's fifth most populous country ahead of Brazil, a country thirty-five times larger in territorial area. Uttar Pradesh is the second largest state-economy in India contributing 8.34% to India's total GDP in the financial year 2010.

Gateway to Bara Imambara

With an area of 93,933 sq mi (243,290 km2), Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper Gangetic plain. It shares an international border with Nepal to the north along with the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh to the north-west, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan on the west, Madhya Pradesh on the south, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand on the south east and Bihar on the east. The administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow and the industrial capital is Kanpur. The state's high court is based at Allahabad with a bench in state capital Lucknow. It is home to many historical cities, including Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra. Kanpur is its largest city; other big cities are Lucknow, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Noida and Gorakhpur.

The Chhota Imambara

Uttar Pradesh has an important place in the culture of India; it is considered to be the birthplace of Hinduism, has been the ancient seat of Hindu religion, learning and culture, and has many important sites of Hindu pilgrimage. The State also has several sites important to Buddhism: the Chaukhandi Stupa marks the spot where Buddha met his first disciples, while the Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath commemorates Buddha's first sermon. Also the town of Kushinagar is where Gautama Buddha died.

Throughout its history, the region of Uttar Pradesh was sometimes divided between smaller kingdoms and at other times formed an important part of larger empires that arose on its east or west, including the Magadha, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Gurjara, Rashtrakuta, Pala and Mughal empires.

The Dhamekh Stupa is located in Sarnath where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma

The Indo-Gangetic plain, that spans most of the state, is also the birth place of the Indo-Islamic syncretic culture of the medieval period. It holds much of the heritage of the Mughal Empire, including the world famous mausoleum Taj Mahal built by Shah Jehan, the magnificent tomb of Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great in Agra and Akbar's capital-palace in Fatehpur Sikri. It was a centre of nationalism during the British colonial period and has continued to play a prominent role in Indian political and cultural movements. The state has a rich heritage of traditional crafts and cottage industries of various types that employ highly skilled craftsmen and artisans.

Hindus constitute 80% of the population in the state. Islam is practised by about 18% of the population while the remaining 2% include Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians, and also the tribal population.