Monday, March 01, 2010

Know India - The Indian State of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.)

By Dr. Pratibha Khare

Uttar Pradesh, also known as UP, is in the northern part of India. It is surrounded by Uttaranchal and Nepal in north, Bihar in east, Jharkhand and Chhatisgadh in south east, Madhya Pradesh in south, and Rajasthan, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh in west.


Map of U.P.	Bada Imambada, Lucknow

The capital city is Lucknow, which is famous for its Nawabi culture and monuments.

It is the most populous state of India, with 80% Hindus, 12% Muslims and 8% other communities.

It is situated in the plains of Ganga and Yamuna rivers, which is also called the Doaab area. It can boast of itself as the seat of the most ancient civilization. Aryans occupied this area and laid the foundation of Hinduism. U.P. is considered to be the birthplace of Hinduism. Two most popular avatars (incarnations) of Hindu religions were born here


Varanasi	Sangam, Allahabad

Ayodhya is the birth place of Lord Ram Chandra, and Mathura is the Birthplace of Lord Krishna. The birthplace of the third avatar, Varah is also near Varanasi, which is known as Sukar Khet.

Many great sages of the Vedic times like Bharadwaja, Gautam, Yagyavalkya, Vasishta, Vishwamitra and Valmiki flourished in this state. Epics of Mahabharatha, Ramayana were written here.

Varanasi (Banaras) is the oldest constantly habitated city. Because of the topography, the Ganga river never changed its course. Thus the city never moved. It is the abode of Lord Shiva. The Shiva Lingam here is one of the twelve Jyotirlingams. This place is also famous for its hand woven saris with gold and silver work.

Many famous musicians like Bismillah Khan, the famous Shahnai player, the famous flute player Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Girija Devi, the Thumari singer and dancers like Birju Maharaj belong to Varanasi.

Famous poet Tulasi Das who wrote Ramayan in Awadhi language was born and lived in Varanasi.

Saranath, near Varanasi is the place where Gautam Buddha had given his first sermon. Kushi Nagar is the place where he had left this earthly body.

Allahabad (Prayag) is famous for Sangam – the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati river. It is one of the places where Kumbha Mela is organized. People from all over the world come to attend and bathe in the Sangam.

U.P. 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 (Salim Chishti’s Makbara) in Agra and Akbar’s capital-palace (Fort) in Fatehpur Sikri.

Kanpur is the industrial city, famous for leather work and Muradabad is famous for the brass work. Bhadohi is famous for its carpet industry. Aligarh is famous for locks and Rampur for its knives.

It was a center of nationalism during the British colonial period and has continued to play a prominent role in Indian political and cultural movements. The first freedom struggle of 1857 started from Meerut and it was mostly fought in this part of the country. Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmi Bai is famous freedom fighter along with others.

Eight of India’s fourteen prime ministers have come from Uttar Pradesh including the first one, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and later his daughter, Indira Gandhi.

FESTIVALS:
Janmashtami: Lord Krishna’s birth is celebrated by decorating the temples. People create beautiful scenery representing Gokul and His birth, which is called ‘Jhanki’.

Dashahara: In UP, Lord Ram’s story is most popular among many stories in other parts of the country. Ramleela is played for nine days of Navaratri, and then Ravan along with Kumbha Karna are burnt. It is a magnificent show with fire works.

Diwali: The story followed here is the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya after killing the demon king Rawan and rescuing His wife Sita. In addition, Lakshmi Pooja is done that day in every household.

Holi: Holi is another major festival celebrated in UP. It is a spring festival. The popular story that goes with this festival is the story of Prahalad. It is believed that Prahalad’s aunt Holika burnt herself in fire while trying to burn Prahalad. Holi is also associated with Lord Krishna. Holi of Mathura Vrindavan is famous as that is the birthplace of Lord Krishna. On the full moon night bonfire is lit at several places, often on crossroads. Since wheat and sugarcane are harvested at that time, these things are offered to the Fire God. It is also a harvest festival. Next morning people celebrate Holi by throwing colors on each other and try to forget any animosity with each other.

This is a short description of Uttar Pradesh.

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