Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is a state in India. Area of this state is 2,40,928 sq kms. Population of this state as per census of 2001 is 166,052,859. Lucknow is its capital city. Its principal languages are Hindi and Urdu. Located between 24° and 31° latitude and 77° and 84° longitude, the state is the fourth largest state of India in terms of area.

Geography

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.

see also Geography of Uttar Pradesh

History

The History 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.

Districts

Agra District Aligarh District Allahabad District Ambedkar Nagar District Auraiya District Azamgarh District Baghpat District Bahraich District Ballia District Balrampur District Banda District Barabanki District Bareilly District Basti District Bijnor District Budaun District Bulandshahr District Chandauli District Chitrakoot District Deoria District Etah District Etawah District Faizabad District Farrukhabad District Fatehpur District Firozabad district Gautam Buddha Nagar District Ghaziabad District Ghazipur District Gonda District Gorakhpur District Hamirpur District in Uttar Pradesh Hardoi District Hathras District Jalaun District Jaunpur District Jhansi District Jyotiba Phule Nagar District Kannauj District Kanpur Dehat District Kanpur Nagar District Kaushambi District Kheri District Kushinagar District Lalitpur District Lucknow District Maharajganj District Mahoba District Mainpuri District Mathura District Mau District Meerut District Mirzapur District Moradabad District Muzaffarnagar District Pilibhit District Pratapgarh District Rae Bareli District Rampur District Saharanpur District Sant Kabir Nagar District Sant Ravidas Nagar District Shahjahanpur District Shravasti District Siddharthnagar District Sitapur District Sonbhadra District Sultanpur District Unnao District Varanasi District

Politics

There are 80 Lok Sabha and 403 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the state.

Lok Sabha and their Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) constituencies after delimitation order of 2008

Fair and Festivals

Various communities celebrate as many as 40 festivals.
Sheetla Ashtami, Raksha Bandhan, Vaishakhi Purnima, Ganga Dashahara, Naag Panchami, Krishna Janmashtami, Ram Navami, Ganesha Chaturthi, Vijaya Dashmi, Deepawali, Kartik Purnima, Makar Sankranti, Vasant Panchami, Shivaratri and Holi are the main festivals of the Hindus.
I'd, Moharram, Bakr-I'd, Barawafat and Shab-e-Barat are the major Muslim festivals.
New Years Day, Good-Friday, Easter and Christmas are the prominent festivals of the Christians.
Buddha Purnima for Buddhists, Mahavir Jayanti for Jains, the birthday of Guru Nanak, Martyr's day of Guru Teg Bahadur and Vaishakhi are the famous festivals of the people of Sikh faith.
About 2,250 fairs are held every year in Uttar Pradesh. The largest number of fairs are held in Mathura (86), followed by Kanpur and Hamirpur (79), Jhansi (78), Agra (72), and Fatehpur (70).

Kumbh Mela
The Kumbh and the Ardh Kumbh fairs are held periodically, every twelve and six years in Haridwar where a large number of pilgrims and devotees get together to commemorate the churning of the ocean by the Devas (Gods) and Asuras (Demons) to obtain nector (Amrit), when the coveted Kumbh (jar) of nector was obtained one of the Devas stopped at four places viz. Haridwar, Prayag, Nasik and Ujjain before he finally arrived safely in heaven. A few drops of this nector are supposed to have spilled in the water in these four places. Sages, saints and pilgrims started periodically to flock to these Tirths to celebrate this divine event by taking dips in the holy rivers. It is a unique event that blends religious and social features of Indian society.