Religious Places and Tourism of Uttar Pradesh for Exams

Uttar Pradesh holds more pilgrim centres of national importance than any other state, and tourism questions in UPPSC, UPSSSC and UP Police papers come almost entirely from four of them: Kashi, Ayodhya, Prayagraj and Mathura, with Agra, Lucknow and the Buddhist circuit close behind. The examinable facts are the river each town stands on, the deity or event it is known for, the ruler who built its chief monument and the fair held there.

Kashi, or Varanasi

Varanasi stands on the left bank of the Ganga, between the Varuna and the Assi, and is called Kashi and Banaras. The Kashi Vishwanath temple enshrines one of the twelve jyotirlingas. The ghats are the city's signature: Dashashwamedh, where the evening Ganga Aarti is held, Manikarnika and Harishchandra, the cremation ghats, and Assi. Other shrines are Sankat Mochan, Durga and Annapurna, and the Ramnagar fort of the Kashi Naresh faces the city across the river. Tulsidas composed much of the Ramcharitmanas here, and Banaras Hindu University was founded in 1916 by Madan Mohan Malaviya. Ten kilometres away is Sarnath, where the Buddha preached his first sermon, the Dharmachakra Pravartana, to his five companions in the deer park. Sarnath has the Dhamek Stupa, the Chaukhandi Stupa and the stump of an Ashokan pillar whose Lion Capital is India's state emblem, kept in the site museum.

Ayodhya and Prayagraj

Ayodhya lies on the Sarayu and was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kosala. It is revered as the birthplace of Rama, and Ram Navami and Deepotsav are its great festivals; Hanuman Garhi, Nageshwarnath temple, Kanak Bhawan and Guptar Ghat are its known sites, and the Ram temple was consecrated in January 2024. Jain tradition counts Ayodhya as the birthplace of several Tirthankaras, beginning with Rishabhanatha. Prayagraj, called Allahabad until 2018, stands at the Triveni Sangam, the meeting of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. The Kumbh Mela is held here every twelve years, the Ardh Kumbh every six and the Magh Mela every year; the Kumbh is on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. Akbar built the Allahabad fort in 1583 beside the Sangam, and inside it stands an Ashokan pillar carrying the Prayag Prashasti of Samudragupta, composed by Harisena. Anand Bhavan, Khusro Bagh and the Allahabad High Court are the other landmarks.

Mathura, Vrindavan and Braj

Mathura, on the Yamuna, is revered as the birthplace of Krishna and is the centre of the Braj region. Around it are Vrindavan, with the Banke Bihari temple and the Govind Dev temple built in 1590 under Raja Man Singh of Amer, Gokul, Nandgaon, Barsana, famous for Lathmar Holi, and the Govardhan hill with its parikrama. Mathura also gave its name to the Mathura school of art of the Kushana period, which carved red sandstone images; the Government Museum at Mathura holds its finest pieces.

Agra, Lucknow and the Buddhist circuit

All three of the state's UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in Agra district: the Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan for Mumtaz Mahal, the Agra Fort of Akbar, and Fatehpur Sikri with the Buland Darwaza and Salim Chishti's tomb. Lucknow, on the Gomti, has the Bara Imambara built by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula in 1784 as famine relief, with its Bhulbhulaiya, the Rumi Darwaza, the Chota Imambara and the Residency of 1857. The Buddhist circuit covers Sarnath, Kushinagar, where the Buddha attained mahaparinirvana, Shravasti, where he spent many rainy seasons, Kaushambi and Sankisa. Other places asked about are Naimisharanya in Sitapur, where the Puranas are said to have been narrated, the Vindhyavasini temple at Vindhyachal in Mirzapur, Chitrakoot on the Mandakini, Garhmukteshwar on the Ganga, the Kalinjar fort in Banda where Sher Shah Suri died in 1545, the Jhansi fort, and Dudhwa National Park in the tarai.

Place and marker