Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur district, North Eastern Railway Zone and Gorakhpur division. The city is home to the Gorakhnath Math, a Gorakhnath temple. The city also has had an Indian Air Force station since 1963. Gita Press, the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts like Ramayana and Mahabharat, is also located in Gorakhpur and was established there in 1926.[lower-alpha 1][12][13]

This article is about the city in Uttar Pradesh, India. For other uses, see Gorakhpur (disambiguation).

Gorakhpur
Metropolis[1]
clock wise from top left to left bottom, Gorakhnath Temple, AIIMS Gorakhpur, Gita Press and Indian Air force Base
clock wise from top left to left bottom, Gorakhnath Temple, AIIMS Gorakhpur, Gita Press and Indian Air force Base
Gorakhpur is located in Uttar Pradesh
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur is located in India
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur
Coordinates: 26.7637152°N 83.4039116°E / 26.7637152; 83.4039116
Country India
State Uttar Pradesh
DistrictGorakhpur
DivisionGorakhpur
Named forGorakhnath
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodyGorakhpur Municipal Corporation
 • MayorDr. Manglesh Kumar Srivastava[2] (BJP)
 • Lok Sabha MPRavi Kishan, (BJP)
 • Municipal CommissionerAvinash Singh[3]
Area
[4]
 • GMC226.0 km2 (87.3 sq mi)
 • Metro [1][5][6]1,041.0 km2 (401.9 sq mi)
Elevation
75 m (246 ft)
Population
 (2011-2020 hybrid)[7] [8][9]
 • GMC1,300,000
 • Density5,800/km2 (15,000/sq mi)
 • Metro
2,500,000[1][5][6]
Demonym(s)Gorakhpuri, Gorakhpuriya
Language
 • OfficialHindi[10]
 • Additional officialUrdu[10]
 • RegionalBhojpuri[11]
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
2730xx
Telephone code+91-0551
Vehicle registrationUP-53
Sex ratio♂1000/903♀
Avg. annual temperature26 °C (79 °F)
Avg. summer temperature40 °C (104 °F)
Avg. winter temperature18 °C (64 °F)
Websitegorakhpur.nic.in

Etymology

The name "Gorakhpur" comes from the Sanskrit Gorakshapuram, which means abode of Gorakhnath, a renowned ascetic who was a prominent saint of the Nath Sampradaya.[14][15]

Geography

Gorakhpur is situated about 100 km from the Nepal border, 193 km from Varanasi, 260 km from Patna and 270 km from Lucknow. It is one of the flood vulnerable districts in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Data over the past 100 years show a considerable increase in the intensity and frequency of floods, with extreme events occurring every three to four years. Roughly 20% of the population is affected by floods, which are an annual occurrence in some areas, causing huge loss of life, health, and livelihoods for the poor inhabitants, as well as damage to public and private property.[16]

Gorakhpur is situated on the bank's of Rapti river which is a tributary of Ghabra river. A fairly large lake Ramgarh Tal Lake is also situated in the eastern part of the city.

Climate

The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is Cwa (dry-winter humid subtropical climate).[17]

Climate data for Gorakhpur (1981-2010, extremes 1901-2013)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 30.0
(86.0)		 35.4
(95.7)		 42.4
(108.3)		 44.4
(111.9)		 49.4
(120.9)		 46.5
(115.7)		 43.2
(109.8)		 39.4
(102.9)		 38.5
(101.3)		 37.4
(99.3)		 36.8
(98.2)		 30.5
(86.9)		 49.4
(120.9)
Average high °C (°F) 22.0
(71.6)		 26.4
(79.5)		 32.6
(90.7)		 38.0
(100.4)		 38.3
(100.9)		 36.7
(98.1)		 32.9
(91.2)		 32.9
(91.2)		 32.7
(90.9)		 32.8
(91.0)		 29.9
(85.8)		 25.0
(77.0)		 31.7
(89.1)
Average low °C (°F) 8.9
(48.0)		 11.7
(53.1)		 16.1
(61.0)		 21.4
(70.5)		 24.5
(76.1)		 26.1
(79.0)		 25.9
(78.6)		 25.9
(78.6)		 24.9
(76.8)		 20.9
(69.6)		 14.9
(58.8)		 10.4
(50.7)		 19.3
(66.7)
Record low °C (°F) −1.0
(30.2)		 2.8
(37.0)		 8.3
(46.9)		 12.2
(54.0)		 16.6
(61.9)		 16.1
(61.0)		 18.1
(64.6)		 20.2
(68.4)		 17.4
(63.3)		 12.5
(54.5)		 6.7
(44.1)		 2.8
(37.0)		 −1.0
(30.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 14.4
(0.57)		 13.9
(0.55)		 7.4
(0.29)		 11.3
(0.44)		 45.2
(1.78)		 185.5
(7.30)		 383.4
(15.09)		 339.5
(13.37)		 228.8
(9.01)		 42.8
(1.69)		 2.2
(0.09)		 8.3
(0.33)		 1,282.7
(50.50)
Average rainy days 1.2 1.3 0.7 0.9 3.0 7.0 13.9 12.4 9.0 2.1 0.3 0.6 52.2
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) 68 55 40 32 42 57 75 77 76 68 66 69 61
Source: India Meteorological Department[18][19]

History

The earliest forerunners of the settlement at Gorakhpur were probably "considerably to the north of the present town" because the course of the Rapti was then more to the north and east than it is today; it would have flowed through the present-day city and gone through what is now the Ramgarh Tal. Farmers digging wells in the 1800s/early 1900s would sometimes encounter pieces of old boats, which is indicative of the river's shift in course. The site of Gorakhpur would have been desirable for a human settlement because of its secure location — it is protected on the south and west by the Rapti and Rohin rivers, and in the past there were dense forests on the north and east, offering protection on those sides as well.[20]: 235 

The earliest event described in local tradition is the legendary construction of the Mansarowar and Kauladah tanks, in the area now called Purana Gorakhpur, in the 10th century. They are said to have been built by a married couple — Mansarowar is attributed to the husband, the prince Man Sen, while Kauladah is attributed to the wife, Kaulavati. Sometime after that, the area is said to have been ruled by a group known as the Domkatars, who built the Domingarh fort at the confluence of the Rapti and Rohin rivers. Still later, Gorakhpur is said to have been ruled by the Sarnet rajas of Satasi. Sometime around 1400, a family dispute is said to have prompted one branch of the Satasi dynasty to leave the old stronghold, on the shore of Ramgarh Tal, and move to a new location in what is now Purana Gorakhpur, near the shrine of the renowned ascetic Gorakhnath.[20]: 235–6, 239 

Mughal period

In any case, Gorakhpur had become a large town by the time of Akbar, in the late 1500s. The earliest contemporary reference to a Mughal garrison at Gorakhpur is in 1572, when it was governed by Payanda Khan on behalf of Munim Khan, then subahdar of Jaunpur. Gorakhpur was for a long time the main Muslim garrison north of the Ghaghra, which may explain why it has such a prominent Muslim presence compared to other parts of the district.[20]: 178, 235–6 

In the Ain-i-Akbari (c. 1595), Gorakhpur is listed as the capital of a sarkar in the subah of Awadh. Sarkar Gorakhpur was divided into 24 mahals, and Gorakhpur itself was one of them. The mahal of Gorakhpur was listed with an assessed revenue of 567,385 dams and was expected to supply 200 infantry and 40 cavalry to the Mughal army. It was described as having a brick fort on the Rapti.[21]: 174–5 

Gorakhpur also had a mint under Akbar, issuing copper coins only. By the time of Aurangzeb, the Gorakhpur mint was also issuing silver coins. During the 1600s, based on Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's account of his travels in India, Gorakhpur played an important role as a centre for trade with the northern mountain regions.[22]: 33 

In the late 1600s, Gorakhpur was officially renamed Mu'azzamabad in honour of Prince Mu'azzam (the later Bahadur Shah I), and this name was used in official documents until the British takeover in 1801.[20]: 236 

Demographics
Religion in Gorakhpur City (2011)[23]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 77.9%
Islam
 
 20.6%
Christianity
 
 0.7%
Others
 
 0.8%

As of 2011 Indian Census, Gorakhpur had a total population of 673,446, of which 353,907 were males and 319,539 were females. It has a sex ratio of 903 females per 1000 males. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 69,596. Gorakhpur had a literacy rate of 75.2%, of which male literacy was 79.4% and female literacy was 70.6%. The effective literacy rate of the 7+ population of Gorakhpur was 83.9%, of which the male literacy rate was 88.7% and the female literacy rate was 78.6%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 62,728 and 2,929, respectively. Gorakhpur had 112,237 households in 2011.[24]

According to a 2020 report, 31 villages have been incorporated in the municipal corporation limits increasing the population to over 1 million. The city area has also increased from 145.5 km2 in 2011 to 226.6 km2.[4]

The state government has also declared Gorakhpur,as a metropolis on 22 November 2021. Apart from Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation, the government has declared three nagar panchayats and eight development blocks as a metropolitan area. For this, the urban Development Department has issued a notification to the city. According to the order issued by the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development, now in Gorakhpur Metropolitan Region, Municipal Corporation, Nagar Panchayat Pipraich, Nagar Panchayat PPganj, Nagar Panchayat Mundera Bazar, Chargawa, Khorabar, Pipraich, Sardar Nagar, Piprauli, Jungle Kaudiya, Campierganj and The entire area of Bhathat development block has been covered. After this the population of Gorakhpur metropolis will be around 25 lakhs.[1]

Transport

Railways
Main article: Gorakhpur Junction railway station
Gorakhpur Junction railway station

Gorakhpur is connected through a rail network and Gorakhpur railway station. Until March 2021, it had world's longest platform of 1366 meters.[lower-alpha 2][25] In February 2020, 100 flowering pots with the support structures were made and installed on the hydrant pipe at platform No.2 to increase the plantation and natural cover, using local resources of the Gorakhpur coaching depot.[26]

The station offers Class A-1 railway station facilities. On 6 October 2013, Gorakhpur has the world's Longest Railway platform, after inauguration of the remodelled Gorakhpur Yard, with a stretch of around 1,355.40 metres (0.84 mi).[27][28][29][30]

Gorakhpur is the headquarters of North Eastern Railways.[31]

Air
Main article: Gorakhpur Airport
A look to the Mahayogi Gorakhnath Airport

An Air Force station of Indian Air Force was established in Gorakhpur in 1963 named Mahayogi Gorakhnath Airport and extended for public air transport.[32]

Metro
Main article: Gorakhpur Metro

Gorakhpur Metro is a light metro project with 2 line and 27 stations is light rail transit (LRT) system approved to be built in Gorakhpur. It consist two corridors covering a distance of 27.84 km.[33] On 1 December 2021 the central government has also approved the DPR of Gorakhpur light metro project.[34]

Education
Main article: List of educational institutions in Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur has 4 universities, namely, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Maha Yogi Guru Gorakhnath Ayush University,[35] Mahayogi Gorakhnath University, a private university.[36] One medical college named Baba Raghav Das Medical College and AIIMS Gorakhpur and a sports college named Veer Bahadur Singh Sports College. The state's first Hotel Management Institute has also been unveiled and would be known as State Institute of Hotel Management.[37] Also, four private engineering / pharmacy / management college,ITM,KIPM,BIT, GIDA & SIT, Gorakhpur[38][39] which is affiliated with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow. It also has a dental institute named as Purvanchal Institute Of Dental Science in gida, gorakhpur.[40]

Sports

Notable people

See also

Notes
  1. Gita press was initially formed in 1923 and started publishing only since 1927
  2. Since March 2021 Hubballi railway station's Pf no.1 is world longest platform, its length is 1,505 meters.

References
  1. "गोरखपुर को महानगर बनाने की अधिसूचना जारी". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  2. "Gorakhpur seat stays with BJP, vote share rises". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  3. "Gorakhpur Nagar Nigam". nagarnigamgkp.org. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  4. "NIC GORAKHPUR 2011 CENSUS". Government of India, NIC. 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  5. Gupta, Anurag (20 November 2021). "गोरखपुर भी महानगर क्षेत्र घोषित-यूपी सरकार ने जारी की अधिसूचना, अब हो सकेगा मेट्रो का संचालन". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  6. द्विवेदी, रामगोपाल (31 December 2021). "गोरखपुर के विकास के लिए 2031 तक का मास्टर प्लान तैयार, शहरी सीमा का ढाई गुना होगा विस्तार". News18 हिंदी (in Hindi). Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  7. "outer-village-of-gorakhpur-included-in-municipal-corporation-boundary". Amarujala.
  8. "बढ़ गया नगर निगम गोरखपुर का दायरा, अब संझाई समेत ये 32 गांव होंगे शहरी". Amarujala. 23 December 2020.
  9. "एक लाख और बढ़ गई गोरखपुर शहर की आबादी,छह और गांव होंगे शहरी". Dainik jagran. 7 March 2020.
  10. "52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  11. "Bhojpuri". Ethnologue. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  12. "Gita Press | Hindu publishing organization". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  13. Verma, Lalmani (28 July 2022). "A century old, how Gita Press came to be 'leading purveyor of print Hinduism'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  14. "History – Origin of Name". gorakhpur.nic.in. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  15. "Mallinson, James (2011) 'Nāth Saṃpradāya.' In: Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol. 3. Brill, pp. 407–428" (PDF). Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  16. Integrating climate change concerns into disaster management planning: The case of Gorakhpur, India by Shiraz A. Wajih and Shashikant Chopde, the Climate and Environment Knowledge Network, 2014
  17. "Gorakhpur, India Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  18. "Station: Gorakhpur Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 297–298. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  19. "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M216. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  20. Nevill, H. R., ed. (1909). Gorakhpur: A Gazetteer, Being Volume XXXI of the District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Allahabad: Government Press. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  21. Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (1891). The Ain-i-Akbari. Translated by Jarrett, Henry Sullivan. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  22. Habib, Irfan (1982). An Atlas of the Mughal Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195603796. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  23. "C-1 Population By Religious Community - Uttar Pradesh". census.gov.in. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  24. "Census of India: Gorakhpur". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  25. Huralimath, Arunkumar (21 March 2021). "World's longest railway platform in Hubballi in its final stage of construction". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  26. Nikita, Prasad (13 February 2020). "Indian Railways unique initiative! Flowering pots installed over hydrant pipe at Gorakhpur station; details". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  27. "Gorakhpur gets world's largest railway platform". The Times of India. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  28. Jha, Aditi (23 December 2009). "Gorakhpur Railway Station to have longest platform in Asia". MyNews. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  29. "Gorakhpur railway station's remodelling in final stage". The Times of India. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  30. "Gorakhpur gets world's longest railway platform". अमर उजाला (Amar Ujala). 13 February 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  31. "North Eastern Railway". indianrailways.gov.in. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  32. No. 105 Helicopter Unit. Indian Air Force
  33. "Gorakhpur metro rail gets green signal from up cabinet,4672 crores will be spent". Dainik jagran. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  34. "Gorakhpur Metrolite: पब्लिक इन्वेस्टमेंट बोर्ड (पीआईबी) की बैठक में गोरखपुर मेट्रोलाइट रेल प्रोजेक्ट के फेज-1 को अप्रूवल मिला है". Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  35. "Gazette - Government of Uttar Pradesh" (PDF). upvidhai.gov.in/. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  36. Shukla, Satish Chandra (23 April 2021). "गोरखपुर में दो सौ एकड़ में बनकर तैयार हुआ महायोगी गुरु गोरखनाथ विश्वविद्यालय Gorakhpur News". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  37. Srivastava, Pradeep (10 September 2021). "गोरखपुर के गीडा में खुलेगा प्रदेश का पहला स्टेट इंस्टीट्यूट आफ होटल मैनेजमेंट". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  38. "AKTU ERP Know Your College". erp.aktu.ac.in. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  39. "ITM, Gorakhpur, Website". Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  40. "Dental College in Gorakhpur BDS college in Gorakhpur UP India PIDS". Pidsgkp.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
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