Gorakhpur
is situated along the eastern bank of river Rapti, 280 Km. Northeast of Lucknow.
The city is well connected by rail, road and air particularly the former, with
the rest of the country.
Gorakhpur region claims antiquity going back
to the fabulous ages of Indian history long anterior to the Ramayan era. Geography
of Manu's days reveals that thi region formed a part of Madhyadesh ruled by Manu's
eldest son, Ikshawaku, the founder of the Suryavansh line. In the Ramayan er,
it formed of a part of Karupath which was a constituent of the great Kosal Empire
and was ruled by Lakshman's sons Anand and Chandraketu, Lord ram is also believed
to have practiced austerities, under saint Vishwamitra's instruction, here at
the junction of river Rapti and Rohini. In the Mahabharat era, this region formed
a part of the famous Jambu-Dweep and represented Gopalak kingdom which is believed
to have been conquered by the Pandav Prince Bheem, the mound called "Bheem-Teela"
in the Gorakhpur hamlet of Bansgaon subdivision of Gorakhpur district is supposed
to the place where Bheem rested after his victory. This great centre of Aryan
culture, religion and politics reached the pinnacle of its Koliyas and Mauryas;
Gautam Buddha was born in the Shakyan race and his mother Mayadevi belonged to
the Koliyan race, while Mauryas who inhabited the Chauri-Chaura region of Gorakhpur
district known then as Pippalavan were ancestors of the great king Chandragupta
Maurya. The archaelogical excavation sites at the villages of "Sohagaura
and Deokali" - Tier in the Bansgaon subdivision vividly tell the story of
Gorakhpur district region during the Koliyan regime.
The city owes its
name to the celebrated ascetic, Baba Gorakhnath, who made this place the centre
for advocating his religious philosophy, another belief is that this place was
originally named Go-Raksha-Pur (Place of Cow-Protection) because it was here that
Pandav prince Arjun had saved a cowherd of Matsyadesh king Virat from thieving
Kaurvas. The spot where the great yogi is believed to have practiced austerities
is adorned by a grand temple in which marble which is an elegant piece of architecture
and a great attraction for the tourists. A big pond situated with in the temple
premises is believed to be representing the place where Pandav Prince Bheem rested
while visiting this place for inviting Guru Gorakhnath to a "raj-surya-yagya".
The Gorakhnath temple is the pivot of the religious life of the Hinus of Gorakhpur.
While thousands of devotees visit the temple regularly, the occasion of "maker
Sankranti" holds a special meaning for the devotees who assemble in lakhs
on the fourteenth day of every January to attend an annual fair, pray and offer
"Khichri" to the deity at the temple. So strong is the grip of this
temple on the locals that they hardly give much thought to the other temples of
the city.
Yet another place of reverence is Gita Press which is known the
world over for its monthly publication, "Kalyan". This year old institution
has been concerned for a long time with editing, translation and low-cost publication
of the sacred Hindu books and other spiritually based books in Hindi and Sanskrit.
It also boasts of a picture gallery, "Leeladham", where the full stories
of Ramayan and Mahabharat are depicted in beautiful eye-catching coloured pictures.
A befitting memorial of the founder nhich house of beautiful garden, a Radha-Krishna
temple and meditation centre where devotional songs have been a ritual for years,
as well as a big cancer hospital run mainly on charity.
Gorakhpur has
been associated with great literacy figures like Munshi Premchand and 'Firaq Gorakhpuri'.
Premchand, the famous Hindiz novelist and story-writer, spent many years, during
the early days of his life, teaching and writing at the local Normal School, a
beautiful park, "Munshi Premchand Memorial Park", has been built near
this school and houses a library and the author's statue. Raghupati Sahai "Firaq",
the internationally acclaimed exponent of Urdu poetry, was born brought up at
Gorakhpur.
