Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur (Hindi: गोरखपुर, Urdu: گۋڙکھ پور) is a city of 675,000 people in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a way station on a popular overland route from India to Nepal. It is the city of great shaayar ("फिराक गोरखपुरी").

Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division.

Gorakhpur is famous as a religious centre: the city was home to Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh saints and is named after the medieval saint Gorakshanath. Gorakhnath Temple is still the seat of the Nath sect. The city is also home to many historic Buddhist sites and the Gita Press, a publisher of Hindu religious texts.

In the 20th century, Gorakhpur was a focal point in the Indian independence movement. Today, the city is also a business centre, hosting the headquarters of the North Eastern Railways and an industrial area, GIDA Gorakhpur Development Authority, 15km from the old town.

Understand

Climate

It experiences a pleasant environment throughout the year. In summer the average temperature can go as high as 40 'C and in during the winters the average temperature can go as low as 4 'C. The best time to visit Gorakhpur is during the months of October to March.

Get in

By plane

By train

Gorakhpur railway station connects to all major cities of India. It is the headquarters of North Eastern Railway. Direct trains connect it to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and other cities. They claim it's the longest train platform in the world, and it might just be true.

Gorakhpur falls on NH 28 and 29. The roadways network connects Gorakhpur to the cities of Uttar Pradesh and to other cities of India. Some important distances are: Lucknow 276 km, Varanasi 231 km, Allahabad 339 km, Agra 624 km, Delhi 783 km and Mumbai 1690 km.

On the basin of rivers Rapti and Rohini, Gorakhpur City has the geographical shape of a bowl. The west of the city is guarded by cool Rapti river, while the east is associated with Sal Forest. The south has greenish Ramgarh Tal, and north is the plinth of city's advancement.

Gorakhpur city has a university, a medical college, six engineering colleges, two pharmacy collages, two Management collages, one Dental collage and many post graduate and degree colleges. It is also the headquarters of North Eastern Railways. You can travel to any corner of India from here. It also has an airport for domestic travel and connects with every major city in India. The city boasts of an army cantonment and an air base. All this gives a cosmopolitan touch to the city. The world-famous publication house of Gita Press gives an intellectual and religious touch to the city.

Get around

Cycle Rickshaw, a three wheeled human powered cycle, is the major mode of transport in the city. The charges are nominal and can be bargained. Usually a ride of 1-2 km would cost around ₹15. City bus are available for some important routes of city.

Auto Rickshaws are easily available for traveling to some parts in the city.

Taxicabs can also be hired for a fixed time duration as desired by the user.

See

• 🌍 Ambedkar Park. 
• Aroyga Mandir. 
• Budiya Mai Temple (15 km from railway station). 
• 🌍 Chauri Chaura Shaheed Smarak. 
• 🌍 Gita Vatika (Radha Krishna Mandir), Gita Vatika. Beautiful temple of Lord Krishna and Radha 
• Gita Press. 
• 🌍 Gorakhnath Temple. 
• 🌍 Lord Buddha Museum (Bhuddha Museum) (near Ram Garh Tal). Nice and quiet place to visit. Opened till 4:30PM. 
• 🌍 Railway Museum. 
• 🌍 Ram Garh Tal (Lake Ramgarh Taal). 
• 🌍 Taramandal. 
• 🌍 Vishnu Mandir. 

Do

• See all the Hindi movies in the town, best theaters are Raj, Jubilee, Vijay Picture Palace, here air conditioning is good.
• Baldev Plaza is the oldest shopping mall, located in Golghar, and has several shops, especially for jewellery and gifts.
• A new shopping Mall (SRS,Sabhi Rahe Saath) on the Park Road (near Hotel Ganesh). This mall is with 3 movie screens.
• Hire a cycle-rickshaw and travel around slow all around the town and in some places it is better to travel on foot.
• Rail museum is also a very good picnic place.
• You can go Taramandal for Boat riding.

Buy

• All things are available as in big cities; but, the best attraction of this city is terracota material (decorative things made of muddy soil).
• For your personal needs, the best place is Golghar which situated in the centre of the city.
• Religious books may be bought from Gita Press.

Eat

Gorakhpur has a fairly good restaurants and eating joints. Apart from the star category hotels there are many restaurants in the city

• Bobi's Restaurant, Golghar (main market of the city), ☎ [phone]. 10AM-11PM. Serves from continental to Chinese to Mughal to Indian to what-not. In house bakery serving delicacies, cakes and pastries. Party halls and an ice cream parlour . Affordable. 
• 10 Park Street, Cafe & Kitchen, ☎ [phone], [phone], [phone]. serving Indian, Oriental and Continental cuisines. (updated Feb 2017)
• Choudhry Hotel (Vijay Chowk near Golghar/City Mall on Park Road). Good and clean Indian food. Agreeable service with reasonable rates. Can get everything from typical Punjabi dishes to South Indian with variety of sweets. 
• Hotel Ganesh, Park Road near Golghar. Good and Clean Indian food. South Indian dishes like Dosa, Masal Dosa, Idly Sambar etc. are available here at reasonable rate. 
• Tandoor Food - Take away, Cinem Road near Golghar. Most famous food joint in the city specializing in Mughlai non-vegetarian foods like authentic biryani, kababs, tandoori chicken. The prices are reasonable and the quality is great. Open for dinner only. A busy place. 

Drink

Bar facilities available in some of hotels.

• Hotel Ganges. 
• Mahraja restaurant, Nakhas Chowk, Gorakhpur. good non veg food in city, delicious taste of lucknowi food 
• Mughal Bar (Hotel Bobina). 

Sleep

• Hotel Awadh. in centre of the city ,a true home away from home 
• Hotel Bobina, Tarang Crossing. Oldest hotel of town, also has a swimming pool. Personal best. 
• Hotel Kabeer (Near Venus Compound), ☎ [phone]. Modest place to sleep and food quality is good. Chinese restaurant of the hotel has been closed down recently 
• Hotel Clarks Inn, Park Road. Very expensive. 
• Hotel Park Regency, Park Road. Medium 
• Hotel President, Gol Ghar. 
• Hotel Shivoy, Town Hall. Medium There are a number of local hotels near the train station, and you can use the "retiring rooms" of the station itself if you have a valid ticket, but be aware that because this is a very busy station rooms may not be available.

Connect

Go next

• Sonauli — the busiest border town to go to Nepal (Bhairhawa is the small Nepali town) Very frequent buses will need 3 hours to link Gorakhpur with Sonauli. The UP Goverment buses will charge you 112INR. The trip from the border to Gorakhpur can be as cheap as 100INR by using private buses. Taxis (and shared ones too) should be available.
• Kapilvastu — Capital of Lord Buddha
• Kushinagar — This is the place were Lord Buddha died.
• Lumbini (Nepal) — Birth Place of Lord Buddha. Go by Sonauli route.
• Maghar — This is the place were sant Kabir died.