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The state of Uttar Pradesh offers its visitors an array of destinations and sightseeing places to choose from and caters to almost all travel preferences. The state boasts of some heritage cities like Agra, home to the incomparable Taj Mahal; if you want to spend a while in solitude communing with nature, then go to the Dudhwa National Park to see animals in the wild or go on a spiritual circuit of some of Buddhism and Hinduism’s most sacred sites and temple towns.
Historical Cities
Lucknow was the graceful capital of the erstwhile Nawabs of Awadh. The city saw its most glorious days under the Nawabs when it became a great centre for literature, music, dance and the arts and crafts.
Kanpur played an important role during the first battle for independence in 1857. The mutinying sepoys and the British troops slugged it out in the fields around the town and the stories of those times tell bloody tales of massacres and hangings. The erstwhile British garrison town of ‘Cawnpore’ was later transformed into an industrial hub with the setting up textile mills, leather factories and automobile plants.
Take a sightseeing tour to Agra which is just 200km from Delhi. Once the capital of the great Mughal Empire, it was at its eight during the reigns of the Grand Mughals, Akbar and Shah Jehan. The city is home to that most exalted of monument, the legendary Taj Mahal. Apart from the Taj, Fatehpur Sikri, Itmad-ud-daulah, Agra Fort and innumerable old monuments bring the history of the land to life.
Temple Towns
Varanasi is the holiest of Indian cities and one of the best places to visit. Also known as Kashi or the "city of light", Varanasi is the abode of Lord Shiva where, according to Hindu religious legends, the first rays of light fell after creation. Attracting over a million pilgrims every year, the city lives and breathes traditional Hindu religion and culture. Famed for its religious fervour as much as its thugs (tricksters). Varanasi is also the place that has evoked some of the most creative processes in philosophy, religion and the arts and crafts.
Mathura is essentially a pilgrim centre, as it is venerated as the birthplace of Lord Krishna. This most ancient of Hindu cities overflows with devotees who come to pay obeisance to Lord Krishna’s.
Allahabad lies in the heart of northern India, watered by the two sacred rivers of Ganga and Yamuna. The two rivers along with the mythical River Saraswati meet in this holy city, creating the sangam (confluence), also known as the triveni (meeting of three rivers). Located on a strategic point in the heartland of India, Allahabad was of great importance for the Mughal rulers and later the British.
Wildlife Parks
The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve lies in the warm tropical region called 'the terai' i.e. the plains just below the Himalayan foothills. The park covers an expanse of 811 sq km on the Indo-Nepal border, and lies north of the Suheli River. An interesting place to visit, it is one of the few reserves where the Royal Bengal Tiger is well protected and hopefully safe from poachers. Besides tigers, Dudhwa is home to swamp deer, elephants, jackal, sloth bear, several lesser cats like the civet, the leopard cat and fishing cat, and the one-horned rhino. Dudhwa is also home to many species of birds including painted storks, sarus cranes, the Bengal florican, owls, barbets, woodpeckers and minivets, as well as a variety of other water birds.
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