"I had been to other countries - in Europe, Asia and the Middle East - but none of them had provided even half as much variety, or so much to see and experience and remember, as this one State in northern India. You can travel from one end of Australia to the other,but everywhere on that vast continent you will find that people dress in the same way, eat the same kind of food,listen to the same music. This colourless uniformity is apparent in many other countries of the world,both East and West. But Uttar Pradesh is a world in itself." - Ruskin Bond.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the most ancient and diverse states of India with numerous age old cities. Uttar Pradesh boasts of a rich culture, history and heritage, displaying some most inspiring and exemplary monuments of the world. Whether one is on a spiritual trip, or looking for some adventure, or just on a curiosity trip, Uttar Pradesh has something to offer to every single traveler. Situated in the northern part of India, Uttar Pradesh has the exception of being the most populous state of India. In terms of area, it is the fourth largest, among all the states.

Uttar Pradesh plays an extremely important role in the history and growth of Hinduism, and in the history of ancient India. Indeed, the region has been vital to the power and stability of all of India's empires and kingdoms, of Hindus, Muslims and Europeans.

The history of Uttar Pradesh goes back to more than 3000 years ago when Aryans first made it their home. Their original home included almost all of present Uttar Pradesh with its Doab valley and Ghaghra plains, which they named 'Aryavarta' or 'Madhyadesh'.

Thus the earliest known name of Uttar Pradesh is the 'Aryavarta', or the abode of the Aryans. At the time the entire area was covered with beautiful dense forests with a rich flora and fauna. Wild beasts including lions, tigers, elephants, nilgais and other antelopes inundated these forests. Its rivers were full of a rich species of flora and fauna too --- including Dolphins who swarmed the Ganga, Yamane, Ghaghra and other rivers.

Thus from the ancient times the area that we today call Uttar Pradesh was where Indian culture, its languages, mythologies and religions originated. It was from there that Aryans then moved to other parts of India in the centuries to come --- reaching as far as to Kerala and Sri Lanka in the south.

The Vedas and Upanishads give us some accounts of those early people. We do not have much information about the later Vedic period but Ramayana and Mahabharata were both written here,

The ancient Hindu kingdom of Kosala in Ayodhya, where Lord Rama of the Ramayana reigned was located here and Lord Krishna, revered as the eighth Avatara of Vishnu, is believed to have been born in the city of Mathura.

After that period till about the birth of Christ, we are absolutely in the dark about the history of U.P. (as well as the rest of India).

After that, this area was sometimes divided between petty kingdoms or formed important parts of larger empires from the east or the west, including the Mauryan, Gupta and Kushan empires.

The Kannauj Empire originated from the heart of the Ganga Yamuna Doab and covered areas from Afghanistan to Kashmir, Bengal and the Vindhyas. This empire was at its zenith during the reign of Harshavardhana.

Even today many communities in various parts of India --- from Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Bihar and Bengal boast of being descendants of migrants from Kannauj --- reflecting its glory in the past.

Causing the fall of the Rajput came the Muslims invaders and what we call UP today once again became the catalyst for things to come. Much of the state formed part of the various Muslim Sultanates who ruled from Delhi.

U.P. became the heart land of the Moghul empire who called the place 'Hindustan' which became the second name of U.P. (after Aryavarta/ Madhyadesh). Even today UP-ites call themselves 'Hindustani' rather than Uttar Pradeshi. Hindustani is also used as a synonym for India ------ which is a pointer that U.P. is the essence of India.

Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were important as the capital city of Akbar, the great Mughal Emperor of India. The city of Lucknow was established by the Muslim nawabs of Oudh in the 18th century.

The Mughals ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent (including Pakistan and Afghanistan from Delhi, Agra and Allahabad (at different times). Even when the Mughal Empire disintegrated, Hindustan remained their last territory --- which now was confined to the Doab region including Delhi.

Other areas of Hindustan (U.P.) were ruled by different rulers. Oudh was ruled by the Nawabs of Oudh, Rohilkhand by Afghans, Bundelkhand by the Marathas and Benaras by its own king, while Nepal controlled Kumaon-Garhwal.

Starting from the latter half of the 18th century, a series of battles finally gave British accession to the last Mughal territory --- the Doab, as also Bundelkhand, Kumaon and Banaras divisions. Delhi, Ajmer and Jaipur were also included in this territory. They called it the North western provinces (of Agra). Its capital shifted twice between Agra and Allahabad. The area may seem big compared to today's mini states the size of earlier divisions, but at the time it was one of the smallest British province.

After the mutiny of 1857, when things settled, the British made a major revamp and truncated the Delhi region and gave it to Punjab, and the Ajmer-Merwar region to Rajputana

At the same time it included Oudh into the state. The new state was called the North Western provinces of Agra and Oudh, which in 1902 was renamed as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It was commonly referred to as the United provinces or its acronym UP. In 1920, the capital of the province was shifted from Allahabad to Lucknow.

The high court continued to be at Allahabad but a bench was established at Lucknow. Allahabad continues to be an administrative base of today's Uttar Pradesh and has several administrative headquarters.

Uttar Pradesh continued to be central to Indian culture and politics and was especially important in modern Indian history as a hotbed of the Indian Independence Movement, and the city of Allahabad was home to prominent nationalists such as Motilal Nehru, Purushottam Das Tandon, and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Allahabad was also home to a record five Prime Ministers of India: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Rajiv Gandhi.

In 2000 the Himalyan portion of the state --- the Garwhal and Kumaon divisions --- were formed into a new state called Uttaranchal (meaning the northern part of the state).

Uttar Pradesh can be divided into three distinct hypsographical regions:

* The Himalayan region in the north — highly rugged and varied terrain; transferred to Uttaranchal. Varying topography; elevation ranges from 300 to 5000m; slope ranges from 150 to 600 m/km.
* The Gangetic Plain in the centre — highly fertile alluvial soils; flat topography broken by numerous ponds, lakes and rivers; slope 2 m/km
* Bikaner Division: Bikaner, Churu, Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh.
* The Vindhya Hills and plateau in the south — hard rock Strata; varied topography of hills, plains, valleys and plateau; limited water availability.
The climate is generally tropical monsoon, but variations exist due to difference in altitudes.

With over 166 million inhabitants, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India and is also the most populous subnational entity in the world. Only five countries (the People's Republic of China, India itself, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil) have a higher population.

The languages of the different regions are distinct. The language of the western parts, called (Khadiboli) is the basis for the official Hindi language, imposed during the late 19th century. The most commonly spoken language in urban areas is Urdu/Hindi. Regardless of the script used, the language of Lucknow is called Lucknowie Urdu. It is a pure form of literary Urdu used by most Urdu poets. Urdu is one of the two official languages of the state. Other languages are Awadhi, Koshali, Braj (which is more than two thousand years old), Koeli, Bagheli, Bundeli and Bhojpuri. The Bhojpuri ethnic homeland is divided between Nepal in the north, Bihar state in the east and Uttar Pradesh in the west.

Uttar Pradesh attracts a large number of both national and international visitors. There are two regions in the state where a majority of the tourists go. These are the city of Agra and the holy cities: the cities of Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar and Allahabad, by the sacred rivers — the Ganga and the Yamuna are all located in the state. The state hosts a Kumbha Mela every 12 years, where over 10 million Hindus congregate — the largest gathering of human beings in the world.

A vast number of tourists visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. Another important tourist attraction in Agra is the Agra Fort. Also famous is a 16th century capital city built by the Mughal emperor Akbar known as Fatehpur Sikri near Agra.

Millions of tourists and piligrims visit the cities of Allahabad, Varanasi and Haridwar, as those are considered to be the holiest cities in India. Every year thousands gather at Allahabad to take part in the festival on the banks of the Ganges, the Magh Mela. The same festival is organised in a larger scale every 12th year and attracts millions of people and is called the Kumbha Mela.

Varanasi is widely considered to be the second oldest city in the world after Jerusalem. It is famous for its ghats (steps along the river) which are populated year round with people who want to take a dip in the holy Ganges River.

About 13 km from Varanasi is the historically important town of Sarnath. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath after his enlightenment and hence is an important pilgrimage site for the Buddhists. Also at Sarnath are the Ashoka Pillar and the Lion Capital, both important archeological artifacts with national significance.

Uttar Pradesh is famous for its arts and crafts. Specific regions such as Varanasi for its saris and silk, Mirzapur for its carpets, Agra and Kanpur for their leathercraft and Inlay work, Moradabad for its metalware, Lucknow for its clothwork and embroidery, and the entire state for its pottery are not only famous in India but around the world.

Uttar Pradesh state consists of 70 districts, which are grouped into 17 divisions: Agra, Azamgarh, Allahabad, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Devipatan, Faizabad, Bahraich, Bareilly, Basti, Mirzapur, Moradabad, Meerut, Lucknow, Varanasi, Farrukhabad and Saharanpur.

Agra , Varanasi , Kushinagar, Lucknow, Mathura/Vrindawan, Kanpur, Allahabad, Kaushambi , Ayodhya, Sarnath, Sanskasya, Shravasti, Gorakhpur