Gauriganj, India

Gauriganj
Town
Gauriganj skyline
Map of Gauriganj CD block
Gauriganj Location of Gauriganj in Uttar Pradesh Show map of Uttar Pradesh Gauriganj Gauriganj (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 26°12′22″N 81°41′24″E / 26.206°N 81.690°E / 26.206; 81.690
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
Division	Ayodhya
District	Amethi
Government
• Type	Municipal Council
• Body	Gauriganj Municipal Council
• Municipal Chairperson	Reshmi[1][2] (BJP)
• MLA	Rakesh Pratap Singh (SP)[3]
Elevation	104 m (341 ft)
Population  (2011)[4]
• Total	390,935
• Density	855/km2 (2,210/sq mi)
Language
• Official	Hindi[5]
• Additional official	Urdu[5]
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (Indian Standard Time)
Postal code	227409
Telephone code	05-368
Sex ratio	904:1000 ♂/♀
Vehicle Registration	UP-36

Gauriganj is a city, municipal corporation, tehsil and administrative headquarters of Amethi district in Ayodhya division, Uttar Pradesh, India.^[4] It is situated about 126 km from the state capital Lucknow. Before July 2010, it was part of Sultanpur district. After that Gauriganj, Amethi, Jais, Jagdispur and Salon formed a new district Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar, later named Gauriganj and now Amethi. Gauriganj is connected with State Highway 34 and National Highway 128.

Etymology

Gauriganj is named after Gauri, a deity in Hinduism.^{[citation needed]}

History

At the turn of the 20th century, Gauriganj was described as "a rising town, with a station on the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway."^[6] It then technically consisted of two villages, Katra-Lalganj and Madhopur.^[6] The bazar was founded by Madho Singh, the Raja of Amethi (d.1891).^[6] Gauriganj then hosted a rising grain market and had a pound, police station, and post office, as well as an upper primary school, which had many students from both Gauriganj itself and the surrounding countryside; it had a small building, though, which was not big enough to accommodate the student body adequately.^[6] The town was then surrounded by several deep hollows.^[6] West of Katra-Lalganj were low-lying fields where only jarhan rice was grown.^[6] The population of Gauriganj as of 1901 was 2,543, including a large Bania community which was larger than any other town in the district except Sultanpur.^[6] There was a Muslim minority of 194, and the rest of the town's population was a mix of Ahirs, Kurmis, and Gadariyas, as well as some Pasis.^[6]

Geography

Climate

Gauriganj has a warm subtropical climate with very cold and dry winters from December to mid-February, and dry, hot summers from April to mid-June. During extreme winters, the maximum temperature is around 12 degrees Celsius and the minimum is around 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. Fog is quite common from late December to late January. Summers can be quite hot with temperatures rising to 40 to 45 degrees Celsius.

Gauriganj has a tropical wet and dry climate with average temperatures ranging between 20 and 28 °C (68 to 82 °F). Gauriganj experiences three distinct seasons: summer, monsoon and a mild autumn. Typical summer months are from March to May, with maximum temperatures ranging from 30 to 45 °C (86 to 100 °F). Although summer doesn't end until May, the city often receives heavy thundershowers in May, and humidity remains high. The rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September, when it gets an average rainfall of 722 mm, mostly from the south-west monsoon winds. Even during the hottest months, the nights are usually cool due to Gauriganj's altitude. The highest temperature ever recorded was 48.3 °C (118.9 °F). The monsoon lasts from June to October, with moderate rainfall and temperatures ranging from 10 to 28 °C (50 to 82 °F). Autumn begins in November. The daytime temperature hovers around 28 °C (82 °F) while the night temperature is below 10 °C (50 °F) for most of December and January, often dropping to 3 to 4 °C (37 to 39 °F).

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian Census, Gauriganj tehsil had a total population of 390,935, of which 196,844 were males and 194,091 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 59,192. The total number of literates in Gauriganj was 214,282, which constituted 54.8% of the population with male literacy of 60.1% and female literacy of 45.4%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Gauriganj was 64.6%, of which male literacy rate was 75.9% and female literacy rate was 53.3%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 108,841 and 86 respectively. Gauriganj had 67,832 households in 2011.^[4]

The 1961 census recorded Gauriganj as having a population of 1,883 people (1,038 male and 845 female), in 468 households and 456 physical houses.^[7]

Languages and religion

Hindi and Urdu are the official languages. Awadhi is also widely spoken along with English.

Hinduism is followed by large numbers of the population. A significant part of the population of the city consists of followers of Islam and Sikhism. Christians and Jains constitute a minority of the population.

Government and politics

Civic administration

Gauriganj had a police force of 2 sub-inspectors, 1 head constable, and 13 constables.^[7]

Amenities

Gauriganj has a post office, a railway station, a library, and a government-run dispensary with 4 male and 2 female beds, as well as a maternity and child welfare centre and a family planning centre.^[7]

Economy

Gauriganj hosts a grain market on Mondays and Fridays, with an average attendance of about 2,000 at the time of the 1961 census.^[7]

Cityscape / Culture

Durga Puja is celebrated in Gauriganj with cultural activities from the 8th day of Navratri for 14 days. Moorty Visarjan is also a big event as it takes approximately 90 hours to complete with thousands of indulged people. Krishna Janmashtami is also celebrated with great joy. In Some Aashram (likes: Baba Balak Das etc.) and some temples (e.g. Doodh Nath Mandir, Ram Janki Mandir, Hanuman Mandir) Feast (i.e. Vishal Bhog Bhandara) took places annually.^{[clarification needed]}

Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, Eid Milad-un-Nabi and Shab-e-Barat are also celebrated in Gauriganj.

Places of interest

• Nandmahar Dham
• Lodi Baba Mandir
• Durgan Dham Temple
• Mata Mawai Dham
• Ulta Gadha Dham

Education

The 1951 census recorded Gauriganj as having a district board-run primary school, with 201 students in attendance as of 1 January of the year.^[8]

Villages

Gauriganj CD block has the following 102 villages:^[9]

Notable people

• Manoj Muntashir is an Indian lyricist, poet and screenwriter was born in this town.
• Rakesh Pandey Writer and author
• Jagdish Piyush, Journalist, writer, author and leader
• Deepak Singh, politician and member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council

Gallery

• 
  Bhandara at Baba Balak Das Ashram, Stage (2011)
• 
  Bhandara at Baba Balak Das Ashram (2011)
• 
  Hanuman Mandir, Madhopur

References

This page was last edited on 8 March 2024, at 20:23