Uttar Pradesh

Area: 294,413 square km
Capital: Lucknow
Main language: Hindi
Population: 166,052,859 (2004)

In terms of population this is the largest state in India. In terms of variety, and of problems, it's also India larger than life. This is one of the great historical and religious centres of India. The Ganges River, which forms the backbone of Uttar Pradesh, is the holy river of Hinduism and there are a number of towns along the river of great importance for pilgrimages — in particular Rishikesh and Haridwar where the river emerges from the Himalayas and starts across the plains, and Varanasi, the most holy city of all. Buddhism also has its great shrine in the state for it was at Sarnath, just outside Varanasi, that the Buddha first preached his message of the middle way.

Historically the state has also been a centre stage for great events. Over two thousand years ago this was a part of Ashoka's great Buddhist empire. More recently it was part of the Moghul Empire and for some years Agra was its capital. Today, of course, Agra is famed for that most perfect of Moghul master pieces, the Taj Mahal. More recently still it was in Uttar Pradesh that the Mutiny broke out in 1857 (at Meerut) and some of its most dramatic (Lucknow) and unfortunate (Kanpur) events took place here.

Geographically and socially the state also has great variations. Most of it consists of the great Ganges plain, an area of awesome flatness which suffers great floods during every monsoon. The people of this region are predominantly backward farming peasants who scratch a bare existence from the overcrowded land. Yet the north-west comer of the state is a part of the soaring Himalayas with excellent treks, beautiful scenery and even India's highest mountain. It's a state of strong contrasts.

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