Visit to Historical City of Kanpur in the State of Uttar Pradesh in India

There are many large and industrial cities in Northern part of India. Kanpur is one of such cities which is very famous for its leather works. Kanpur is situated in the State of Uttar Pradesh in India. I recently had an opportunity to visit this industrial city in last December during my visit to India. I was really impressed to see this old, ancient and historical city. Kanpur is located at the shore of River Ganga. The beauty of River Ganga at this place is very unique as its width is very large here and it flows very slowly here, revealing all its grace completely.

Kanpur is well connected by train from Delhi and Mumbai. It takes around 10 hours to reach Kanpur from Delhi by train. The flights on every alternate day are also available from Delhi. There are many famous ghats here on the shore of River Ganga. Sirsia ghat and the pament ghat are the most famous ghats here. There is a large glass temple very near to these ghats. This temple is made up totally of glass and its artistic designs are really worth seeing. Many foreigners and art loving persons make sure to visit this glass temple. There are couples of Jain temples next to this glass temple. The glass temple is extremely beautiful and is only one of its types in entire Asia. There is also a temple of Prayag Narayan at the river shore. This temple is around 1500 years old and has the lovely and eye catching statue of Lord Shiva. There are many other temples like temple of Ramnarayan, temple of Guru Prasad, which are very famous and are really beautiful. There are some small cruises also available in the river Ganga of 4 hours to 12 hours duration, which are really enjoyable. Though, boats used in these cruise are slightly smaller, the views of sunrise and the sunset are really enchanting. The rates for such cruises are ranging from Rs.600 ($15) to Rs.1600 ($40) per head. The luxury cruise includes all meals during the cruise. Most of the tourists take 8 hours cruise from 3 pm to 11 pm. The evenings are very pleasant while on cruise. There are also other site seeing places like Memorial garden, Queen's park, and the famous Memorial Church here at Kanpur. The fort of Kanpur is also worth visiting as this was the place from where the mutiny of 1857 for the India's independence was started.

Bithur is a near bye excursion that must not be missed while you are at Kanpur. Bithur is only 24 miles away from Kanpur. It is said that Lord Brahma performed the largest Ashvamegha havan here at the shore of river Ganga. The foot prints of the Havan horse can still be seen here. There is also a Valmiki Ashram here where Rishi Valmiki wrote the Ramayana. It is also said that Goddess Sita, wife of Lord Ram stayed here at the Valmiki Ashram after lord Ram drove her out of his house. The two sons of Lord Ram named as Luv and Kush were born here at this ashram. One can visit Bithur in a hired car or taxi from the city of Kanpur.

There are many good hotels available for stay at Kanpur like Central Hotel, Hotel Corner, Hotel Kanpur, hotel Majestic, and Hotel Belle View. All these hotels offer 3 star amenities and their tariffs are in the range of Rs.1000 ($25) to Rs.4000 ($100) per day for double occupancy. Most of these hotels are located in the central part of Kanpur city and hence, are the most convenient to stay. The standard North Indian food items are available in all these hotels in both vegetarian and nonvegetarian varieties. You need to stay for around 3 to 4 days here to see all the sites seeing places of Kanpur. Make sure to consume bottled mineral drinking water as the normal drinking water of this area is very hard.The best season to visit Kanpur is during winter months of October to March as summer is very hot here.

Would you consider visiting Kanpur based on the facts presented in this article during your next visit to India?