Mirzapur – Uttar Pradesh
Mirzapur city is located in Uttar Pradesh state of India and exists in the heart of North India. According to 2001 census, it has little population around 205,264. The place is well known for its brassware and carpet manufacturing industry. There are many important places and hills like Devdari, Rajdari, Lakhaniyadari and Windom fall range and Sirshi are found around the city.
Mirzapur District’s headquarter is also built in the city. City has a clock tower and Indian Standard Time is calculated from that clock.
Reports received from the past suggest that Mirzapur was a commercial place because it is located near river Ganges. The Naar Ghat, A carved stone backed these reports, Ashokan times toll taxes rates are inscribed on it. English officers established most of cities so names of places are similar to Englishmen such as Mukeri Bazar is named after Lord Mercury, Wellesleyganj is based on the name of Lord Wellesley, Windham Water fall which famous in city is also named after Mr. Windham. English government has also built its Municipal Corporation building.
Many interesting carved stone were found in the hills of Mirzapur. Historians have done different kinds of interpretation about the place because they found chariots, weapons, horses and people depicted on the carved stone.
Mirzapur also has patch of forest and many ancient waterfalls are found there. Ancient wall paintings can be seen at the place called Lakhania Dari, it also has small rapids. People from nearby cities go to this place for picnic. Some tribes still lives in the forest area of Mirzapur.
British captured indigenous ruler Saiyyad Shah Mirza from here so they documented this place as Mirzapur because it was matching with its ruler’s name. Though concrete proof is not available but information about an ancient city near the Kachhawa Bazar has also been discovered. Lord Shiva’s ancient temple exists in the heart of Larawak village which is located near Kachhawa Bazar and people believe that it was built in Treta Yug, a time when Lord Rama was born. From architecture point of view, Lord Shiva’s temple is very attractive and its stone design is similar to the Khajuraho. Archaeological survey of India (ASI) protects this temple. This temple is very important and it provides many details about the ancient life cycle of the human being.
Locally it is believed that earlier Mirzapur was called as Girijapur and Raja Nanner founded it. Tieffenthaler a writer has mentioned Mirzapur as a great mart in his writings about the country between 1760 to 1770. Jonathan Duncan who used to live in Varanasi has also mentioned the place Mirzapur in his records. It was largest district in India before April 1, 1989.
British rulers established Mirzapur because they wanted to grow their business through river Ganga. Here Holy River Ganga meets with Vindhya Range and it is the only such important place in the world, even this significant fact has been mentioned in Vedas.
Other districts of Uttar Pradesh such as Varanasi, Sonbhadra and Allahabad have bounded Mirzapur from different side.
Mainly Carpet and metal pots (brass) are manufactured in Mirzapur. Its carpets are sold into the international market.
Vindhyachal, a famous Hindu pilgrimage site is located few miles away from Mirzapur city. It is believed that an avatar of Durga fell in Vindhyachal. Holy River Ganges flows in this city.
Kali Khoh, another pilgrimage site also exists in the city in which statue of the Goddess Kali is seen which has cave shaped mouth.
Many schools and colleges, inter colleges located in to city for giving good education to the children. It also has cinema halls.
Many festivals such as Ganges Deshahara, Deep Mahotsav, Lohandi Ka Mela, Vindhya Mahotsava and maa bhandari ka mela etc. are celebrated in the city.