Explore GORAKHPUR

गोरखपुर

Gorakhnath's city. Gita Press's city. A 1,700-acre lake, a hundred years of printed wisdom, and mornings that start with aarti.

29 places to see · Gita Press, est. 1923 · Ramgarh Taal — 1,700 acres

Featured Places

Gorakhnath Temple

The spiritual heart of Gorakhpur, dedicated to Guru Gorakhnath

Ramgarh Taal

One of the largest lakes in eastern Uttar Pradesh, with the Nauka Vihar waterfront

Shaheed Ashfaq Ullah Khan Zoological Park

121-acre zoological park — Purvanchal’s first zoo, with a butterfly park and 7D theatre

Nauka Vihar & Lake Promenade

Waterfront boulevard on Ramgarh Taal with boating and a musical fountain

Gita Press

World-renowned publisher of Hindu religious literature and philosophy

Maa Tarkulha Devi Temple

Historic woodland shrine associated with revolutionary freedom fighter Bandhu Singh

Chauri Chaura Shaheed Smarak

Historic national memorial commemorating the 1922 Indian freedom struggle

Terracotta Craft Village (Aurangabad)

The ancestral home of Gorakhpur’s GI-tagged terracotta pottery

Rajghat & Rapti Riverfront

Sacred river ghats of the Rapti featuring evening Maha Aarti and riverside promenade

Taste of Gorakhpur

Litti Chokha

Wheat-flour balls stuffed with spiced sattu (roasted gram flour with ajwain, kalonji and mustard oil), traditionally baked over cow-dung cakes (goitha) and dipped in melted ghee. Served with chokha — brinjal and tomato roasted and mashed with onion, garlic and green chilli. Litti chokha is eaten all over Purvanchal and Bihar; Gorakhpur’s stalls still bake it the slow, traditional way.

Gorakhnath Mandir Khichdi Prasad

Khichdi of rice and moong dal, cooked soft with vegetables and ghee, offered to Guru Gorakhnath at his temple. It is the centre of the temple’s Khichdi Mela: every Makar Sankranti, lakhs of devotees from UP, Bihar and Nepal offer khichdi here and eat it as prasad — a Nath tradition that is centuries old.

Aloo Tikki Chaat

Crisp fried potato patties topped with spiced white peas (ragda), whipped yogurt, tamarind and green chutneys, roasted cumin and sev, served in dona leaf bowls. Gorakhpur’s chaat stalls also serve tamatar chaat — tomatoes cooked down and mashed with spices — a speciality that travelled here from nearby Banaras.

Galawati Kabab & Mughlai Paratha

Very soft minced-meat patties from Awadh — Lucknow’s galawati kabab — made tender with raw papaya and a blend of whole spices, then shallow-fried on a tawa. In Gorakhpur’s old-city food lanes they are served with flaky Mughlai paratha and mint chutney.

Samosa with Kadhi & Chutney

Crisp pastry triangles with a spiced potato-and-pea filling. In Gorakhpur and much of Purvanchal, samosas are often served with a bowl of hot, tangy kadhi for dipping, alongside the usual chutneys — a combination that surprises visitors from other regions.

Jalebi & Dahi

Spirals of fermented batter, fried crisp and soaked in saffron-cardamom syrup. Eaten hot at breakfast with a bowl of set curd (dahi) or rabri — the classic morning pairing in Gorakhpur, as in much of eastern UP.