Native Place (week 1)

My native place is Lucknow. I used to stay there with my parents and my sister. Few years back, my sister moved to Mumbai for higher education. Last year I moved to the same city with my sister. I was born and brought up in Lucknow.

Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh. It is the largest city in Uttar Pradesh. It is also known as the City of Nawabs, Constantinople of India and the Golden City of the East. It is situated on the banks of the river Gomati. Hindi and Urdu are the two languages commonly spoken by the people of Lucknow. It is also the centre of Shia Islam in India. Lucknow, along with Varanasi and Agra are the top cities of the Uttar Pradesh Heritage Arc. The city attracts a large number of tourists every year. The buildings and monuments were built during the Bristish and Mughal era. The city is divided into ”Old Lucknow” and ”New Lucknow”. The old Lucknow consists of all the old buildings and monuments.

Every year Uttar Pradesh tourism organises a Heritage Walk for the tourists to have a look at the monuments. Lucknow is famous for its ”tehzeeb” or courtly manners, chikankari, poetry, music and the Mughlai cuisine and the Lucknavi chaat. The Bara Imambara was built by the Nawab of Lucknow, Asaf us Daulah to provide shelter to the people affected by the famine which struck in Uttar Pradesh that year. The Rumi Darwaza was also built by Asaf ud Daulah which is marked as the entrance of the city. It is also known as the Turkish Gateway. Indo- Saracenic architecture is visible in the Vidhan Sabha building and the railway station. Chattar Manzil was the palace of the Nawabs of Awadh. A fusion of Indian and European style of architecture can be seen in the building of La Martinere College or Constantia. It was built by Major General Claude Martin, who was the General of the East India Company. Other famous monuments that attract tourists are the Chota Imambara, the Residency, Ambedkar Park, the Clock Tower.