The city of three rivers

teamtravellingfoodie
Feb 8, 2015
3 min read

--NIKITA AGARWAL

Hello hello people! Hope you all are doing fantastic. It’s a new day today and I kinda felt like I would introduce you to my town- Allahabad, a city of three rivers. Everybody must be aware of some quick facts about Allahabad. Some of which are:

1. Our first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru was from Allahabad.

2. Our first lady Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi was born here at Swaraj Bhawan.

3. Our most loved Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bacchchan was born and brought up here.

4. A city of three rivers. Often known as Sangam or Prayag.

5. And a fact on some spiritual and religious ground, the majestic gathering of Kubh

Mela (yes the same mela where people actually get lost, as projected by our

Bollywood).

The city of Allahabad is among the largest cities of Uttar Pradesh and situated at the

confluence of three rivers- Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati (you can actually see the two colours mixing into each other). The meeting point is known as Triveni and is especially sacred to Hindus. It is believed that all sins would be cleared by entering in this holy city or by taking a dip in the holy river Ganga.

It got its present name when the East India Company handed this province of Prayag to the Britishers at the Minto Park in some 1850s. From then onwards this city was the main centre for all administrative acts. It was where most of the freedom struggle plans were made. Later with the establishment of Allahabad High Court and Allahabad University it became the centre was education as well. Allahabad also houses the office of Auditor General of U.P.,

Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension), U.P. Board office and Police

headquarters and in education the well-known MNNIT Engr. College (Motilal Nehru

National Institute of Technology), Medical and Agricultural College, and IIIT at Jhalwa.

From the days of civilization Allahabad has been seat of learning, wisdom and writing. It is the most vibrant politically spiritually conscious and spiritually awakened city of India.

Now, after a little introduction its time to check out the tourist places. Allahabad has always been a tourist’s attraction.

Sangam. The confluence of three holy rivers. On the banks of these rivers every

twelve years the famous Kumbh Mela is organized where people from all over the

world visit to take a dip in this holy town in the month of Magh (January). Tents are

set up by the local authorities in almost military fashion. All sorts of saints, sadhus

and naga baba’s can be seen here at this time.

Allahabad fort. On the banks of sangam stands the Allahabad fort, built by Emperor

Akbar. It was famous for this design, structure and craftsmanship. Now this fort is

being used by the army and only a small portion is open for tourists.

Hanuman Mandir. Situated near Sangam, this temple has a big idol of Lord

Hanuman in reclining position. This idol wholly emerges in water of River Ganga in Saraswati ghat. At the bank of river Yamuna this ghat is meant for boating purposes.

Mankameshwar temple. Situated near the Saraswati Ghat, at the banks of Yamuna,

this temple of Lord Shiva. As the name suggests it is believed that whatever you wish

for here would be granted.

Minto Park. Located near the Saraswati Ghat, this park holds majestic pole over

which the four lion symbol rests. The foundation of this park was laid by Lord Minto

during the British rule.

Anand Bhawan. Home to the Nehru family has been turned into a museum. It has

been an important place during the freedom struggle.

Jawahar Planetarium. Anand Bhawan holds a beautiful light and sound show. It’s

worth every moment. Its an hour show and starts from 10.30 am every day.

Sai Dham Mandir. This newly built Sai Baba Mandir is visited by my people on

Thursday. The idol is somewhat similar to what is in Shirdni.