Bareilly is a major town in the Bareilly district, located in Uttar Pradesh in the Northern part of India. The town is located at a distance of 252 km north of the state capital, Lucknow and 250 km east of New Delhi, the national capital.
Barielly has a major influence over the finance, commerce, art, culture, fashion, education, research and entertainment of the region. This historical city is also the hub for bamboo furniture manufacturing and trades in grain, cotton and sugar. In geographical context, Bareilly is the gateway to the state of Uttarakhand.
The epic Mahabharata holds Bareilly as the birthplace of the legendary figure Draupadi. Tracing back to the 12th century, the region of Bareilly was under the reign of different Kshatriya Rajput clans. In 1657, Mukrand Rai laid the foundation of the City of Bareilly.
According to historical facts, the region of Bareilly was first spotted by Jagat Singh Katehriya, who set up a village called Jagatpur in the first half of the fifteenth century. Afterwards the two sons of Jagat Singh, called Bans Deo and Barel Deo established the city of Bareilly.
Subsequently, the region was absorbed in the territory of the Mughal Empire. Later the Avadhs and the Rohillans ruled over the region and finally it was handed over by Rohilkhand to the British East India Company.
Bareilly has some major educational institutions like Bareilly College and the M.J.P. Rohilkhand University. Izzatnagar, located in the suburb of Bareilly also has some educational institutes like Central Avian Research Institute (C.A.R.L.) and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (I.V.R.L.).
Bareilly has earned worldwide recognition for its Zari work (a sort of fabric embroidery), surma (Kohl), ‘Jhumka’ (ear-rings or ear-pendants) and manja, popularly called ‘Ludhi Manja’, which is the glass powder coated strings of kites. There are many industries in the city associated with the Zari Zardori work on clothes and bamboo furniture manufacturing.
The old city of Bareilly is admired with a number of tourist attractions. The four temples of Shiva, known as Madhinath, Dopeswarnath, Alaknath and Trivatinath are found in four corners of the city, attracting tourists from nearby towns. The city is also home to a popular Ganga Temple.
Some other religious attractions in the city are Chunne Miyan Mandir, Bankey Mandir, Sri Sai Mandi, Darga Hazrat, Bibi Ji Ki Masjid, Majare Aala Hazrat, Bara Burji Masjid, the Freewell Baptist Church, the Christ Methodist Church and the Church of North India.
The city also has two museums - the army Service Corps Museum and the Panchala Museum. There are also some historical places like the Ramnagar Fort, located just 25 km. from the city and a few amusement parks like the Ahshar Viharm Gandhi Udyan and Executive Park.