travel cravings

Ghaziabad – city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh

It has a history, which I explored, for the 1^st time, in 23years of my life -

• Ghaziabad was founded in 1740 by Ghazi-ud-din, who called it Ghaziuddinnagar, after the opening of the railway line the name of the place was shortened to Ghaziabad. Ghaziabad district was carved out of Meerut district on 14/11/1976.
• SamudraGupta, Sultan Muhammad-bin-Tughlak, Sultan Nasiuddin, few other Mughal Kings,Maratha’s and Rajputs,  the 7 wars  from fourth century  till 18^th century, out of which the most important war was fought in 1857 with British, the first war of independence, which brought Ghaziabad much of its glory.
• This land has given birth to, many freedom fighters, those who played a leading role in the 1949 August revolution and also fought under the guidance of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.
• Shrines/ Temples could be witnessed, almost after a kilometre or 2. The famous, “Dudheshwar Nath Mandir(Temple) is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is believed to be a 5000 year old structure. It also has old churches and mosques.
• The place has traces of history from the Period of “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” as well.

Its boundary is adjacent to Delhi (the capital of India); exactly 19km East of Delhi and it acts as the main entrance of Uttar Pradesh and that is why it is also called the Gateway of U.P. This city is becoming popular day by day, because of these very few reasons –

a)      It has been tagged the second fastest growing city in the world due to the construction boom, it has been facing.

b)      It has approximate 40 years old temple, which has a cave and similar shrine like “Vashno Devi”

c)       It has one of the best MBA college, i.e. IMT, Ghaziabad

d)      Few notable people like – Rajesh Pilot, Kumar Vishwas, Donald Crowhurst(noted British businessman and amateur sailor, Suresh Raina(cricketer), Rajnath Singh (National President, Bhartiye Janta Party)

e)      The most important reason of being popular is – “ THE HIGH CRIME RATE”

I wouldn’t have searched internet or roamed in scorching sunlight to explore Ghaziabad, if I wouldn’t have seen WorldNomads scholarship Photography Competition.  I thought I’ll send pictures clicked in past or so, or plan a new trip or so. Then I thought why I cannot explore the place where I am living. I did know few of the things but after researching, I know better.

Thanks to WorldNomads…