Uttar Pradesh

Crisp puris stuffed with spiced urad dal paste, served with a thin, tangy potato curry. A classic breakfast of Agra and western UP.

Small puffed kachoris filled with spiced urad dal, eaten with a hot potato–pumpkin curry: the morning street breakfast of Varanasi.

A rustic winter curry of crushed fresh green peas, potatoes and spices, loved across eastern UP and eaten with rice.

Varanasi's own chaat: a hot, tangy mash of tomatoes and potatoes cooked in ghee, topped with crushed namak para and sweet syrup.

Flattened rice tossed in ghee with fresh green peas, spices and a little milk or malai: a winter breakfast of Varanasi.

Crisp potato patties fried slowly on a flat tawa, topped with white pea curry, curd and chutneys.

Melt-in-the-mouth kebabs of very finely minced meat with many spices, the most famous kebab of Lucknow.

Soft, fragrant minced-meat kebabs cooked on skewers over charcoal, named after the town of Kakori near Lucknow.

Patties of minced meat cooked with chana dal and whole spices, ground and pan-fried, often stuffed with onion and mint.

Delicately spiced biryani in which part-cooked rice and mutton yakhni are layered and sealed to finish on slow heat (dum).

Mutton shank stew slow-cooked overnight with spices and thickened with flour, eaten with soft kulcha at dawn.

Mutton braised slowly in curd, browned onion paste and aromatic spices, rich but gently spiced.

Classical dance of storytellers, with fast footwork, spins and expressive storytelling. Its Lucknow and Banaras gharanas grew in Uttar Pradesh.

A folk enactment of the Ramayana staged over many evenings before Dussehra. The Ramlila of Ramnagar in Varanasi is among the best known.

Devotional dance-drama of Mathura and Vrindavan that enacts Shri Krishna's childhood and his dance with Radha and the gopis.

Braj folk dance in which women balance a tall, tiered wooden frame lit with oil lamps on their heads while dancing.

Popular open-air folk opera of Uttar Pradesh, told in rhyming verse, loud song and the boom of the nagara drum.

Lively folk dance of the washermen (dhobi) community of eastern Uttar Pradesh, performed at weddings and festivals.

On Kartik Purnima, fifteen days after Diwali, the ghats of Varanasi are lit with lakhs of diyas for the "Diwali of the gods", with a grand Ganga aarti.

The Jyotirlinga of Varanasi on the Ganga, one of the holiest temples of Shiva. The Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor linking the temple to the Ganga ghats opened in December 2021.

The birthplace of Shri Ram and the first of the Sapta Puri.

The birthplace of Krishna and, with Vrindavan, the heart of the Braj region.

One of the world's oldest living cities, with its ghats on the Ganga. It is home to Kashi Vishwanath and Vishalakshi, and Sarnath lies nearby.

The Triveni Sangam, the site of the largest Kumbh Melas; the Maha Kumbh of 2025 was held here.

A Shakti Peetha at Prayagraj, where Sati's fingers is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Alopi Devi (Madhaveshwari).

A Shakti Peetha at Mir Ghat, Varanasi, where Sati's earrings is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Vishalakshi.

A Shakti Peetha at Vrindavan, Mathura district, where Sati's ringlets of hair is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Katyayani.

Where the Buddha gave his first sermon in the Deer Park; the Ashokan lion capital found here is India's national emblem.

Where the Buddha attained mahaparinirvana; the Mahaparinirvana temple has a reclining Buddha.

Where the Buddha spent many rainy seasons at the Jetavana monastery.

Where, in Buddhist tradition, the Buddha descended from heaven after teaching his mother.

White-marble mausoleum on the Yamuna at Agra, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Red sandstone fort of the Mughal emperors on the Yamuna, with marble palaces added by Shah Jahan.

Akbar's red sandstone capital near Agra, with palaces, courts and one of India's largest mosques.

Ancient city of ghats on the Ganga and home of Shri Kashi Vishwanath, one of the twelve jyotirlingas of Bhagwan Shiva.

Deer park near Varanasi where the Buddha gave his first sermon after enlightenment, with the Dhamek Stupa and the Ashokan pillar.

Meeting point of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the unseen Saraswati, where the Kumbh Mela and the yearly Magh Mela are held.

Ancient city on the Saryu, revered as the birthplace of Bhagwan Shri Ram, with the new Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple.

Twin towns of Braj linked to the birth and childhood of Shri Krishna, full of temples, ghats and festivals.

Grand 18th-century complex built by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, famous for its vaulted hall without beams and its maze, the Bhool Bhulaiya.

Terai forest and grassland on the India–Nepal border, home to tigers, swamp deer and reintroduced one-horned rhinoceros.

Red sandstone fortress-city of the Mughal era.

White-marble mausoleum at Agra, a jewel of Indian architecture.

Short-lived Mughal capital with the Buland Darwaza.

Where the Buddha gave his first sermon. Includes the Dhamek and Chaukhandi stupas and the Ashokan pillar. India's 45th site.

Village and town performances of the Ramayana before Dussehra.