Kannauj

Situated on the banks of the sacred River Ganges, 80 km from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, is the now almost forgotten town of Kannauj, well known in ancient time as 'Harsha Vardhan City'. Today it prides itself as the 'Attar City' or the perfume city of India.

Kannauj district from geographical point of view its studded in between 27 degree 13 min 30 sec North latitude and from 79 deg 19 min to 80 degree 1 min east longitudes.

The district is situated in Kanpur Division its North borders touches Farrukhabad District, at it's east Hardoi District is situated, Kanpur dehat is at its south east border while western and southern borders touches District Mainpuri and Etawah respectively whole district is divided in to three tehsils and seven development blocks. It is almost rectangular shaped district.

Ganga is the main river of the district at the North East border of the district, Kali and Ishan rivers are in other parts of the District. Kali rivers at the northern border of the district while Ishan flows in between the District. Average rain fall of the District is approximately 80cm.

Kannauj the historical Kanyakubja city, in central Uttar Pradesh is situated near the Ganges River, northwest of Kanpur. Kannauj has existed since ancient times and contains numerous ruins and artifacts. It was important during the Gupta empire, and in the early 7th century it became the capital of Harsha's empire. The city entered a period of great splendour during the 9th and 10th centuries, at which time a large number of Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries were built. In 1018, however, it was razed by Mahmood of Ghazna and was plundered again in 1194, by which time it was almost totally destroyed. Since then, Kannauj, is renowned for `itra' ( flower and herbal perfumes) and tobacco.

Excursion
Archeological findings reveal that Kannauj was once the foremost city of northern India where once art and culture flourished. Every now and then pottery, coins, terra cotta and sculpture are dug up by the common man in the course of work while ploughing his land or digging the foundation for construction of a house. Till very recently all the excavated material lay scattered among different families of Kannauj and in private collections. These have been now collected and are on display under one roof at the Government Archaeological Museum, Kannauj. The terra-cotta figurines unearthed here represent Gods and Goddesses, male and female figurines and animal figurines. They belong to different periods of history stretching from the Maurya period of 325 BC right down to the Gupta period AD (319-600). Some pre-historic bone implements have also been found.

Archaeology Museum
Archaeological museum of Kannauj have vast variety of clayey idols which proves that at ancient time Kannauj was famous for art and culture like Mathura, Kashi and Kaushambi. Right from Maurya age it was a fully developed locality. The clay models found here shows that it was a very progressive district of ancient time, even Historical Chinese visitor Hwenswang praised this district during his visit to India.

Lakh Bahosi Bird Sanctuary
The nature has gifted Kannauj by a beautiful lakh Bahosi Bird sanctuary. In this sanctuary Bird watching can be done from month of November to March. In month of December January and February it shows its maximum potential. Because during this season one can see maximum type of Birds over here at the Bahosi lake of 3 sq.km.area. As per survey a total of 97 Bird families are available in India while Birds related with 49 families has been seen at lakh Bhosi bird sanctuary.

The other fasmous places in kannauj are

• Gauri Shankar Temple,Kannauj City.
• Annapurna Temple,Tirwa,Kannauj.

Getting There
Kanpur, at a distance of 80 km from Kannauj, is the nearest major city. Kanpur is connected to almost all the major cities in India by regular air, rail, and road network. The state capital Lucknow is 154 km away and connected through a good rail and road network to Kannauj.

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