Maharajganj district

Maharajganj district is bounded by Nepal in the north, the districts of Kushinagar in the east, Gorakhpur to the south and Siddharthnagar and Sant Kabir Nagar in the west. It is part of Gorakhpur Division. The district covers an area of 2,951 km². It has a population of 2,684,703 (2011 Census).[2]

The district was carved out from the erstwhile Gorakhpur district on 2 October 1989. It is famous for the ruins of Buddha which are found here and it is expected that if proper excavation is done then many unknown facts about Buddha will be discovered. Religious temples Lehra devi There is a very famous Temple of Lehra Devi (लेहड़ा देवी), also known as Aadravanavaasini (आद्रवनवासिनी), in Lehra forest. People from all over Eastern Uttar Pradesh visit here and worship the goddess Durga. There is special importance to visit here in the period of Navratri in months of March–April and September–October. This temple is about 50 km North-West of Gorakhpur located in Anandnagar. It is believed that while wandering in the forest for 14 years, Pandavas lived a year in disguise. They visited the Lehra Jungle and were offered shelter by Lehra Devi. There is one natural Pindi as in Vaishno Devi. It is also believed that Yudhishthira (युधिष्ठिर) answered the questions of Yaksha(यक्ष) here only in this forest. Hiuen-Tsang famous Chinese Traveller also mentions the temple in his book Si-Yu-Ki. During British Raj it was one Military Camp named Lehra. One day a British officer came here and fired a bullet at the Pindi. Suddenly, blood started coming out of the Pindi. Seeing the blood, the British ran away. They all died with their horses. Grave of the British Officer is situated in the West of temple about 1 km of distance. Once Maa came to the town as a beautiful girl and wanted to cross the river. She hired a boat and started the journey but in middle of the river the boatman grew interested in her splendid beauty and went off track. As soon as Devi understood his intention, she disappeared with the boat. In the Kali Yuga she was seen with the boat to her followers who made a temple at the very place. It is believed that if a person visits the temple for regular 5 Tuesdays, his wishes are fulfilled. To reach this temple, busses, autorickshaws and trains are available from Gorakhpur to Anandnagar (Pharenda). It is well connected by other mediums to the temple from Anandnagar. Many tourists from Gorakhpur walk all night and reach the temple by dawn. Itahiya panchmukhi shiv mandir is famous in the region and in Nepal.

District has one Lok Sabha constituency named as Maharajganj (Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha constituency).

There are 5 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the district which are:

• Nautanwa
• Maharajagnj Sadar
• Paniyara
• Siswa Bazar
• Anandnagar (Pharenda)

There are 3 nagar palikas in the district:

• Mahrajganj
• Nautanwa
• Siswa Bazar

There are 6 nagar panchayat in the district:

• Bridgemanganj
• Pharenda
• Sonauli
• Nichlaul
• Ghughuli
• Partawal

Bridgmanganj and Partawal are newly created.

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Maharajganj one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[4] It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[4]

Maharajganj district comprises 4 tehsils:

• Maharajganj Sadar; 4 community development blocks: Maharajganj, Ghughali, Paniara and Partawal.
• Nautanwa ; comprising 2 community development blocks: Ratanpur and Laxmipur.
• Nichlaul ; 3 community development blocks: Nichlaul, Mithaura and Siswa.
• Pharenda ; 3 community development blocks: Bridgmanganj, Dhani and Pheranda.

There are 1258 villages in the district and 14 police stations. Sonauli and Thoothi bari are the border check points at Nepal border.

== Police Stations ==# kotwli maharajganj

1. Pharenda (Anand Nagar)
2. Nautanwa
3. Purandarpur
4. Kothibhar (Siswa Bazar)
5. Thuthibari Kotwali
6. Kolhui
7. Bridgmanganj
8. Shyamdeurawa
9. Parsamalik
10. Bargadawa
11. Paniyra
12. Chauk
13. Sonauli Kotwali
14. Ghughuli
15. Nichlaul
16. Kotwali Sadar
17. Sohgibarwa

According to the 2011 census Maharajganj district has a population of 2,684,703, roughly equal to the nation of Kuwait[5] or the US state of Nevada.[6] This gives it a ranking of 148st in India (out of a total of 640 districts).

Hinduism is practiced by majority of the population around 82% Islam is followed by 17% of the population. Maharajganj district has the highest population of people following Buddhism. This is because of influence of Gautama Buddha in the region as he was born in Lumbini located nearly in Nepal.

The district has a population density of 909 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,350/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 23.50%

Maharajganj has a sex ratio of 943 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 62.76%.

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 99.98% of the population in the district spoke Hindi and 0.90% Urdu as their first language.[7]

• Maharajganj district website
• District Court Maharajganj