North India · Uttar Pradesh
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
Sources: wikimedia
Before you go
One of the four Kumbh Mela cities -- the 2025 Maha Kumbh here was the largest gathering in recorded history; the annual Magh Mela (Jan-Feb) is the everyday version.
About Prayagraj
- Riverside
Where it is
Prayagraj, formerly Allahabad, is a city in southern Uttar Pradesh at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna, where tradition adds the unseen Saraswati to form the Triveni Sangam.
History
Prayag has been a place of pilgrimage since ancient times, and an Ashokan pillar stands in the city's fort. The Mughal emperor Akbar built that fort and founded the city as Ilahabas in the 1580s; under British rule Allahabad was a provincial capital, the place where the Crown's takeover of India was proclaimed in 1858, and a centre of the independence movement. It was renamed Prayagraj in 2018.
People
Prayagraj speaks Hindi and Awadhi and is a university and legal city, home to the Allahabad High Court and the University of Allahabad. Each winter the Magh Mela sees kalpvasis camp by the Sangam for a month of prayer and simple living, and the city's guavas are celebrated across India.
Known for
- The Triveni Sangam
- The Kumbh Mela and the annual Magh Mela
- Allahabad Fort and the Akshayavat
- Anand Bhavan
- Allahabad guavas
Did you know?
The Ashokan pillar in the fort also bears a long inscription of the Gupta emperor Samudragupta and a later one of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.
Shrines and sites
- Triveni Sangam
- Bade Hanuman
- Akshayavat and the Patalpuri temple inside Allahabad Fort
- Anand Bhavan
Traditions
- Hindu
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.