Pariksha SaathiLesson 10 of 10 · Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge
Monuments, Tourism and Famous Personalities of Uttar Pradesh
Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 28 October 2026; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections
The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort
The Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, all in Agra district, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and Sarnath has been one since 2026. The Taj Mahal, on the south bank of the Yamuna, was built by Shah Jahan as the tomb of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631; it was built over the following years in white Makrana marble from Rajasthan with pietra dura inlay, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is regarded as its chief architect. Agra Fort, built in red sandstone by Akbar from 1565, contains the Diwan-i-Am, the Diwan-i-Khas, the Jahangiri Mahal and Shah Jahan's Moti Masjid; Shah Jahan, confined there by Aurangzeb, died in 1666 within sight of the Taj. Both were inscribed in 1983. In 1996, in the M.C. Mehta case, the Supreme Court ordered industries in the Taj Trapezium Zone to switch to cleaner fuel or move, to protect the marble from pollution. Agra also has Akbar's tomb at Sikandra, completed by Jahangir, and the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, built by Nur Jahan for her father; called the Baby Taj, it is often described as the first Mughal tomb faced entirely in white marble with pietra dura.
Fatehpur Sikri
Akbar founded the city in 1571 near the hermitage of Sheikh Salim Chishti, whose blessing he credited for the birth of his son Salim (Jahangir) in 1569, and it was his capital until about 1585. Built in red sandstone, it blends Persian and Indian styles: the Jama Masjid, the white marble tomb of Salim Chishti, the Buland Darwaza raised to mark the conquest of Gujarat, the five-storeyed Panch Mahal, the Diwan-i-Khas with its single carved central pillar, the Ibadat Khana where Akbar held religious debates from 1575, and the palaces known as Jodha Bai's palace and Birbal's house. Shortage of water is the reason usually given for its abandonment. UNESCO inscribed it in 1986.
Buddhist and Hindu pilgrim centres
At Sarnath the Dhamek Stupa marks the place of the first sermon, the Dharmarajika Stupa goes back to Ashoka, and the Sarnath Museum keeps the lion capital adopted as the national emblem on 26 January 1950; the Mulagandhakuti Vihara was built in 1931 by the Maha Bodhi Society of Anagarika Dharmapala. In July 2026, at its 48th session, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the Ancient Buddhist Site, Sarnath, which covers the archaeological remains of Sarnath and the nearby Chaukhandi Stupa. Kushinagar has the Mahaparinirvana temple with a large reclining Buddha and the Ramabhar Stupa at the cremation site. In Varanasi the Kashi Vishwanath temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, was rebuilt in its present form by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1780, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave gold for its spires; the Bharat Mata temple, with a marble relief map of undivided India, was inaugurated by Gandhi in 1936. Ayodhya on the Saryu has Hanuman Garhi, Kanak Bhawan and the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, where the idol of Ram Lalla was consecrated on 22 January 2024 after the Supreme Court's verdict of 9 November 2019. Mathura has the Krishna Janmabhoomi and Dwarkadhish temples, and Vrindavan the Banke Bihari temple and the red sandstone Govind Dev temple built by Raja Man Singh of Amber in 1590.
Lucknow and the forts
The Nawabi buildings of Lucknow include the Bara Imambara, built by Asaf-ud-Daula in 1784 as famine-relief work, with a huge vaulted hall without beams, the Bhool Bhulaiya maze above it and the Asafi Mosque beside it; the Rumi Darwaza; the Chhota Imambara of Muhammad Ali Shah; and the Residency, whose ruins recall the siege of 1857. Jhansi Fort, on the Bangra hill, was built by Raja Bir Singh Deo of Orchha in 1613 and is forever linked with Rani Lakshmibai. Other forts are Kalinjar in Banda, where Sher Shah Suri died in 1545, Chunar in Mirzapur, and Akbar's Allahabad fort at the Sangam, which encloses the Akshayavat and the Ashokan pillar.
Other tourist places
Other places often asked are the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh (Lalitpur), Naimisharanya in Sitapur, where sages are said to have heard the Puranas, Vindhyachal near Mirzapur with the Vindhyavasini Devi temple, Chitrakoot on the Mandakini, linked with Ram's exile, the Gorakhnath temple at Gorakhpur, seat of the Nath tradition, the Atala Masjid at Jaunpur, Dudhwa National Park, and Shravasti and Sankisa on the Buddhist circuit. Ram Bagh in Agra is traditionally regarded as the oldest Mughal garden, laid out by Babur.
Personalities born in UP
Prime Ministers born in the state include Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Allahabad), Lal Bahadur Shastri (Mughalsarai, 1904), Charan Singh (Noorpur, then in Meerut district) and Chandra Shekhar (Ibrahimpatti, Ballia). Bharat Ratna recipients from the state include Bhagwan Das (1955), Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) and Madan Mohan Malaviya (2015). The mathematician Harish-Chandra was born in Kanpur in 1923. In the arts, the sitarist Ravi Shankar and the singer Girija Devi were born in Varanasi, the Kathak master Birju Maharaj in Lucknow, the poet Kaifi Azmi in Azamgarh and the actor Amitabh Bachchan in Allahabad. In sport, the hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand was born at Allahabad on 29 August 1905, now National Sports Day, and grew up in Jhansi; K.D. Singh 'Babu' of Barabanki was another hockey great. Note the traps: Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born in Gwalior and Govind Ballabh Pant at Almora, now in Uttarakhand.
Key facts
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Taj Mahal and Agra Fort (1983) and Fatehpur Sikri (1986) in Agra district; Ancient Buddhist Site, Sarnath, with the Chaukhandi Stupa (2026).
- Taj Mahal: built by Shah Jahan for Mumtaz Mahal; white Makrana marble; chief architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri; Taj Trapezium Zone order (Supreme Court, 1996).
- Fatehpur Sikri: founded 1571; Buland Darwaza for the Gujarat conquest; tomb of Salim Chishti; Panch Mahal; Ibadat Khana (1575).
- Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb (Baby Taj), built by Nur Jahan: often called the first Mughal tomb in white marble with pietra dura; Akbar's tomb is at Sikandra.
- Sarnath: Dhamek Stupa (first sermon), Dharmarajika Stupa (Ashoka), lion capital adopted as the national emblem on 26 January 1950.
- Kashi Vishwanath rebuilt by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780; Bharat Mata temple (Varanasi) inaugurated by Gandhi in 1936.
- Bara Imambara (Lucknow): Asaf-ud-Daula, 1784, famine relief, Bhool Bhulaiya; Jhansi Fort: Bir Singh Deo of Orchha, 1613.
- Kalinjar fort (Banda): Sher Shah Suri died there in 1545; Allahabad fort (Akbar) holds the Akshayavat and the Ashokan pillar.
- Prime Ministers born in UP: Nehru, Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Charan Singh, V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar; Vajpayee was born in Gwalior.
- Major Dhyan Chand born at Allahabad on 29 August 1905 (National Sports Day); mathematician Harish-Chandra born in Kanpur in 1923.
Quick revision
Taj Mahal and Agra Fort UNESCO 1983, Fatehpur Sikri 1986, Sarnath 2026; Taj by Shah Jahan, Makrana marble, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri; Fatehpur Sikri founded 1571, Buland Darwaza; Itimad-ud-Daulah Baby Taj; Sarnath Dhamek Stupa; Kashi Vishwanath rebuilt 1780 by Ahilyabai; Bara Imambara 1784; Jhansi Fort 1613; Sher Shah died at Kalinjar 1545; PMs Nehru, Shastri, Indira, Charan Singh, V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar; Dhyan Chand born Allahabad 29 Aug 1905.