Padrauna

Padrauna is as same as Kushinagar or Kushinagar district
This article is for a small geographical area of Padrauna and for broader information, please refer to the above suggestion

Padrauna is a town, and district headquarter of Kushinagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Its ancient name was Pava where lord Buddha took his last meal. It is also the place of ancient Malla Kshatriyas who were following democratic way of ruling from their Santhagara. . Padrauna is in Northern Part of India. It lies at the border of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is the place where Lord Buddha died, where Rama spent a few days of his World Famous Life, and it is small town with diversified people.
It houses Forest Department, Police Department, Administrative Department of the district.

Connectivity

The town is connected to many important cities with many Highways i.e. NH28B and State Highway No. 64. It has a broad gauge railway that connects it to major cities of the country. At present trains run between Thawe and Gorakhpur. More services are expected to start shortly after the Rail budget 2012-1013. It is expected to have Kushinagar International Airport whose construction was stalled due to absence of an active public private partnership.
The town is well connected to different cities and towns with bus routes and buses provided by UPSRTC.

Media

There is a considerable circulation of various newspapers like The Hindu, Times of India, Hindustan Newsprint Limited, Sahara, etc.
All houses are connected with cable TV networks or direct to home (DTH) connections.
Considerable coverage of various telecommunication giants like Airtel, BSNL, Videocon Telecommunications Limited, etc.
The Print Media is leaded by famous printing presses like TARA PRINTING PRESS near Subhash Chowk., which are famous throughout the town.

Economy

The economy of Padrauna mainly consists of Agriculture followed by Services and a little contribution is made by Industrial sector. There are many family run businesses, shops, vendors, hawkers, etc., in Padrauna. A number of small and mid-size hotels exist in Padrauna, Sky Lark being the major one. There are branches of retail stores originating from Gorakhpur and Kanpur. Earlier there were a few industries (Cawnpore Sugar Works, sugar factory for example) which are no more operational.
The shutting down of factories led to poverty and backwardness of this region. The backwardness is further soared by the power shortage in this region. Again, this is triggered by high density of population and poor government policies to face this issue.

Landmarks and Geography

Notable landmarks are: Subhash Chowk,
Nahar,
,Rajdarbar,Gudaribajar,Durgamandir,Jataharoad,Sugar Mill etc. Kushinagar.
It lies in the Great Plains and is Terai area, very close to piedmont plains of Himalayas, and is very close to borders of Nepal.
The climate is extreme temperate climate, with soaring temperatures in Summer crossing 40 degrees and in winters temperatures as low as 3 to 4 degrees.
It is located on the bank of river Bansi, a Ganges tributary originating in Nepal. The town presents characteristics distinct from natural features of the western districts of Uttar Pradesh. This difference is due primarily to the relative proximity of the Himalayas, the outermost foothills of which are only a few kilometres from the northern borders. The peak of Dhaulagiri, some 8,230 meters above sea-level, is visible under favourable climatic conditions as far south as Padrauna itself.
Below the outer hills is a dry boulder-strewn tract, corresponding to the Bhabar of Kumaun and Garhwal and here the bulk of the moisture contributed by the rainfall and the small streams is absorbed by the soil, to reappear through seepage in the damp and unhealthy tract, known as the terai.

Education

The town has several schools like Navodaya Vidyalaya, Tulsi vidya niketan,Udit Narayan Intermediate College, Udit Narayan Post Graduate college, Bhartiya Intermediate College, etc.
Literacy rate is relatively low as compared to the UP state average 69.72 and 63% of its residents are literate.

History

There are several mythological stories connected with this city and it is believed that Gods have visited this town which include Rama, Seeta, Lakshmana and Buddha.
As Lord Rama passed acrossed this town with his foot, it was named as Padraoda.(Pad=Feet) (Raoda=To walk with forcing feet to the ground)

Demographies

The population has roughly increased by 23% and it is 3 million. The majority is Hinduism while other religions with dominant position are Islam, Sikhism and small population of Buddhism and Christianity exists in Padrauna.
A considerable number of literate emigrate form Padrauna to nearby town of Gorakhpur, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad, India for better work opportunities.
The population density of this region is very high crossing 412 persons per square Kilometer.

In Popular Culture

Swami Prasad Maurya, candidate for State Elections of 2012, came into nationwide popularity due to misconduct of the candidate at polling booth.