Gorakhpur is an important railway junction in eastern Uttar Pradesh, close to the Nepal border. Most travellers pass through on their way to the border crossing at Sunauli, but the city has more to offer than its transit reputation suggests.
The Gorakhnath Temple, dedicated to the medieval ascetic Guru Gorakshnath who popularised Hatha Yoga, is the city's defining landmark and an active pilgrimage site drawing hundreds of thousands of devotees each year. Next to it, the Gita Press — one of the world's largest publishers of Hindu religious texts, operating here since 1923 — runs a bookshop where scriptures are sold at near-zero prices as an act of devotion. The Ramgarh Tal lake on the outskirts offers a pleasant escape from the city's noise, particularly in the cool season.
Gorakhpur is the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway, and the city's enormous railway station — which held the Guinness record for the world's longest platform until 2023 — reflects its importance as a transit hub. Connections run to Varanasi, Lucknow, Delhi, and Kolkata. The station is also the main jumping-off point for day trips to Kushinagar, one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world.
The city itself is busy, dusty, and in places congested, but it has an energy that rewards a half-day of wandering rather than the transit-lounge hurry that most visitors give it.