Ballia is a city with a

municipal board A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the Indian

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and the

Ghaghara Ghaghara, also called Karnali, is a perennial trans-boundary river originating on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Manasarovar. The Karnali cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sharda River at Brahmaghat in India. Together they form th ...

.The city is situated east of

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

and about 380 km from the state capital

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. It has a protected area, the

Jai Prakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

bird sanctuary. Ballia is also around away from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

.Ballia is also known for their freedom fighters.This is very poppular amongst people because of famous personalities like "Ex Prime Minister Shri Chandrasekhar ji and

Chittu Pandey Chittu Pandey (10 May 1895 – 6 December 1946), popularly referred to as the ''Sher-e Ballia'' (Lion of Ballia), was an Indian independence activist and revolutionary. Pandey was born in Rattuchak, a village in Ballia District of Uttar Pradesh i ...

ji.

Etymology

According to locals, the name Ballia was derived from the name of the sage

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on ...

, the author of

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. Valmiki resided here at one point, and the place was commemorated by a shrine (although it has long since been washed away). Another belief about the origin of the name is that it refers to the

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

y quality of the soil, locally known as "Ballua" (''balu'' meaning sand)..During the Quit India Movement of 1942, Ballia district saw much activity, leading to it gaining the nickname "Bagi ballia"or"Revolutionary Ballia".

Geography

Ballia district is the easternmost part of the

state and borders on

State. It comprises an irregularly shaped tract extending westward from the confluence of the

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and the

Ghaghra Ghaghra is a census town in the Ghaghra CD block in the Gumla subdivision of the Gumla district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Ghaghra is located at Area overview The map alongside presents a ...

, the former separating it from Bihar in the south and the latter from Deoria and Bihar in the north and east respectively. The boundary between Ballia and Bihar is determined by the deep streams of these two rivers. It is bounded on the west by Mau, on the north by Deoria, on the north-east and south-east by Bihar and on the south-west by

Ghazipur Ghazipur is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ghazipur also constitute ...

. The district lies between the parallels of 25º33' and 26º11' North latitudes and 83º38' and 84º39' East longitudes. Ballia is among the least forest covered districts in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

.According to Census 2011 data of India, there are 2361 villages in Ballia District of Uttar Pradesh, India. These villages are located in the Bairia, Ballia, Bansdih, Belthara Road, Rasra and Sikanderpur Tehsils. And Ballia has many famous villages/area like Nawanagar, Husenpur, Jajoli, Rasra, maldah etc.Some famous teachers of this place as follow Shri K.P Singh(village hadsar), Shri Dewnath Singh(village husenpur), Shri Bhuwal Singh(village Chandi), Shri Heeralal Gupta(village Nawanagar), Late Shri Abhay Shankar singh(village Husenpur), Shri Parasnath Verma(village kathaura).They all worked very well for education.They all belong to "Janta Inter College,Nawanagar,Ballia". And This school was inaugurated by "Ex Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar ji". Ballia is also known for their "Dadri Mela" which is a fair along with cattle fair. This mela is organised in memory of "Bhirgunath Baba".

Climate

Demographics

In 1901, Ballia had a population of 15,278. According to the 2001 Indian census, Ballia had a population of 102,226. Males constituted 54% of the population and females 46%. Ballia had an average literacy rate of 65%, which was higher than the national average of 59.5%, with 58% of the males and 42% of females being literate. 11% of the population was under six years of age. As of

2011 Indian Census The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Ballia had a total population of 104,424, of which 55,459 were males and 48,965 were females with a sex ratio of 883 females per 1000 males. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 11,623. The total number of literates in Ballia was 77,331, which constituted 74.1% of the population with male literacy of 78.0% and female literacy of 69.5%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Ballia was 83.3%, of which male literacy rate was 88.0% and female literacy rate was 78.0%. The

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

population was 8,703 and 3,942 respectively. Ballia had 15772 households in 2011.

Religion

Hinduism is major religion in Ballia city, with 92,299

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

(88.39%), followed by 10,851

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

(10.39%) and 1.22% following other religions, includes

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

(0.23%),

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

(0.13%), Buddhists (0.04%), Jains (0.01%) and not stated (0.81%).

Independence

Ballia was the First Independent city of India, it got Independence on 19th August 1942.

Transportation

Ballia railway station caters to many trains daily including 2

Rajdhani Express Rajdhani may refer to: * ''Rajdhani'' (film), 1956 Indian film * ''Rajadhani'' (1994 film), Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Rajadhani'' (2011 film), Indian Kannada-language film * Rajdhani, Kotli, a village in Pakistan * Rajdhani, Gorakhpur, a ...

es. Train connectivity to major cities of India like

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

as well as to

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

via many trains is available. Ballia is well connected to the state capital

and the cities of

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dist ...

and

by road. The state bus corporation

UPSRTC The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is a public sector passenger road transport corporation which services Uttar Pradesh, India, and adjoining states of North India. It operates as a state and interstate bus service and ...

is the primary road transport media.

Dadri Mela (fair)

Dadri Mela is the second largest cattle fair of India, which is held from Ballia town, near NH 31 and from the

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...

of Ballia city. The fair starts with people taking a holy dip in the river

on the full moon of

Kartik Poornima Kartika Purnima is a Hindu, Sikh and Jain cultural festival that is celebrated on Purnima (full moon day), the 15th (or 30th) lunar day of the month of Kartika. It falls in November or December of the Gregorian calendar The Gregorian ...

(October–November). This fair is held annually in the honour of

Dardar Muni Dardar ( tg, Дардар, ''Dardar'') is a village and jamoat in Ayni District in Sughd Region in north-west Tajikistan, not far from the border with Uzbekistan. It is situated on the northern bank of the Zeravshan, along Highway A377, to the no ...

, the disciple of Maharishi

Bhrigu Bhrigu ( sa, भृगु, ) was a rishi in Hinduism. He was one of the seven great sages, the Saptarshis, one of the many Prajapatis (the facilitators of Creation) created by Brahma. The first compiler of predictive astrology, and also th ...

. This one-month-long fair is organised in two phases. The first phase starts ten days before the onset of Kartik Poornima, during which traders bring some excellent breeds of cattle from across India for sale/purchase. On or after Kartik Poornima, various cultural programs are organised and one can find here a large number of makeshift shops of various items during the next

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is h ...

Education

Universities and colleges

The

Jananayak Chandrashekhar University, Ballia Jananayak Chandrashekhar University (JNCU), is a state university established in 2016 by Government of Uttar Pradesh in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh with 122 affiliated colleges. These 122 colleges of Ballia district were formerly affiliated to Mahat ...

is a

state university A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, territory or federal district. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. State univers ...

established in 2016 by

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

in Ballia,

. It is an affiliating University and university began its first season in 2016–17 with 122 colleges of

Ballia Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges River, Ganges and the Ghaghara River, Gh ...

. These 122 colleges of

were formerly affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi. For the academic year 2016–17 exams were conducted by Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi but students were awarded a degree of

Schools

* Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ballia *

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Ballia There are more than 650 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools in India. These JNVs are governed by eight different regions. These Regional Offices are at Bhopal, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Pune and Shillong which have jurisdicti ...

* Holy Cross School, Ballia

Notable people

* List of people from Ballia

References

External links

Official Website of the Ballia district

Ballia city portal

Ballia city portal

Ballia city portal

Ballia city portal
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Ballia district Cities in Uttar Pradesh