Magrayar is a village in

Bighapur Bighapur is a town and nagar panchayat in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, India. First officially classified as a town for the 1981 census, it now serves as a tehsil headquarters(established in Patan). Important items manufactured here include ...

block of

Unnao district Unnao district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The city of Unnao is the district headquarters. The district is part of Lucknow Division. As of the 2011 census, Unnao district has a population of 3,108,367, making it ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Located 7km from Bighapur, Magrayar hosts a market on Mondays and Thursdays and was historically the seat of a

pargana Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...

since at least the late 1500s. As of 2011, Magrayar's population is 4,248, in 964 households. In the outskirts of the village there is a famous Kalika Devi Mandir, Deeheshwar Mahadev Mandir and Lakshyeshwar Mahadev Mandir. This village played significant role in pre-independence era as a market area for near-by places but has lost much of its significance with development of nearby areas of Bighapur and Purwa while this has somewhat remained as it was. The village was the birthplace of famous Hindi Critic Aacharya Nand Dulare Bajpai, who also served as Vice Chancellor of Vikram University,

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

for a brief period. Notably the village is also a native to premier Indian stand up comedian

Raju Srivastava Satya Prakash Srivastav (25 December 1963 – 21 September 2022), known professionally as Raju Srivastav and often credited as Gajodhar, was an Indian comedian, actor and politician. He had been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 201 ...

where his father Balai Kaka used to live before he shifted to Kanpur. Mrs Geeta Dixit is the current Gram Panchayat Pramukh of Magrair.

History

The origin of the name ''Magrayar'' is not known. It is attested as a

capital since the time of the Mughal emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. Under the

Nawabs of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapu ...

, a

tehsildar In India and Pakistan, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relev ...

resided at Magrayar and had authority over the entire pargana. At the turn of the 20th century, Magrayar was described as a sleepy little town, located off the main roads traversing the area. The 1901 census recorded a population of 2,056 residents, including a Muslim minority of 60. Magrayar then had an upper primary school, with 62 students, as well as one mosque and five Hindu temples — four dedicated to

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

and one to Mahadeo. The 1961 census recorded Magrayar (as "Magrair") as comprising 5 hamlets, with a total population of 2,627 (1,382 male and 1,245 female), in 480 households and 478 physical houses. The area of the village was given as 2,204

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s. It had a library, a medical practitioner, and a post office then.

Sport

Magrair was home to many famous Wrestlers, including Pehelwan Jugal Kishore Dixit. A big Wrestling event is also organised annually by 'Nandini Trust' in Magrair in the memory of famous Hindi poet Mahapran Nirala.

References

{{Unnao district Villages in Unnao district