Allahabad, India

The administrative and industrial city of ALLAHABAD, 135km west of Varanasi and 227km southeast of Lucknow, is also known as Prayag ("confluence"): the point where the rivers Yamuna and Ganges meet the mythical Saraswati. Sacred to Hindus, the Sangam (which also means "confluence"), east of the city, is one of the great pilgrimage destinations of India. Allahabad comes alive during its melas (fairs) – the annual Magh Mela (Jan/Feb), and the colossal Maha Kumbh Mela, held every twelve years (the next is due to take place in 2013).

Allahabad is a pleasant city to visit, with vast open riverside scenery and good amenities, but is without major temples or monuments. At the junction of the fertile Doab, the "two-river" valley between the Yamuna and the Ganges, it did however possess a crucial strategic significance; its massive fort, built by the emperor Akbar in 1583, is still used by the military. Another Mughal, Jahangir's son Khusrau, was murdered here by his brother Shah Jahan, who went on to become emperor and build the Taj Mahal. Allahabad was briefly the centre of power in India following the 1857 uprising, when the British moved the headquarters of their Northwestern Provinces here from Agra; the formal transfer of power from the East India Company to the Crown took place here the following year.

Central Allahabad is split in two by the railway line, with the chaotic and congested Old City or Chowk south of the main Allahabad Junction Station, and the well-defined grid of the Civil Lines to the north.