Pharenda
| Anand Nagar आनन्द नगर | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan City | |
| Nickname(s): फरेन्दा | |
  Anand Nagar  Anand Nagar Location in Uttar Pradesh, India | |
| Coordinates: 27°06′N 83°17′E / 27.100°N 83.283°ECoordinates: 27°06′N 83°17′E / 27.100°N 83.283°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | Uttar Pradesh |
| Elevation | 88 m (289 ft) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Pharenda, also called as Anandnagar, is a large city in the province of Uttar Pradesh in northern India.[1] It is located approximately 44 kilometres north of Gorakhpur near the border with Nepal. District of Pharenda is Maharajganj. This is situated on the Buddhist Circuit which is built from Sarnath to Lumbini.
There are 3 intermediate schools and 2 PG colleges in the town.
Forest of the Anandnagar has the "Barahsingha Reserve". Other, nearest market place to this tahsil is Dhani Bazar, Brijmanganj, Raniyapur and Campierganj (Chaumukha) (on the name of British "station master" of this railway station), in range of 12 km. Anandnagar is a large city in Maharajganj district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is situated near NH 29. It is about 45 km from Gorakhpur, 40 km from Siddharthnagar, 30 km from Maharajganj and 55 km from Sonauli Indo-Nepal Border. This place is named after Seth Anandram Jaypuriya.
Geography
Anandnagar is located at 27.1°N 83.28°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 88 metres (288 feet). Anandnagar has many colleges and schools. SAJIC is the oldest intermediate college of Anandnagar established in 1943 where the students gets quality education with a great sports facilities. Other colleges are LBS Intercollege (coeducational), GGIC for girls and MRD intercollege coeducational. There is football ground on SAJI college. All football players are trained by Gurusharan Pathik.
Lehra Devi Temple, Anandnagar
There is a very famous Temple of Lehra Devi (लेहड़ा देवी), also known as Aadravanavaasini (आद्रवनवासिनी), in Lehra forest. People from all over Eastern Uttar Pradesh visit here and worship the goddess Durga. There is special importance to visit here in the period of Navratri in months of March–April and September–October. This temple is about 50 km North-West of Gorakhpur located in Anandnagar. It is believed that while wandering in the forest for 14 years, Pandavas lived a year in disguise. They visited the Lehra Jungle and were offered shelter by Lehra Devi. There is one natural Pindi as in Vaishno Devi. It is also believed that Yudhishthira (युधिष्ठिर) answered the questions of Yaksha(यक्ष) here only in this forest. Hiuen-Tsang famous Chinese Traveller also mentions the temple in his book Si-Yu-Ki. During British Raj it was one Military Camp named Lehra. One day a British officer came here and fired a bullet at the Pindi. Suddenly, blood started coming out of the Pindi. Seeing the blood, the British ran away. They all died with their horses. Grave of the British Officer is situated in the West of temple about 1 km of distance. Once Maa came to the town as a beautiful girl and wanted to cross the river. She hired a boat and started the journey but in middle of the river the boatman grew interested in her splendid beauty and went off track. As soon as Devi understood his intention, she disappeared with the boat. In the Kaliyug she was seen with the boat to her followers who made a temple at the very place. It is believed that if a person visits the temple for regular 5 Tuesdays, his wishes are fulfilled. To reach this temple, busses, autorickshaws and trains are available from Gorakhpur to Anandnagar (Pharenda). It is well connected by other mediums to the temple from Anandnagar. Many tourists from Gorakhpur walk all night and reach the temple by dawn.
Demographics
As of 2001 India census,[2] Anandnagar had a population of 10,181. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Anandnagar has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 57% of the males and 43% of females literate. 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.