Jaunpur
Introduction
Jaunpur is a city in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, in northern India. It lies roughly 228 kilometres southeast of Lucknow, the state capital, and its character reflects the wider Purvanchal area around it.
Before you go
Jaunpur is not a conventional tourist spot, but it holds plenty to draw you if you are interested in history. The town is known for its medieval architecture: a series of mosques, a couple of tombs, a bridge and a fort. The mosques, built during the Sharqi rule, share a distinctive architectural style you are unlikely to find elsewhere in the subcontinent, with towering ornamental gateways decorated in geometric and floral patterns and fine calligraphy. The bridge carries coloured chhatris, and the fort towers above the town. Come prepared to look after yourself. The town has hotels and eateries, but it lacks tourist facilities such as trained guides, and while autos are available, the drivers are not aware of the historical places. You will need to do your own groundwork before you arrive.Getting there
Jaunpur is well connected by road and rail, and its two main railway stations are Jaunpur City Station (JOP) and Jaunpur Junction (JNU). Indian Railways links the city with all major cities of India, and Mughalsarai, Varanasi and Allahabad railway stations are also easily reachable. The Godaan Express runs daily to Mumbai from JNU, while the Shramjeevi, Sadhbhawana and Farakka Express are daily trains to Delhi.
By road, Jaunpur Bus Station is served by frequent UPSTRC services from Lucknow (275 km), Varanasi (66 km), Allahabad (100 km) and other cities such as Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Sultanpur and Ghazipur; luxury bus services run from Lucknow and Varanasi at all hours. NH-56 and SH-36 are the roads connecting the major cities to Jaunpur. The nearest airport is Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, about 66 km away and roughly a 30-minute drive on NH-56, with numerous domestic and international flights, including daily Air India and SpiceJet flights to Delhi and Air India flights to Mumbai. Although Jaunpur has several hotels, it can be explored in a day trip.
Getting around
For getting around inside Jaunpur itself, an auto-rickshaw is your best option, and it is the mode most visitors rely on for sightseeing and short trips. There are no fixed rates, so bargain and agree on a price before you set off. A whole tour of the city takes around three hours by auto, which gives you a sense of how compact Jaunpur is and how easily it can be covered in a single outing. Jaunpur has no metro or tram network, so movement around the city depends on road transport, along with the two railway stations, Jaunpur City Station (JOP) and Jaunpur Junction (JNU). Because the city is small enough to explore in a day, you generally do not need to plan complex multi-leg journeys within Jaunpur itself. For longer trips, rail and bus links are your main options, and for air travel you route through Varanasi.Where to stay
Jaunpur's sleeping options lean toward the budget end of the scale, with a handful of small hotels scattered around the city. Among them you'll find Hotel Ambar Palace, Hotel Day Night, Hotel River View and Hotel Varun, while Hotel JP International sits at Oland Ganj. For something simpler still, Sahu Dharamsala offers basic dharamsala-style accommodation, and Pankaj Sweet House on Mirzapur Road near Polytechnic Chauraha is another local option.
Food & drink
Jaunpur has a sweet tooth worth travelling for. Look for imartee, a jalebi-like sweet made from urad lentil, especially the version sold by Beniram's in the Olandganj area. From Sujanganj comes the atom bomb, a large chhena sweet stuffed with dry fruits. Dohara is a paan-masala-style preparation made with supari, kattha and opium water. Beyond sweets, the city is known for batti chokha, tikki-chaat made from mashed potato, phulki (pani puri or batasa), and papdi, particularly that of Jhagadu Halwai. Mithai comes in a wide range of varieties, and the local produce includes muli and makai.
To drink, try thandai, a cool milk-based drink with pistachios, almonds and kesar topped with a large dollop of malai, or satu, made with its namesake ingredient, onion slices, mint and other additions. Lassi is served in a khulhad, a cup made from mud, while jal zeera or panna offers a lighter option. Sugarcane juice is available on street corners around the district depending on the season. A few restaurants also serve alcohol and beer.
What to see and do
The fort known as Sahi Quila is the obvious place to start: a fourteenth-century stronghold on an artificial mound on the north bank of the Gomti, irregularly quadrangular and wrapped in two battlemented walls with bastions. You enter from the east and pass through two gateways to reach the interior, where a mosque and a hammam are what remain. The Turkish hammam beside the mosque is worth a look in its own right, a sequence of domes with turrets that let light in, its rooms linked by a maze of passages and served by channels that once carried hot and cold water. The Shahi Bridge at Olandganj, a sixteenth-century crossing of the Gomti from Akbar's time, is a fine piece of medieval engineering and a pleasant place to walk. Jaunpur's mosques reward a slow circuit. The Atala mosque, raised in the early fifteenth century, has three towering gateways and intricate stonework; the Jami Masjid, set inside a walled complex with domed gates on three sides, is among the largest of its kind in India. The Lal Darwaza Masjid, built in the mid-fifteenth century by Queen Bibi Rajyi and dedicated to a celebrated local saint, also sits within a walled complex with the mosque at the western end. Smaller and more elegant are the Jhinjhari Masjid, with its towering arched gateway covered in calligraphy and floral and geometric designs, and the Char Angul Mosque, tucked deep inside Mufti Mohalla and hard to find, lacking a grand gateway but not charm. Across the river on the south bank stand two tombs: that of Sher Zaman Khan, a Farukabadi Nawab, crowned with a massive dome though now neglected, and that of Qaliach Khan, governor under Akbar, a single dome flanked by chhatris. The tomb of Shah Feroz, a commander of Babur, is a single domed structure. For worship, there is the Sheetla Chukia temple of Sheetla Devi and the Trilochan Mahadeva temple of Lord Shiva.Three days in Jaunpur
Day one: Arrive in Jaunpur, a city in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, and settle into the rhythm of the old town. If you come by train, Jaunpur City Station (JOP) and Jaunpur Junction (JNU) are served by Indian Railways, with connections toward Mughalsarai, Varanasi and Allahabad; the Godaan Express, Shramjeevi, Sadhbhawana and Farakka Express are among the services that pass through, and routes from Delhi and Mumbai bring you into this part of India. By bus, Jaunpur Bus Station is reached by UPSTRC services from Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Sultanpur and Ghazipur, while NH and SH roads link the city onward. If you fly, Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport is the nearest airport, with Air India and SpiceJet among the carriers, and Lucknow is another point of arrival. Spend the rest of the day walking the streets and getting your bearings in the Sharqi-era town.
Day two: Give the day to Jaunpur's historic core, where the Sharqi legacy shapes the skyline. Although Jaunpur is often passed through on the way to Varanasi or Lucknow, its own monuments reward a slower look. Wander between the old quarters, take in the riverside setting, and let the scale of the Sultanate architecture set the pace. Come back toward the centre in the evening for street food and a look at daily life in the bazaars.
Day three: Use your last day for the places you missed and for the smaller pleasures of the city. Revisit a favourite corner, sit by the water, or explore a neighbourhood you only glimpsed on day one. For your onward journey, Jaunpur City Station and Jaunpur Junction put Varanasi, Allahabad, Mughalsarai and Delhi within reach by Indian Railways, while UPSTRC buses from Jaunpur Bus Station head to Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Sultanpur and Ghazipur. If you are flying out, allow time to reach Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport.