Avadh is claimed to be among the most ancient of Hindu states. According to popular legend, Ramchandra of Ayodhya, the hero of the Ramayana, gifted the territory of Lucknow to his devoted brother Lakshman after he had conquered Sri Lanka and completed his term of exile in the jungle. Therefore, people say that the original name of Lucknow was Lakshmanpur, popularly known as Lakhanpur or Lachmanpur.
Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh It is surrounded on the eastern side by District Barabanki, on the western side by district Unnao, on the southern side by Raebareli and on the northern side by Sitapur and Hardoi districts. River Gomti flows through the city. Some of the tributries of this river are Kukrail, Loni, Beta etc.District Lucknow has almost uniformed tropical climate. The temperature varies from 45 celcius maximum in summer to 5 celcius minimum in winter season. Rainfall is 100 cm. per annum. The forest area is negligible in the district. Shisham, Dhak, Mahua, Babul, Neem, Peepal, Ashok, Khajur, Mango and Gular trees are grown here. In fact different varieties of mangoes specially Dashari are grown in Malihabad block of the district and exported to other countries too.
Lucknow, the golden city of the east’ retains an old world charm that fascinates one and all. Regarded as one of the finest cities of India, Lucknow emanates a culture that combines emotional warmth, a high degree of sophistication, courtesy and a love for gracious living. This sublime cultural richness famous as ’Lucknowi Tehzeeb’ blends the cultures of two communities living side by side for centuries, sharing similar interests, speaking a common language -Urdu. Many of the cultural traits and customs peculiar to Lucknow have become living legends today. The credit for this goes to the Nawabs of Awadh, who took keen interest in every walk oflife and encouraged them to attain a rare degree of perfection
The bawarchisof Awadh transformed the traditional dastarkhwan with elaborate dishes like kababs, kormas, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also is the ingredients used in creating such a variety. Nahari a hot favourite of Awadh is a meat preparation with thick spicy gravy. In ’Pai ki Nahari’ leg and other bones are cooked and bone juice is mixed with a mouth watering gravy. Nahari was originally a beef preparation eaten with Kulchas . Now-a-days mutton is used instead of beef in houses.
The city’s restaurants serve a variety of continental, Chinese and Indian cuisine. Some of them are :
Oudhyana, Hotel Taj Mahal, Falaknuma, Hotel Clarks Awadh..etc