GOLA GOKARAN NATH:A HOLY PILGRIMAGE TO THE HISTORICAL SHIVA TEMPLE POPULARLY CALLED THE ‘CHHOTI KASHI’

GOLA GOKARANNATH or GOLA is the largest city/town ,muncipal board,thana & tehsil in Lakhimpur Khiri distt in the Indian state of Uttar pradesh. Its famous for the Shiva temple & the BHSL Sugar mill!It is also popularly known as the ‘Chhoti Kashi’ of India.

Historical significance of the place :
During the great war of Ramayana in Treta Yuga Ravana pleased Lord Shiva with his ‘tapasya’ so that he could win the war against Lord Rama. Lord Shiva took the shape of a Shiv-ling and directed him to install that Shiva-ling in Lanka. But Lord Shiva proposed the condition that Shiv-Ling should not be put on the Earth on its way to Lanka. But on the way back, Ravana had to give the Shiva-ling to a shepherd to attend nature’s call. Shiva increased the weight of the Shiva-ling, so the shepherd had to give up and put the Ling on the ground. This made Ravana very angry as he understood the trickery of Lord Shiva. Ravana realised that Lord Shiva did not want the Ling to be carried to Lanka and let Ravana win the war. Enraged Ravana pressed the Ling with his thumb resulting in an impression which looked like a cow’s ear (गौ-कर्ण). It is on this basis that the place was named Gola Gokaran Nath!

Main Attractions:
Bajaj Hindustan Sugar Factory, Gola
Gola Gokarnnath Shiva mandir: Many people come here from distant places to visit the temple and get a sight of the holy place. It is difficult to find space in the temple during the Hindu holy month of Shravan.Also in the month of Chaitra(April), a great fair is organised for one month known as Cheti mela. Other areas of religious significance are Lakshmi-Narayan temple and Bhoot Nath temple near Degree College. There are many colleges and schools. There are many markets like Tirth colony, Lakshmi Nagar Colony, Tiwari Market at Mill Road, Punjabi colony, Purvi Dixitana, Paschimi Dixitana, Sarvoday Nagar, Kumharan Tola, Arjun Nagar Colony, Bharat Bhushan Colony, Virendra Nagar Colony, Munnuganj, Oonchi Bhood, and Neechi Bhood. Tirth Bazaar is primarily a ladies’ shopping domain consisting of shops for bangles, makeup/cosmetics items and Holy books etc.
Geography
Gola Gokaran Nath is situated on the banks of Sarayan river. It is surrounded by dense tropical forest. It is the second biggest town of Lakhimpur Kheri district.
Industry
Gola is home to one of the most prominent sugar mills in Asia. Bajaj Hindusthan Limited is situated in the northern part.
The site selected for the first plant was at Gola Gokaran Nath in the district Lakhimpur Kheri in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh (UP), an area rich in sugar cane.The original capacity of the factory was 400 tons of cane crushed per day (TCD). Subsequently, this capacity was increased in stages and is currently 13,000 TCD. The distillery unit at this plant commenced production during the end of World War II in 1944. In the initial few years, the major output was in the form of power alcohol as an additive to petrol, which was then in short supply. Unit was the first to supply alcohol-mixed petrol to the army.
Another sugar plant with a cane crushing capacity of 1400 TCD was set up in 1972 at Palia Kalan, a giant sugarcane supplying centre at a distance of about 70 kilometres from Gola Gokaran Nath.
Temples
Gola Gokaran Nath is famous because of the historical temple of Lord Shiva. There is a Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir situated in Bajaj Hindustan Limited campus, Shree Sai Mandir in Tirth near Railway Station Gola, Ram Mandir near SVM Lakhimpur road, Ram Janki Mandir, Kanja Dev Sthan, Mangala Devi Mandir Khutaar Road, Panch Mukhi Hanuman Ji mandir Punjabi colony, Phool Baba Ashram, Khutar Road, and Jind Baba-Majaar near Bhavani Ganj, Hanuman Mandir-Lakhimpur Road, Durga Mandir-Railway Phatak Aliganj Road,Dhopeshwarnath Siddhpeeth(Bareilly)

Education:
There are many schools and colleges in Gola Gokaran Nath.Sardar Baba Singh Public School, Public Inter College, Krishak Samaj Inter College, Cane Growers Nehru PG College,Jeewanlal kamla devi Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Guru Harikishan Degree College & Arya Samaj Mandir are the oldest colleges of the city.There are some private schools and colleges also. College of Agriculture, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bajaj Hindustan English School, Shishu Niketana, Maharishi Arvind Vidyapeeth, Navodaya Inter-College, Saraswati Vidhya Mandir Inter College, VKS Saraswati Vidya Niketan Inter College, Children’s Academy Junior & Senior, Shri Rajendra Giri Memorial Academy, Shri Durga Vidya Mandir, Gandhi H.S. School, Gola Public Inter College, St. John’s Sr. Secondary School And Uma Devi Children’s Academy, provide quality education to the students. There is a reputed higher education centre in this town named CGNPG College formed by cane growers of this area.
Transport:
Rail:This City lies on Broad Gauge (Lucknow Division of North-Eastern railway) connecting Lucknow, Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Kasganj by Lucknow-Sitapur-Lakhimpur-Pilibhit-Bareilly, Kasganj Line. The Line was converted from Meter Gauge to Broad Gauge in February 2020. There are direct trains to Lucknow, Barabanki, Gonda, Sitapur, Lakhimpur and Gorakhpur.
Road:The city lies on the nh 730. Gola is connected through State & National Highways & can be reached directly from Lucknow(170) ,Bareilly(165), Pillibhit (65)& Shahjahanpur (65). AC buses from Delhi are plying round the clock as means of good connectivity with Gola.
Air:Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Luchnow operates flights to Mumbai ,Delhi , Bangalore, Jaipur & Pune

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd. through the years:
Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Limited (BHSL) was incorporated on 23rd November, 1931 under the name – The Hindusthan Sugar Mills Limited – on the initiative of Jamnalal Bajaj – a businessman, confidante, disciple and adopted son of Mahatma Gandhi. He sought Gandhiji’s blessings in this new venture, which, apart from being a sound commercial proposition would also meet a national need. Till then, there were barely thirty sugar factories in the country.

The site selected for the first plant was at Golagokarannath, district Lakhimpur Kheri in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh (UP), an area rich in sugar cane. The original capacity of the factory was 400 tons of cane crushed per day (TCD). Subsequently, this capacity was increased in stages & is currently 13,000 TCD. The distillery Unit at this plant commenced production during the end of World War II in 1944. In the initial few years, the major output was in the form of power alcohol as an additive to petrol, which was then in short supply. The unit was the first to supply alcohol-mixed petrol to the army.
In 1967, a new Company – Sharda Sugar & Industries Limited – was established as a subsidiary of Hindusthan Sugar Mills Limited. Under this new subsidiary, a sugar plant with a cane crushing capacity of 1400 TCD was set up in 1972 at Palia Kalan, a large cane supplying centre at a distance of about 70 kilometres from Golagokarannath. Objective of this new Unit was primarily to help the cane growers of the area supply their produce to the new location closer to their fields, thereby cutting down on transportation costs. The capacity was subsequently increased in stages to reach the present 11,000 TCD.

In the year 1988, The Hindusthan Sugar Mills Limited was renamed as Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Limited and shortly thereafter in 1990, Sharda Sugar & Industries Limited was amalgamated with Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Limited.
The Company embarked on an aggressive Greenfield expansion drive in 2003-2007, starting with a plant at Kinauni, near Meerut (UP), which was completed in a record time of just seven months as against the industry norm of 18-24 months. This facility commenced commercial production in November 2004.
At the end of the expansion project in 2007, BHSL had ten sugar manufacturing locations across UP with a cane crushing capacity of 96,000 TCD and was also the country’s largest ethanol producer with an output of 480 KL/ day.
In an acquisition move, the Company took over the Pratappur Sugar and Industries Limited (PSIL), district Deoria, Eastern UP in December 2005. This Plant, in operation since 1903, had a crushing capacity of 3,200 TCD, which was increased to 6,000 TCD in the subsequent sugar season 2006-07.
PSIL was subsequently renamed Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar and Industries Limited (BHSIL) and became a subsidiary of BHSL. This acquisition provided BHSL a strategic foothold in the sugar-deficient region of Eastern UP and reaffirmed the consolidation that took place in the sugar industry.

BHSIL embarked upon significant new expansions. While the capacity of its existing sugar plant at Pratappur was enhanced, three new sugar units were also set up in virgin, cane-rich areas of East UP at Rudauli (district Basti), Kundarkhi (district Gonda) and in Utraula (district Balrampur). BHSIL then, had a crushing capacity of 40,000 TCD and a distillery with the capacity to manufacture 160 kilo-liter per day of ethanol. The total industrial alcohol/ ethanol capacity of the Company, including its subsidiary, was 800 KL/ day.
With the commissioning of three bagasse-based power co-generation plants at Kundarkhi, Rudauli and Utraula, BHSIL had an aggregate power generation capacity of 95.8 MW. Combined with the power generation capacity of 325 MW from BHSL, the Company’s total generation capacity is 420.8 MW. After meeting its own energy needs, the Company has a surplus of 90 MW. It supplies a significant part of this surplus power to the UP state grid.

TRYING TO UNDERSTAND SUGAR PRODUCTION PROCESS DURING THE VISIT

In December 2010, BHSIL was amalgamated with BHSL.
The Company’s growth initiative has been led by a strategic focus of attaining global scales of manufacturing and cost competitiveness. Such benchmarking provides BHSL advantages of cost and higher domestic market share where demand is expected to outstrip supply for the next few years.
BHSL is in a unique position. While its planning and processes are benchmarked against global practices, its activities are directed at contributing to the Indian rural economy at a local, grassroots level, primarily in the uplifting of the farmers. The Company embarked on an expansion, the scales of which are unprecedented worldwide, providing tremendous opportunities of employment, infrastructure and community development and contributing to the growth of the rural economy of UP

Muzaffar Ali’s Farm House at Kotwara, Gola:

Kotwara is a village in Gola Gokarnnath tehsil under Kumbhi -Gola community development block. 5 km away from Kheri!Muzaffar Ali is the Raja of Kotwara which is the oldest living civilization of Lakhimpur Kheri,the largest district in Awadh.He was born in Oct. 1944 & is a reciepient of PadmaShri Award 2005 & Filmfare Award for the best Director for Umrao Jaan in 1981!He was associated with the Films: Jaanissaar, Anjum, Aagman, Umrao Jaan, Gaman & Zooni.

House of Kotwara:
An international fashion house founded in 1990 by filmmaker, painter, Muzaffar Ali – the Raja of Kotwara, and his architect wife Meera Ali with the mission to revive the traditional craft of the region of Awadh, India and provide rural employment through our foundation, Dwar Pe Rozi Society (Employment at Doorstep).
Sama Ali is presently the Creative Director of the brand and a London College of Fashion Alumna. Sama officially joined House of Kotwara in 2014. Sama’s fantastical artistry is an amalgamation of her life experiences, heritage, and affection for beauty.
House of Kotwara is known for taking the ancient embroidery techniques of Chikankari, Aari and Zardozi and applying them in both traditional and contemporary silhouettes. Zardozi and Chikankari have been the forte of Kotwara, which has employed some of the finest craftspeople in the region for generations at Anhalwara Palace, Kotwara in Lakhimpur Kheri and Kotwara House, Qaiserbagh Palace Complex in Lucknow…

Bhootnath Mandir ,Gola:

Tourist Places worth visiting in Lakhimpur Kheri:
1)Palia Kalan, 2)Mailani ,3)Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary ,4)Frog Temple, 5)Dudhwa national park &Tiger Reserve jeep safari, 6)Iid Gah, 7)Sharda barrage ,8)Lakhimpur

Note:I am very indebted to Wikkipedia for the above information on Gola Gokarannath