01The seat of the Naths
For the Naths, Gorakhnath is Shiva himself in the form of a yogi, the disciple of Matsyendranath in the line that begins with Adinath. The math at Gorakhpur keeps his gaddi, the seat on which he is said to have sat after his wanderings, and his footprints in the inner shrine. Around it stand shrines of Shiva, Ganesh, Kali and Bhairav, and images of the nine Naths. The math’s own account tells of the shrine being attacked more than once in the medieval centuries and raised again each time; the temple now standing was built over the twentieth century under Mahant Digvijaynath and Mahant Avaidyanath, and its grounds now cover some fifty acres.
02Khichdi on Sankranti
The great day is Makar Sankranti in January, when pilgrims from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the Nepal Terai offer rice and dal as khichdi to Baba Gorakhnath, and a month-long mela fills the grounds. The kings of Nepal, whose Shah house took its homeland’s name Gorkha from the yogi, sometimes sent offerings or came themselves. The mahants of the math have also been public figures. Digvijaynath led it from 1935 to 1969, Avaidyanath from 1969 to 2014, and Yogi Adityanath, mahant since 14 September 2014, became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in March 2017. On 3 April 2022 a man attacked the police guards at the gate with a sickle; a court sentenced him to death in January 2023.
The life of this place
- 1935Digvijaynath becomes mahant; rebuilding of the temple goes forward under him and his successor.
- 14 September 2014Yogi Adityanath becomes mahant after Avaidyanath’s death.
- 3 April 2022An armed man attacks the guards at the temple gate.
- 30 January 2023A special NIA-ATS court in Lucknow sentences the attacker to death.
Open from early morning to night; the Khichdi Mela begins on Makar Sankranti, 14 or 15 January.
