United Provinces, former state, N India, now almost coextensive with the modern state of Uttar Pradesh. The United Provinces embraced the plain of the Ganges, the heartland of India. This regi...

Nashik or Nasik, town (1991 pop. 725,341), Maharashtra state, W central India. It is a center of textile manufacturing and sugar- and oil-processing. The ancient town of Panchavati, it is holy...

Kosala, ancient Indian kingdom, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Oudh. Its capital was Ayodhya. It was a powerful state in the 6th cent. B.C. but was weakened by a series of wa...

Nuwara Eliya, town (1990 est. pop. 26,000), S Sri Lanka. A hill resort (alt. 6,194 ft/1,889 m) and health center in a tea-growing area, it was first settled in 1827 by the British. According t...

Adam's Bridge or Rama's Bridge, chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long, SW Palk Strait, between India and island nation of Sri Lanka. At high tide it is covered by c.4 ft (1.2 m) of water, forc...

Ayodhya or Ajodhya, former town, Uttar Pradesh state, N India, on the Ghaghara River. It is a joint municipality with Faizabad. Ayodhya was the capital of the kingdom of Kosala (7th cent. B.C....

Vishnu, one of the greatest gods of Hinduism, also called Narayana. First mentioned in the Veda as a minor deity, his theistic cults, known as Vaishnavism, or Vishnuism, grew steadily from the...

Varanasi, formerly Benares, city (1991 pop. 1,030,863), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India, on the Ganges River. Although a rail hub and trade center, Varanasi is chiefly important as a holy...

Epic, long, exalted narrative poem, usually on a serious subject, centered on a heroic figure. The earliest epics, known as primary, or original, epics, were shaped from the legends of an age ...

Lahore, city (1998 pop. 5,063,499), capital of Punjab prov., E central Pakistan, on the Ravi River. It is the second largest city of Pakistan. A railway and air transport center near the Indo-...