Garhmukteshwar is a town, just outside of Hapur, and tehsil in Hapur district of the state of Uttar Pradesh. According to Census 2011 information the sub-district code of Garhmukteshwar block is 00741. Total area of Garhmukteshwar is 272 km2 including 237.38 km2 rural area and 34.13 km2 urban area. It has a population of 46,077. There are 64,688 houses in the Subdistrict. There are about 137 in Garhmukteshwar block. The city is part of the Delhi–NCR.
History
Garhmukteshwar is an ancient settlement that is mentioned in the
Bhagavata Purana and the
Mahabharata. There are claims that it was a part of ancient
Hastinapur, the capital of the
. An ancient fort, repaired by the
Maratha leader Mir Bhawan, became, under the British, the headquarters of the tehsil. The name of the town is derived from the temple of Mukteshwar Mahadeva, dedicated to the goddess Ganga who is worshipped there in four temples. The town has 80 sati pillars, marking the spots where Hindu widows are said to have become "sati". The town also has a mosque, built by Gays-ud-din Balban, that bears an inscription in Arabic dating to 682
Islamic calendar (1283 A.D.).
Partition violence
Garhmukteshwar was the scene of anti-Muslim violence in November 1946 when various areas of
British India were experiencing significant communal unrest as the partition of the country into India and Pakistan loomed.
[ "Partition, my family and 50 years of ‘Garm Hava’: Why our graves root us to this land", indianexpress.com. Accessed 11 June 2025.][ "Folding the local into the national: Garhmukhteshwar, November 1946", cambridge.org. Accessed 11 June 2025.] Gyanendra Pandey describes the place as
"a metaphor for the atrocities of Partition; and Partition itself a metaphor for the kind of extraordinary genocidal violence that was not witnessed again in India, perhaps until 1984".
Official investigations into violence in Uttar Pradesh at that time note that there was a "desire for revenge" among both Hindus and Muslims, resulting from news of similar violence in Calcutta.
Climate
Garhmukteshwar has a
monsoon influenced humid subtropical climate characterized by very hot summers and cool winters. Summers last from early April to late June during and are extremely hot, with temperatures reaching .
The monsoon arrives in late June and continues till the middle of September. Temperatures drop slightly, with plenty of cloud cover but with higher humidity. Temperatures rise again in October and the town then has a mild, dry winter season from late October to the middle of March
[ Lowest temperature recorded is .
Rainfall is about 80 cm to 100 cm per annum, which is suitable for growing crops. Most of the rainfall is received during the monsoon. Humidity varies from 30 to 100%.][ The town receives no snow.
]
Demographics
Garhmukhteshwar has a population of 46,077 of which 24,437 are males and 21,640 are females, per the 2011 Census of India.
Location
Garhmukteshwar is situated on National Highway 9, which connects it to New Delhi, which is around away, and puts the town, which is from the Ganges River, on a direct route from India's capital city to that river.
Railways
There are two railway stations in the city, named Garhmukteshwar and Garhmukteshwar Bridge (Brijghat). Both stations are situated on the Delhi–Moradabad line.
See also
