Water draws the map around Gonda. Long ago the Saryu wandered off course and left two oxbow lakes behind, Parvati and Arga, where sarus cranes wade all year and winter ducks drop in from beyond the Himalayas. At the Kajari Teej fair, pilgrims carry Saryu water on foot to pour over the giant lingam at Prithvinath.
Back in town, Gonda Junction sends trains in every direction, and the old Dukhharan Nath temple sits just off Station Road among bakeries and sweet shops. Summers are fierce, almost all the rain falls between June and September, and winters stay dry and cool. A Local Friend links the lakes, the temples and the town into one day that makes sense.
