Morning light falls on the red rim of Chakra Tirth at Naimisharanya, and the round pool throws back saffron flags, temple spires and a wide, pale sky. Closer to town, the same sun picks out the stripes of cotton durries stacked in weavers' sheds around Khairabad, each one a flat-woven Citapore rug in the making.
Beyond the pilgrim lanes, the Gomti winds through level green farmland, and the town's well-known eye hospital draws patients from across the state. Summers bring scorching loo winds, the monsoon arrives in late June, and winters stay cool. A Local Friend knows when to reach the sacred pool before the bathers and when to linger by the river at sunset.
