Hardoi is a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The district headquarters are located at Hardoi Town. It forms a part of Lucknow division. It is 134 meters above sea level. Shahjahanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri districts border Hardoi on the north, Lucknow and Unnao districts on the south, Kanpur and Farrukhabad districts on the west and Sitapur district on the east. Hardoi is 110 kilometers away from Lucknow and 394 kilometers from New Delhi. The River Ganga and many of its tributaries cross the district on the south. In 1995, Hardoi district had 5 km of dense forest and 13 km of open forest.

There is a temple situated in the Mallawan region dedicated to Lord Shiva known as 'Baba Sunasirnath'. Hordes of people from all the country come to visit this place. Legend has it that when the British officers tried to demolish the temple along with the shivalinga, a large number of snakes, bees and other poisonous creatures came out as soon as the officer struck the shivalinga. People gather in large numbers during the month of sawan.

Hardoi History

As they say, it is related to Hirnakashyap. The present name comes from the erstwhile Haridrohi. The district was colonized by Hardevbaksh. There is also a locality named after him called the Hardevganj. There are several places of historical significance such as Mallawa, Bilgram, Pihani, Shahabad, Sandila & Ruiyaa. The colonization of Mallawa is still dubious as some believe it was done by Buddhists whereas others are of the opinion that it was Sayyed Salar Masood Gazi. Mallawa used to be the district headquarters. The erstwhile Srinagar, the name Bilgram was given by some associates of Mahmood Gajnavi. King Humayun hid in the forest of Pihani after being chased by Shershah Suri. The word Pihani is derived from a Persian word Pinhani. Pihani is also related with the minister Sadarejahan of Emperor Akbar. His tomb and paintings are still here. Sandila is famous for old buildings, mosque & barakhamba and is believed to have been colonized by Rishi Sandilya.