Meerut

Meerut (, IAST: Meraṭh) is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital Lucknow. Meerut is the 33rd most populous urban agglomeration and the 26th most populous city in India. It ranked 292nd in 2006 and is projected to rank 242nd in 2020 in the list of largest cities and urban areas in the world. The municipal area (as of 2016) is . The city is one of the largest producers of sports goods, and the largest producer of musical instruments in India. The city is also an education hub in western Uttar Pradesh, and is also known as the "Sports City Of India". The city is famous for being the starting point of the 1857 rebellion against Company rule in India. The city may have derived its name from 'Mayarashtra' (Sanskrit: मयराष्ट्र), the capital of the kingdom of Mayasura, Mandodari's father and Ravana's father-in-law. This name may have mutated to Mairashtra, Mai-dant-ka-khera, Mairaath and eventually Meerut. According to another version, Maya(sura), being a distinguished architect, received from King Yudhishthira the land on which the city of Meerut now stands and he called this place Maharashtra, a name which in the course of time became shortened to Meerut. Tradition also has it that the city formed a part of the dominions of Mahipala, the king of Indraprastha, and the word Meerut is associated with his name. The meaning of मय is alcohol. It is a production centre of alcohol with factories (sugar Mills) producing alcohol, hence the name मय is added from a alcohol production city. (Mawana Sugar Distillary). Maykhana is also a word which means Bar in Hindi. All alcohol was sent to capital Delhi and exported all over India. In India, cities are named on their popular produce. Hence Meerut as a production house of alcohol (मय) is called Meerut. In Ramayana, It was known as 'Maydant Ka Kheda', the capital of May Danav. It was hometown of Mandodari, wife of Ravana.