Lord Curzon Bridge

Stretching low and long across the broad, sandy channel of the Ganga on the northern edge of Prayagraj, the Lord Curzon Bridge is one of the city's most evocative pieces of Raj-era engineering.

• A long line of iron and masonry carries the crossing from the Teliarganj–Prayagraj bank over to Phaphamau on the far side, its repeating lattice-girder spans marching in a steady rhythm above the water.
• The bridge is reported to have opened in the early years of the twentieth century, around 1905, and it took its name from George Nathaniel Curzon, then Viceroy of India — a period when the empire was investing heavily in the railways and river crossings that stitched the United Provinces together.
• Built as an early-twentieth-century railway crossing over the Ganga at Phaphamau, the structure belongs to the great age of colonial girder engineering, when standardised steel spans on deep-sunk piers let engineers throw long, economical crossings over the shifting sand-bed rivers of the Ganga plain.
• In the decades that followed it became a familiar landmark on the northern approaches to Allahabad, and over the years the crossing is also said to have been associated with road traffic; travellers interested in how the deck has been used are best advised to confirm the current situation locally.
• Its silhouette — a shallow, endlessly repeated line of trusses reflected in the river — became a familiar image of the city.
• A newer high-level Ganga bridge at Phaphamau now carries the bulk of modern traffic, so the older Curzon Bridge survives chiefly as a heritage landmark and a quiet riverside vantage; visitors should check current access on the ground, as usage of the old deck can be restricted.
• For most travellers the reward is the setting rather than the crossing itself.
• From the embankment and the approaches you look out over a vast sweep of the Ganga, the sandbanks that emerge in the dry season, and the tents and lamplight of the Magh Mela and Kumbh encampments that fill the floodplain in winter.
• Early morning mist and the amber light of late afternoon make it a favourite of photographers, birdwatchers and anyone drawn to the slow theatre of a great Indian river.
• Allow around three-quarters of an hour to walk the banks, take in the girders and watch the light change.
• For food, the bridge sits close to the Teliarganj and Phaphamau neighbourhoods on the north side and the university belt around MNNIT and Allahabad University, where you will find simple pure-vegetarian thali kitchens, samosa-kachori-sabzi counters and chaat and lassi stalls catering to students and pilgrims.
• For a fuller sit-down meal, head a little way into the city toward the Civil Lines and old-town lanes around Loknath and Katra, long famous for their pure-veg sweet shops, kachori-jalebi breakfasts and thali houses; ask for the pure-veg kitchen wherever you are unsure, and cool off with a glass of plain (bhang-free) thandai in the warmer months.