The University of Gorakhpur is a teaching and residential-cum-affiliating University. It is situated at a distance of about 2 kilometers form the downtown to the east and almost walking distance from railway station to the south. Although the idea of residential University at Gorakhpur was first mooted by Dr. C.J. Chako the then Principal of St. Andrews College then under Agra University who initiated post-graduate and undergraduate science teaching in his college the idea got crystallized and took concrete shape by the untiring efforts of Late Pt. S.N.M. Tripathi. The proposal was accepted in principle by the first Chief Minister of U.P. Late Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant but it was only in 1956 that the University came into existence by an act passed by the U.P. Legislature. It actually started functioning since September 1 1957 when the faculties of Arts Commerce Law and Education were started. In the following year 1958 the faculty of science came into being. Faculties of Engineering Medicine and Agriculture came into existence in later years. Late Mahant Digvijay Nath also made valuable contribution in the formation of the University. The Madan Mohan Malviya Engineering College.At one stage the federal jurisdiction of the University was spread over colleges in Gorakhpur and the adjoining erstwhile twelve districts with about 425 affiliated colleges. In 1973 when the Gorakhpur University Act was replaced by uniform piece of legislation called the U.P. Universities Act about two dozed colleges located in five districts were transferred to the newly created Avadh University with headquarters at Faizabad. The jurisdiction of the Gorakhpur University was drastically curtailed further in its headquarters at Jaunpur. At present with the establishment of new colleges and the creation of new districts there are 425 colleges located in various districts of Gorakhpur Division.In the beginning the University had its own teething troubles. But due to the zeal untiring efforts and foresight of its founding fathers and the then faculty members it has come of age having completed more than forty years of a most meaningful existence. It now has neat and attractive campus spread over an area of about 300 acres with well-planned teaching and residential campuses. In the beginning the University was housed in two buildings the Pant Block (inaugurated by late Pt. Pant) and the Majithia Block (named after Sir Surendra Singh Majithia who made a significant donation to the building through his family trust). Several other buildings came up during the following decades : they include the Central Library the Arts Block the Administrative Block the Law Faculty a Student's Union building a Gymnasium hall a Health Centre a Computer Centre and Research Buildings for Chemistry Zoology and Botany. Besides there are separated Buildings for Commerce and Education Faculties and also for Home Science Geography Psychology Sociology Hindi Ancient History Fine Arts and Music Political Science and Adult Education. A huge building comprising several big rooms besides and imposing auditorium referred to as Deeksha Bhavan presently houses the separate girls' wing for the undergraduate classes along with its use as an examination centre. Two separate building housing a branch of Allahabad Bank and a sub-Post Office are also part of the University. Samajiki Manviki Bhawan was built about seven years ago. Besides the general maintenance and repair work and the general beautification of the campus on a large scale some hectic construction activities are also currently going on in the University. Buildings of Department of Business Management and of Biotechnology have been constructed. Additional lecture halls have been added in the Arts Faculty Building.