[2] Mainpuri is located in the Braj region, which holds special religious significance to Hindus as the homeland of Krishna.

Mainpuri is located on a branch of the historical Grand Trunk Road, about 110 km from the city of Agra.

In this area, up until about 1 km downstream of Mainpuri, the Isan has a relatively shallow bed and often overflows during the monsoon season.

Three bridges cross the Isan river in Mainpuri; the northernmost is by the Devi temple on the road to [[KURAWLI].

Mainpuri railway station was deliberately built in the middle of an unproductive usar plain so it wouldn't take away from the available farmland.

[4]: 229–31 According to tradition, a branch of the Chauhan Rajputs came to Mainpuri from Asauli under one Raja Partab Rudr sometime between 1363 and 1391 (1420-1448 samvat).

[4]: 231 A new site called Mukhamganj, which is now the main part of town, was founded in 1746 by Raja Jaswant Singh on the Grand Trunk Road.

It was named after Mukham Singh, who is variously recorded as a son of Jaswant's who born out of wedlock or as his own childless brother.

[4]: 232 In 1802, the British founded a civil station just east of Mainpuri to serve as the headquarters of the new Etawah district.

The three marketplaces built in the 1870s included one for vegetable produce, one for ghee and cotton, and one, called Laneganj after its builder, for grain.

In the hotter part of the year, the tank was fed by a canal coming up to the town from the south, where it ultimately branched off from the Nagaria distributary.

[4]: 230, 232 At the turn of the 20th century, there was still a large open area between the town of Mainpuri and the train station to the south.

Bhimsen Mandir is an ancient Shiva temple and Falahari Ashram situated on Jyoti-Devi Road has very a rare statue of the goddess Durga with 18 arms.

[citation needed] Cotton ginning, oilseed milling, lamp and glass manufacturing constitute the prominent industries.

Tarkashi work is typically a slow process – a plate with a 30 cm diameter can take up to 20 days – so the items tend to be relatively expensive.

It is the private property of erstwhile raja of two estates, Mainpuri and Lawan (Dausa, Rajasthan) and repaired, maintained and restored by him.

This bird, called krouncha in India, is revered as a symbol of marital fidelity and is celebrated in myth and legend.

Mainpuri District has a very high number of cancer patients due to consumption of kapuri (camphor) flavoured tobacco.

Major cities within a 300-kilometre (190 mi) range of Mainpuri include Agra, Delhi, Bareilly, Meerut, Firozabad, Shikohabad, Etawah, Jhansi, Gwalior and Kanpur.