Cities Of Mahabharata In Present Day || బయటపడ్డ మహాభారత కాలం నాటి నగరాలు || With Subtitles

Cities Of Mahabharata In Present Day || బయటపడ్డ మహాభారత కాలం నాటి నగరాలు || With Subtitles

Cities of Mahabharata in the present time

Let's venture into some cities that are mentioned in the great epic Mahabharata and find out their geographical location in present-day India.

Gandhar: Sindh Pradesh, Rawalpindi

This is an ancient city of Mahabharata times situated to the west of river Sindhu in Sindhu Pradesh. Dhritrashtra’s wife Gandhari was the daughter of King Subal of Gandhar. Gandhari’s brother Shakuni was Duryodhan’s maternal uncle, who defeated Pandavas by fraud in a gamble and became one of the reasons of the war of Mahabharata.

Takshashila: Rawalpindi, present-day Pakistan

Takshashila was an ancient city of Mahabharata time and capital of Gandhar Desh. Dhritrashtra’s wife Gandhari was the daughter of King Subal of Gandhar. After the war of Mahabharata, when the Pandavas left for the Himalayas, Parikshit was crowned the King. He died due to a snake bite. Then to take revenge of his death, Parikshit’s son Janmejay performed a “Nagyagya” in Takshashila and had many snakes killed.

Shivi Desh: South Punjab, north border of India

Shivi Desh was located on the north border of India in South Punjab. The grandson of the generous King Ushinar was a Shaivya, who had got his daughter Devika married to Yudhishthir. During the war of Mahabharata, Shaivya played the major role of an archer from the side of the Pandavas.

Hastinapur: Near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

Hastinapur, located near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was the grand city of Mahabharata time. This was the capital of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Hastinapur has witnessed many famous incidences described in the Mahabharata. Here, Yudhishthir lost his brothers and Draupadi along with his wealth in the game of gamble. Krishna had visited the court of Dhritrashtra being a peace messenger of the Pandavas. Before the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas, Bhishma had taken an oath here to not to marry in life and let go of his right to the throne as his father Shantanu wanted to marry a boatman’s daughter Satyavati. After winning the war of Mahabharata, Pandavas made Hastinapur their capital.

Varnavat: Near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

It is a city located near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, as described in the Mahabharata. It was here that Duryodhan built a Lakshgriha (wax house) to kill the Pandavas. This city is situated on the banks of the river Ganga. To avoid the war of Mahabharata, Pandavas had asked for five villages from the Kauravas, Varnavat being one of these five cities. Even today, there is a small village here named Barnava, which reminds one of the Mahabharata period.

Indraprastha: South of present-day New Delhi

Indraprastha was a grand city situated to the south of present-day New Delhi. The Pandavas had established this city after destroying Khandav Van (forest). Vishwakarma, the architect of the devtas (deities) had designed this city. This city was the capital of the Pandavas. Even today, there was a small town named Indraprastha, which reminds one of the ancient town Indraprastha.

Kashi: Uttar Pradesh

The ancient city of Mahabharata period, Kashi was famous as the chief education centre of India. Bhisma Pitamah had won over Amba, Ambika and Ambalika, the three daughters of the Kashi King. Bhisma wanted to get them married to Vichitravirya. Amba was in love with Shalya, brother of Shishupal, so she refused to marry Vichitravirya. So Ambika and Ambalika were married to Vichitravirya. Dhritrashtra was Ambika’s son and Pandu was Ambalika’s son. Dhritrashtra’s sons were called Kauravas and Pandu’s sons were called Pandavas. The Mahabharata war was fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas.

Dwarka: Gujarat

This is situated on the west coast of Gujarat and is an ancient city of the Mahabharata period. To protect the Yadavas from on and off attacks of Jarasandh, Lord Krishna shifted his capital from Mathura to Dwarka. In fact, there are two Dwarka cities. One is on the banks of River Gomati where Krishna settled the Yadavas and carried on the administration work of the state from there and the second one is Bet Dwarka, where the citizens resided. Marine Archeologists have found the sunken remains of Bet-Dwarka off the coast of Gujarat. It is estimated to be a couple of thousand years old.