[KALKI]

Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra is the name of a city in the present-day Indian state of Haryana. The name literally means

"Land of the Kurus" after the famous Kuru vansha (clan), but is also sometimes referred to as Dharam Kshetra meaning the "Land of Righteousness".

It purports to be the site of the Kurukshetra war, described in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. Nevertheless, this place holds inestimable importance in Hinduism as this is where the Bhagavad Gita ("The Song Celestial") was recited to Arjuna amidst the battle field, just before the great war of Mahabharata.

A few kilometeres from Kurukshetra is the village, Amin where there are remnants of a fort and it is said to be Abhimanyu's fort.

Thanesar, a historical town is located adjacent to Kurukshetra city. "Kurukshetra" is in fact the name of a mythological battlefield, where the Mahabharata war was waged, the actual location of which is impossible to confirm. Local hearsay identifies the legendary "Kurukshetra" with a nearby obscure hamlet, and with the active abetment of the state government, it is presently experiencing a tourist boom.


In some ancient Hindu texts, the boundaries of Kurukshetra correspond roughly to the state of Haryana. Thus according to the Taittiriya Aranyaka 5.1.1., the Kurukshetra region is south of Turghna (Srughna/Sugh in Sirhind, Punjab), north of Khandava (Delhi and Mewat region), east of Maru (=desert) and west of Parin.


Mahabharat states that the war lasted eighteen days during which vast armies from all over ancient India fought along the sides of the two rivals. The importance given to the narration of this war is evident from the fact that while the duration entire story of the epic lasts centuries dealing with a number of generations of the warring families, the narration of the war forming more than a quarter of the book deals with the events of a mere eighteen days.

Much of the narration describes the individual battles of the various heroes of both sides, the battle-field deaths of some of the prominent heroes, the military formations employed on each day by both armies, the war diplomacies, meetings and discussions among the heroes and commanders before the commencement of war on each day, the weapons used, etc. The chapters (Parvas) dealing with the war, from chapter six to ten, are considered amongst oldest in the entire Mahabharata.

Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text of Hindu philosophy, is considered a later addition to Mahabharata is the conversation between the Pandava Arjuna and Krishna arising out of Arjuna's reluctance to fight members of his own family.