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| {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Uttarā]] |
| {{short description|Character in Mahabharata}} | | |
| {{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}} | | {{Redirect category shell| |
| {{Infobox character
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| | info-hdr=Information
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| | name = Uttaraa
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| | image = File:Uttara crying for her husband.jpg
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| | alt = Uttara
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| | caption = Abhimanyu consoles Uttarā before leaving for the war
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| | family = [[Virata]] (Father), [[Sudeshna]] (Mother), [[Uttara (Mahabharata)|Uttara]], Shveta, Shankha (elder brothers)
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| | spouse = [[Abhimanyu]]
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| | children = [[Parikshit]]
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| | color = #FFC569
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| }} | | }} |
| In the [[Hindu]] epic [[Mahabharata]], '''''Uttarā''''' or Anglicized as '''''Uttaraa''''' (उत्तरा) was the daughter of Queen [[Sudeshna]] and King [[Virata]], at whose court the [[Pandavas]] spent a year in concealment during their exile. She was sister of [[Uttara (Mahabharata)|Uttar]], Sveta and Shanka.<ref>[[iarchive:puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/817/mode/2up|Uttara]]<nowiki>https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/817/mode/2up</nowiki></ref>
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| ==Training under Brihannala==
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| [[File:Brihannala.jpg|left|thumb|Uttarā (right) learning dance from Brihannala]]
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| It is also believed that Uttaraa had learnt dance from [[Arjuna]] during the [[Pandavas]]' year of exile-in the [[Matsya Kingdom]]. Living incognito, as was the term of the banishment, Arjuna lived a life of a [[eunuch]], named [[Brihannala]] and practised his art of dance learnt from the [[apsaras]] in [[heaven]].<ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/80 80]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref>
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| ==Marriage and widowhood==
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| [[File:Uttara Abhimanyu.jpg|thumb|left|Uttarā pleads to Abhimanyu as he leaves for the war]]
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| Once King [[Virata]] realized who Uttaraa's dance teacher was, he immediately proposed to offer his daughter to [[Arjuna]]. However, [[Arjuna]] clarified to King Virata the doting relationship that a teacher has with his/her student is like that of a [[parent]] and [[child]]. He then proposed to make Uttaraa his daughter-in-law by marrying her to his son, [[Abhimanyu]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mittal|first=J.P.|title=History of ancient India : a new version|year=2006|publisher=Atlantic|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788126906161|pages=530-531}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Abhimanyu|publisher=Amar Chitra Katha Private Limited|isbn=9788184821062}}</ref>
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| Uttaraa was widowed at a very young age when [[Abhimanyu]] was killed in the [[Kurukshetra war]]. When [[Abhimanyu]] died, Uttaraa tried to [[Sati (practice)|burn herself on the pyre]] of [[Abhimanyu]], but [[Krishna]] stopped her from doing so, informing her of her [[pregnancy]].
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| ==Ashwatthama's attack==
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| Towards the end of the Mahabharata war, with Uttaraa in [[Labor (childbirth)|labor]], [[Ashwathama]], son of [[Dronacharya]], while trying to avenge the defeat of [[Duryodhana]] and the [[Kaurava]] army, engaged in a war with Arjuna. Knowing he could not beat Arjuna conventionally, [[Ashwatthama]] invoked the potent [[Brahmashira]], despite the promise he had made to the father/teacher that he would never use such a weapon. When [[Arjuna]] fired a Brahmastra to match, [[Vyasa]] intervened, commanding both warriors to withdraw their weapons. While [[Arjuna]] successfully did so, [[Ashwatthama]] did not possess the required knowledge. [[Krishna]] suggested that [[Ashwatthama]] redirect the weapon to an [[uninhabited]] place. Regretful, tired, but still vengeful, [[Ashwatthama]] decided that if he could not end the [[Pandavas]], he would end their [[lineage (anthropology)|lineage]]. He fired the weapon at Uttaraa's womb, attacking the [[fetus]] form of [[Parikshit]]. [[Krishna]] intervened and revived the stillborn baby, giving [[Parikshit]] his name.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who was Raja Parikshit in Mahabharat and why the story of his death is philosophical|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/spiritual/religion/article/who-was-raja-parikshit-in-mahabharat-and-why-the-story-of-his-death-is-philosophical/588140|access-date=2020-08-29|website=www.timesnownews.com|language=en}}</ref> [[File:Krishna give life to dead child of Uttara.jpg|thumb|Krishna saves Uttarā's son|alt=|248x248px]]
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| As a punishment [[Krishna]] curses [[Ashwatthama]] that he would lose his source of power, the jewel that adorned his shining forehead. This loss of the jewel that adorned his forehead made [[Ashwatthama]] lose his state of mental alertness and he was forced to retire to obscurity as a derelict in the forests. [[Parikshit]] became [[heir]] to the [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru dynasty]] and eventually became king of [[Hastinapur]]. In due time, [[Parikshit]] gave Uttaraa a grandson, [[Janamejaya II|Janamejaya]].
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| ==References==
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| {{Reflist}}
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| {{Mahabharata}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Uttara (Mahabharata)}}
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| [[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
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