Kurukshetra: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|City in Haryana, India}}

| image_caption            = Bronze chariot with [[Krishna]] and [[Arjuna]] in Kurukshetra (Haryana)

| demographics1_info1      = [[Hindi]], [[Haryanvi]]

| registration_plate      = HR-07

'''Kurukshetra''' ({{IPA-hi|kʊrʊkʃeːtɾə}}, {{audio|Kurukshetra.ogg|pronunciation}}) is a [[city]] and administrative headquarter of [[Kurukshetra district]] in the [[India|Indian]] state of [[Haryana]]. It is also known as '''Dharmakshetra''' ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the [[Bhagavad Gita]]".

[[Kuru Kingdom]], founded by [[King Puru]] - the ancestors of [[Kaurava]]s and [[Pandavas]] Vedic [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] tribal union in northern [[Iron Age India|Iron Age]]{{sfn|Pletcher|2010|p=63}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=6}} (c. 1200 – c. 900 BCE), developed into the first recorded [[State (polity)|state-level society]] ([[janapada]]) in the [[Indian subcontinent]].{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}<ref>{{cite book |editor=B. Kölver |year=1997 |title=Recht, Staat und Verwaltung im klassischen Indien |trans-title=Law, State and Administration in Classical India |language=de |place=München |publisher=R. Oldenbourg |pages=27–52}}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} This kingdom documented their ritual hymns into collections called the [[Vedas]], and developed new rituals which gained their position in [[Indian Culture|Indian civilization]] as the [[Śrauta|Srauta]] rituals,{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} which contributed to the "classical synthesis"{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} or [[Hinduism#Roots of Hinduism|"Hindu synthesis"]] (roots of Hinduism).{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2002}} It was the dominant political and cultural center of the middle Vedic Period during the reigns of [[Parikshit]] and [[Janamejaya]],{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} but declined in importance during the late Vedic period (c. 900 – c. 500 BCE) and had become "something of a backwater"{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} by the [[Mahajanapadas|Mahajanapada period]] in the 5th century BCE. Traditions and legends about the Kurus continued into the post-Vedic period, providing the basis for the [[Mahabharata]] epic.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} The time-frame and geographical extent of the Kuru kingdom (as determined by [[philology|philological study]] of the Vedic literature) corresponds with the archaeological [[Painted Grey Ware culture]].{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}

Kurukshetra reached the zenith of its progress during the reign of King [[Harsha]] (c. 590–647 CE) during which Chinese scholar [[Xuanzang]] visited Thanesar. Civil war broke out when Harsha (of the Pushyabhuti dynasty) died without a successor in 647. A Kashmiri army briefly conquered Kurukshetra in 733 but were unable to establish dominion in the area. In 736, the [[Tomara dynasty]] was founded and they took over the region. Around the early 9th century, Kurukshetra lost its independence to Bengal. [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] sacked Kurukshetra in 1014 and Muslim raiders sacked it in 1034. Kurukshetra was incorporated into the [[Delhi Sultanate]] in 1206. Other than a short moment of independence from the result of a rebellion within the Sultanate in 1240, Kurukshetra was under the control of Delhi until 1388.<ref name=":0" />

{{Pie chart|value1=83.47|value2=14.55|value3=1.66|value4=0.20|value5=0.12|color1=orange|color2=darkkhaki|color3=green|color4=blue|color5=black|caption=Religion in Kurukshetra city (2011) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiacensus.net/district/kurukshetra|title=Kurukshetra Population 2021}}</ref>|label1=Hinduism|label2=Sikhism|label3=Islam|label4=Christianity|label5=Other/Not Stated}}

Kurukshetra is an important Hindu pilgrimage destination, and there are several pilgrimage sites surrounding the city. The [[Hindi]] phrase ''[[48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra|48 kos parikrama]]'' refers to a roughly 90-km traditional circle ([[Parikrama]]) around the holy city (1 kos equals about 3.00&nbsp;km or 1.91 miles), and a complete ''[[parikrama]]'' refers to a pilgrimage to all these sites on foot.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kurukshetra.nic.in/MAPs/ReligiousMap/map.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625103022/http://www.kurukshetra.nic.in/MAPs/ReligiousMap/map.jpg |archive-date=25 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/k’shetra-village-renamed-after-mahabharata’s-abhimanyu-481841|title=K'shetra village renamed after Mahabharata's Abhimanyu|first=Tribune News|last=Service|website=Tribuneindia News Service|access-date=29 December 2019}}</ref> The International [[Gita Mahotsav]], held every year in Kururukshetra on the [[Paksha|Shukla]] [[Ekadashi]] - the 11th day of the [[waxing moon]] of the [[Margashirsha]] (''Agrahayan'') month of the [[Hindu calendar]], celebrates the day ''[[Bhagvad Gita|Bhagavad Gita]]'' was revealed to ''[[Arjuna]]'' by ''[[Krishna]]'' in the [[Kurukshetra War|battlefield of ''Kurukshetra'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/intro.html|title=Bhagavad-Gita: Chapter|website=bhagavad-gita.org}}</ref>  

* [[Brahma Sarovar]]: Every year [[lakh]]s (hundreds of thousands) of people come to take a holy bath at Brahma Sarovar on the occasion of "Somavati Amavasya" (Sacred No-Moon Day that happens on a Monday) and on solar eclipses. They believe that a bath in the holy Sarovar frees all sins and cycle of birth-death. The Sarovar is one of Asia's largest man-made ponds.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/brahma-sarovar/as50366226.cms|title=Brahma Sarovar|last=Aggarwal|first=Chandni|newspaper=The Times of India|access-date=3 September 2019}}</ref> [[Hindu genealogy registers at Kurukshetra, Haryana|Hindu genealogy registers]] are kept here.

*[[Sannihit Sarovar]]: The pond is believed to be the meeting point of seven sacred Saraswatis. The Sarovar, according to popular belief, contains [[Sacred waters|sacred water]]. Bathing in the waters of the tank on the day of Amavasya (night of complete darkness) or on the day of an eclipse bestows blessings equivalent to performing the Ashvamedh Yajna.

* [[University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kurukshetra University]]