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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]] by that she even became co-wife of Shashirekha ( [[Abhimanyu's ]] first wife) <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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| It is said that 15 years after the tragic war, [[Dhritarashtra]], along with his wife [[Gandhari (Mahabharata)|Gandhari]], sister in law [[Kunti]] and brother [[Vidura]] renounce in the forest. 2 months later [[Pandava|Pandavas]] and all the Hastinapur citizens desired to meet them. They all went to meet them. [[Vyasa|Sage Vyasa]] was also present there. All of them were missing the deads. So, Rishi Vyas made them alive for a day and all the citizens and royals spent time with their loved ones. But when it was time for them to leave, Vyasa asked all the widows who wish to join their husband to drown themself in the river Ganga along with their respective husbands. So, probably, Uttaraa also died along with all the wives of Kauravas.
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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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