Description

Kurukshetra (About this sound pronunciation;Hindi: कुरुक्षेत्र) is a city in the state of Haryana, India. Itisalso known as Dharmakshetra ("Holy Place"). According tothePuranas, Kurukshetra is a region named after King Kuru,theancestor of Kauravas and Pandavas, as depicted in epicMahabharata.The importance of the place is attributed to the factthat theKurukshetra War of the Mahabharata was fought on this landand theBhagavad Gita was preached here during the war when LordKrishnafound Arjuna in a terrible dilemma.[1] The populationofKurukshetra was 964,655 in 2016.

Before the establishment of a refugee camp named Kurukshetrain1947, Thanesar was the name of the tehsil headquarters andthetown. Thanesar or Sthaneswar is a historical town locatedadjacentto what is now the newly created Kurukshetra city. Thanesarderivesits name from the word "Sthaneshwar", which means "Place ofGod".The Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, whose presiding deity isLordShiva, is believed to be the oldest temple in the vicinity.Localhearsay identifies the legendary "Kurukshetra" with a placenearThanesar. A few kilometers from Kurukshetra is the villageknown asAmin, where there are remnants of a fort which is believedto beAbhimanyu's.

In most ancient Hindu texts, Kurukshetra is not a city but aregion("kshetra" meaning "region" in Sanskrit). The boundariesofKurukshetra correspond roughly to the central and western partsofstate of Haryana and southern Punjab. Thus according totheTaittiriya Aranyaka 5.1.1., the Kurukshetra region is southofTurghna (Srughna/Sugh in Sirhind, Punjab), north of Khandava(Delhiand Mewat region), east of Maru (desert) and westofParin.[2]

In early July 2013 the Haryana Department of Archaeology andMuseumsannounced that the earlier excavated remains of a Buddhiststupa inKurukshetra were ready to be displayed for thepublic.