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Mahabharata
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There was a big 3 weeks battle which is called "Mahabharat" between the Pandavas and Kauravas in which Lord Krishna played a important part, Battle was fought on the plains of Kurukshetra.
As Pandu is cursed with death if he ever has intercourse with his wives, the actual fatherhood of the children is traditionally attributed to various gods, by the boon that was given to Kunti by Durvasa. According to the story, Kunti was allowed to call on each of the devas for a son, who would be immediately borne to her .She was also able to transfer the boon to Madri.
Pandavas were sons of Pandu.Yudhishtira ,Bhima ,Arjuna (sons of Pandu's first wife Kunti ), and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva (sons of his second wife Madri).
All five brothers are married to one woman, the princess Draupadi. Arjuna however is the one who actually wins her in a Swayamvara. Among the many towns and cities founded or visited by the five brothers individually or together, five prasthas (cities) are prominently mentioned and still exist. These were Indraprastha (Delhi), Panprastha (Panipat), Sonprastha (Sonipat), Tilprastha (Tilpat) and Vyagprastha (Bagpat). The Pandavas engaged in the Mahabharata war with their one hundred cousins, the Kauravas
. Arjuna is one of the heroes of the epic Hindu Mahabharata. His name means 'bright', 'shining', or 'silver'. The third of the five Pandava brothers, Arjuna was the youngest of the children borne by Kunti, first wife of Pandu
The term Kaurava means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahabharata. The term is used in the Mahabharata with two meanings;
1. the wider meaning, to represent all the descendants of Kuru. This meaning, which includes the Pandava brothers, is sometimes used in the Mahabharata, especially in some of the earlier parts.
2. the commoner and narrower meaning, to represent the elder line of the descendants of King Kuru. This restricts it to the children of King Dhritarashtra, as his line is the elder line of descent from Kuru. It excludes the children of the younger brother Pandu, who founds his own line, the Pandava.
Kuravas were children of Dhritarashtra, by Queen Gandhari .According to the standard texts, Gandhari wanted a hundred sons, and Vyasa granted her a boon that she would have these. She became pregnant, but did not deliver for two years, after which she gave birth to a lump of flesh. Vyasa cut this lump into a hundred and one pieces, and these eventually developed into a hundred boys and one girl.
This story should be read in view of the dispute over the succession to the throne of the kingdom. It attributes a late birth to Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, despite his father's early marriage. This legitimises the case for his cousin Yudhisthira to claim the throne, since he could claim to be the eldest of his generation.Although all hundred sons have been named, only the first few are normally mentioned in the Mahabharata. The first five are; Duryodhana ,Dushasana Dussala ,Jalagandha ,Sama ,Other named sons include Vikarna. Another important son was Chitra.,Sons of Kauravas fought in the Great War. Duryodhana had 29 sons of which few survived. On death of Dushasan, the second kaurava, Purujit was made Kaurava Yuvaraja. After his death, Sudarsha was created Yuvaraj. After defeat of all, Ashwathhama crowned Durmukha, young son of Duryodhana as next King and continued struggle. They migrated to the west and formed the Kathi tribe now living in Kathiawar, Gujarat.
The daughter is named Dusshalaa. All the male Kauravas were killed in the great battle at Kurukshetra.
History of Kurus - Kuru was the name of an Indo-Aryan tribe and their kingdom in the Vedic civilization of India. Their kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana .They formed the first political center of the Indo-Aryans after the Rigvedic period, and after their emergence from the Punjab, and it was there that the codification and redaction of the Vedic texts began. Archaeologically, they most likely correspond to the black and red ware culture of the 12th to 9th centuries BC. At this time, iron first appears in western India. Iron is still absent from the Rigvedic hymns, and makes its first appearance as "black metal" ( śyāma ayas) in the Atharvaveda.
The Atharvaveda refers to Parikshita as the king of the Kurus. His son Janamejaya figures in Satapatha Brahmana as well as in the Aitareya Brahmana. The Kurus in association with the Panchalas are frequently mentioned in the later Vedic literature.
In the epic times (final centuries BC), the region between the triangle of Thaneshwar, Hissar and Hastinapur was distinguished by three different names: (1) Kuru-Jangala equal to Rohtak, Hansi, Hissar; (2) Kuru-rashtra proper between the Ganga and Yamuna with its capital at Hastinapura and (3) the Kuru-kshetra comprising Thaneshwar, Kaithal and Karnal. The whole kingdom roughly corresponded to modern Thanesar, Delhi and the greater part of Upper Gangetic Doab. The rivers Aruna, Ashumati, Hiranvati, Apaya, Kausiki, Sarasvati and Drishadvati or Rakshi washed the lands of Kurus.
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