HOLY CIRCUIT

        The ancient Kurukshetra did not comprise only the sacred tank or the town by this name. It was an extensive area with many cities and villages. This region-the holy circuit-comprises 48 Kosas or about 100 miles with a large number of temples and tanks of antiquity and traditions. It covered a wide area with the present Panipat and North-West corner of Jind district, in the west Saraswati and Yamuna rivers as its northern and eastern boundaries, respectively. According to Manu, it lay between the old sacred rivers Saraswati and Drishadwati and was known as Brahma-Varta.

        King Kuru is said to have made this land a great centre of spiritual culture. The Puranic story about this land is very interesting and runs thus:

        King Kuru selected this land on the bank of the sacred river Saraswati for spiritual culture and cultivation of eight-fold virtues. The king came here on his golden chariot and utilised its gold for making a plough for cultivation. He took the bull of Shiva and a buffalo of Yam on loan and started ploughing the land. India, the king of gods, came and asked Kuru as to what he was doing. The king replied that he was preparing the land for growing the eight-fold virtues of religious austerity (Tapa), Truth, Forgiveness, Kindness, Purity, Charity, Yoga, and Continence (Brahmcharya). Indra again asked the king as to where he would get the seed of virtues. The king replied that the seed was in his possession. At this the God Indra laughed at him and went away.

        After the kind had cultivated the land for several days God Vishnu appeared before the king and asked him as to what he was doing. The king replied in the same manner as he had done when questioned by Indra. God Vishnu asked the king to give him the seed and said that he would sow it for him.

        At this king Kuru put forward his right arm and the same was cut into thousand pieces with the Chakra of Vishnu and sown in the field. In the same way king Kuru's left arm, his tow legs and then his head were offered by him to God Vishnu for sowing.

        This act of the king pleased god Vishnu very much and he blessed him. God Indra also appeared at this stage and told the king that he was very much pleased with his sacrifice and told him to ask for any boon form him. The king thereupon begged of him two boons: one, that this land would forever remain a holy land named after himself, and the other, that any one dying here would go to Heaven irrespective of his sins or virtues.

        The story briefly related above is generally interpreted to mean that king Kuru with the wealth of his state established at Kurukshetra an extensive institution for the moral and spiritual culture of humanity as a whole.

        Kurukshetra has been a symbol of sanctity and holiness for centuries. A visit to this hallowed land of high religious and cultural significance is indeed a rewarding experience.

         Kurukshetra shot into prominence not only as the battlefield of Mahabharata and birthplace of Gita, but it was the centre of learning and civilisation even earlier. Mythology associates the area with creation by Brahma. The Aryans inhabited the land at the dawn of civilisation. River Saraswati which flows in it was mentioned in Rig veda like this. "Guide us, Saraswati, to glorious treasure; Refuse us not thy milk or spurn us from there". It was called Uttravedi, Brahmavedi, Dharamkshetra and Kurukshetra at different periods. In the Mahabharata period this holy land was known as Bahu-Dhanyaka (land of pleny).

        It has seen the rise and fall of many an empire through centuries. Sons of the soil fought invaders in the battlefield of Kurukshetra Bhumi from time to time and their exploites fill the pages of history.

      When Vardhanas rose to power from Sthanvishvara in sixth century, Kurukshetra regained much of its lost glory. The period of king Harsha was a golden age when it reached the peak of progress. Heium Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim of that time, writing of the period said: "In that country of gaiety and plenty the people were good natured, hospitable and magnanimous, devoted to their duties and shunning confusion of castes and cadres".

        Bana, the poet, described the capital of Sthanvishvara (Thanesar) as a splendid city having busy bazars, well-equipped emporia, elegant temples, splendid palaces, artistes, studios, sculptors, work-shops, colleges and schools.

         After Harsha, the Kurukshetra region did not enjoy enduring peace. However, the people continued to worship it as a holy land. During the British rule, it remained as a district headquarters in the pre-1857 era.