Virata Kingdom

Virata was a kingdom ruled by the Matsya king by the name Virata. It was here that the Pandavas spent their 13th year of anonymity (Ajnata Vasa) after their 12 years of forest-life (Vana Vasa) in the forests of Kamyaka and Dwaita. Its capital was Virata Nagari, modern Bairat in the Jaipur district of Rajasthan. Akhnoor, a town in Jammu and Kashmir is also considered by some as the Virat Nagar.[1] Upaplavya was another city in this kingdom where the Pandavas and their allies camped before the beginning of the great Kurukshetra War.

Matsya Viratnagar in the Mahajanpad period

King Virata and his sons took part in the great war and perished. Virata's daughter Uttara married Arjuna's son Abhimanyu and gave birth to Parikshit who later became the Kuru king after the reign of the Pandavas. Buddhanagar: Archaeological survey in 1960 also found ruins of a temple estimated to be built around the 1st century BCE, around the time of the Mahabharat.

See also

References
  1. Akhnoor: Caught in a time warp - The Hindu
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