Madhu Forest or Madhuvana () was a dense forest in ancient northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, west of

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata

According to the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

, an

Asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

named ''Madhu'', ruled this forest and its territory. He was defeated by

Shatrughna ''Shatrughna'' (, ), also known as Ripudaman, is the younger brother of Rama, and King of Mathura, Madhupura and Vidisha, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of the Sudarshana Chakra of god Vishnu, and was married ...

one of the brothers of king

Raghava Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

Kosala Kosala, sometimes referred to as Uttara Kosala () was one of the Mahajanapadas of ancient India. It emerged as a small state during the Late Vedic period and became (along with Magadha) one of the earliest states to transition from a lineage ...

. Shatrughna later cleared this forest and built a city called

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

here. This later became the capital of

Surasena Kingdom This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indian religions. From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the north ...

as in the epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. Yadava kings Ugrasrena and Kamsa ruled from geographic information

In the Harivamsa

According to the Harivamsa (95.5242-8), a Yadava king Madhu, the descendant of Yadu ruled from Madhuvana. Rama's brother Shatrughna killed the Madhava Lavana, a descendant of Madhu, cut down the Madhuvana forest and built Mathura city there. After the death of Rama and his brothers, Bhima, son of Yadava#The Satvatas, Satvata, a descendant of Madhu recovered the city.Pargiter, F.E. (1972). ''Ancient Indian Historical Tradition'', Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p.170.

References

{{reflist Ancient Indian forests