Khandava Forest or Khandava Vana (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

: खाण्डव वन, ) or Khandavprastha ( sa, खाण्डवप्रस्‍थ; ) was an ancient

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

mentioned in the epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

. It lay to the west of

Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, 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 B ...

river, in modern-day

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

territory.

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

cleared this forest to construct their capital city called Indraprastha. This forest was earlier inhabited by

Naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Ri ...

tribes led by a king named

Takshaka Takshaka (Sanskrit: तक्षक, IAST: Takṣaka) is a Nagaraja in Hinduism and Buddhism. He is mentioned in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is described to be a king of the Nagas. He is one of the sons of Kadru. Takshaka also known i ...

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

cleared this forest by setting up a fire. The inhabitants of this forest were displaced. This was the root cause of the enmity of the Naga Takshaka towards the

Kuru Kuru may refer to: Anthropology and history * Kuru (disease), a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated with the cannibalistic funeral practices of the Fore people * Kuru (mythology), part of Meithei mythology * Kuru Kingdom, ...

kings who ruled from Indraprastha and

Hastinapura Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain text ...

. It is said that

Agni Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hi ...

, the god of fire needed to burn down the forest so that he could satisfy his hunger. There was no other thing that would have satisfied his hunger. But each time, he put up a fire there,

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

made it rain and the fire was put to a stop. So Agni disguised as a Brahman approached Krishna and Arjuna and asked for help. The Mahabharata states that

was the protecting deity (

deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

) of Khandava forest, which is why the region was known as Indraprastha. When the forest was being burned, Indra attacked Arjuna with his bolt (''vajra''), injuring him. But Arjuna defeated all gods,

Gandharva A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...

s and demons in that fierce battle and burnt the entire forest. All, but seven living creatures were consumed by Agni. The seven living creatures that were saved from the fire were, a naga named Aswasena (Son of Takshaka), Mayadanava and five Sarangakas (birds). The five birds were Jarita (wife of Rishi Mandapala) and their four children Jaritari, Sarisrikka, Stambhamitra and Drona. Rishi Mandapala who had earlier abandoned his family and left Khandava forest to live with his second wife "Lapita" was instrumental in convincing Agnideva to save his estranged family from the conflagration.Takshaka's wife sacrificed her life to save her son Aswasena, who later attempted to kill Arjuna during the Kurukshetra war by placing himself on one of Karna's special arrows.Takshaka later avenged the death of his relatives by becoming the reason of the death of Arjuna's grandson Parikshit.

Chhapadeshwar Mahadev Mandir Chhapadeshwar Mahadev Mandir is an ancient Shiv Temple located in Kharkhoda, Sonipat district. Each year, on the occasion of Mahashivratri a huge gathering of devotees takes place in the temple . According to the history books it was the part of K ...

Kharkhoda, Haryana Kharkhoda is a city and municipal committee in Sonipat district in the Indian state of Haryana and is a part of National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi. In Kharkhoda Chhapadeshwar Mahadev Mandir is very popular within the connected villages. At ...

was the part of Khandav Van.

Khanda Khanda may refer to: Places * Khanda, Sonipat, a very big and historical village in Sonipat district of Haryana, India * Khanda, Jind, a village in Jind district of Haryana, India * Khanda Kheri, a village in Hansi Tehsil of Hisar district of Ha ...

village in Kharkhoda

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its adminis ...

Sonipat district Sonipat district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in North India. Sonipat town is the district headquarters. It is a part of National Capital Region. It is bordered by Delhi, Panipat, Rohtak, Jind, Jhajjar and Baghpat (Uttar Pr ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

state was named after the Khandava Forest.

References

* {{Historical regions of North India Ancient Indian forests Mahabharata Locations in Hindu mythology Regions of Haryana

See also

References