Raivataka mountain was a mountain mentioned in the epic
Mahābhārata and in the
Harivaṃśa-purāṇa 2.55.111. In the Mahabharata it was mentioned as situated in the
Anarta Kingdom
Anarta is a Vedic period kingdom of ancient India described in the Mahabharata, roughly forming the northern Gujarat state of India. It was founded by a grandson of Vaivasvata, inter alia the father of the present Manu and of Yama, named Anarta. ...
. In the Harivaṃśa-purāṇa it is "close to the sporting ground of the King Raivataka" (2.56.29) and called "the living place for the gods" (2.55.111). People from
Dvārakā
Dvārakā, also known as ''Dvāravatī'' (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated ity, possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of H ...
visited this mountain and celebrated its worshipping as a grand festival. The same mountain also features prominently in Māgha's
Śiśupāla-vadha
The Shishupala Vadha ( sa, शिशुपालवध, IAST: ''Śiśupāla-vadha'', ''lit.'' "the slaying of Shishupala") is a work of classical Sanskrit poetry ('' kāvya'') composed by Māgha in the 7th or 8th century. It is an epic poem in 20 ...
. This mountain is identified to be the
Girnar
Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India.
Geology
Mount Girnar is a major igneous plutonic complex which intruded into the basalts towards the close of the Deccan Trap period. The rock types identified in this complex are ga ...
mountains in
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
.
[Vittam Mani Puranic Encyclopaedia, p.626]
References
Ancient Indian mountains
{{Junagadh-geo-stub