Pandav Sthan ( Maithili: पांडव स्थान,

Romanised In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

: ''Pāṇḍavasthāna'') also known as ''Panr'' is an ancient

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

site in the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. It is related to 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 ...

. It is located at Panr village of the Dalsingsarai block in the

Samastipur district Samastipur is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar in India. The district headquarters are located at Samastipur. The district occupies an area of 2904km² and has a population of 4,261,566. Samastipur was the largest milk producing distr ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

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 ...

. Presently there is a temple known as ''Pandava Krishna Dham Mandir'' near the site in which the statues of

Lord Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: 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 wi ...

and the five

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

are installed. In historical records, Panr has been mentioned as an ancient and historical city on the Ganges plains of the Mithila region.{{Cite book , last=Mishra , first=Shiva Kumar , url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Educational_Ideas_and_Institutions_in_An.html?id=0iWcAAAAMAAJ#panr%20mithila , title=Educational Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India: From the Earliest Times to 1206 A.D. with Special Reference to Mithilā , date=1998 , publisher=Ramanand Vidya Bhawan , isbn=978-81-85205-71-7 , pages=165 , language=en

Description

According to the director ''Vijay Kumar Chaudhary'' of the Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

, the

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

proves that the antiquities found here are about 3600 years old. Similarly a 400-years-old civilization was also found here. It became an important trading center from time to time until the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

period. During the Kushan period, the entire area was developed as a city. The

Chief Minister of Bihar The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional h ...

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

, and other political leaders also inspected the excavations. They also said that this archaeological site should be given the status of a tourist spot but later the excavations were stopped and neglected. Nowadays the local residents are making the lands of the site as fertile soil for agriculture purposes.

Excavations

In the year 2002, archaeological excavations were conducted in which evidence of the '' Kushan civilization'' was found there. Till the year 2020, eight archaeological excavations were conducted at the site. The excavations were conducted in the supervision of the Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute in Patna. The archaeologists were deputed to this site by the research institute to supervise the excavations. According to these excavations, the entire area is divided into three cultural phases. They are 2000 BCE Copper Age, 300 BCE black polished pottery and 100 BCE pre-Kushana period. It is spread over about 22 acres of land. In the excavations, some walls of thickness ranged from 45 cm to one meter wide as well as 15 pillers were found at the site. An inscription in

Brahmi script Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...

was found on a piece of pottery. After reading the inscriptions of the Brahmi script on the piece of the clay pottery, some information about the ruler and the governance system was obtained. Similarly some idols which are related to

Nath Natha, also called Nath (), are a Shaivism, Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism, Tantra and Yoga traditions of the Indian subcontinent.

Puja were excavated from the archeological site. According to the archaeological remains found, the site is identified as a 350 to 4000 years old copper age civilization. The archaeologists have also excavated the antiquities of copper coins with portraits of kings, copper bowls, tools, seals, pottery, sculptures, onyx stones, beads, black lustrous pottery, ivory and Kushan coins, etc. According to the

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

examination conducted for these antiquities at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeontology in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

revealed that all these items were about 3600 years old.

Legends

According to legend, it is believed that the

during their exile came here. The Pandava Sthan is associated with the legends of the

period. It is said that when the Kuru prince

Duryodhana Duryodhana (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ̪ʊɾjoːd̪ʱən̪ᵊ ), also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He is the eldest of the Kaurava, Kauravas, the hundred sons of King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gan ...

tried to kill the Pandavas by setting fire to the

Lakshagriha Lakshagriha (), also called the House of Lacquer, is a palace made of lacquer featured in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is the setting of an assassination plot in the epic, devised by the prince Duryodhana to murder his cousins, the Pandavas, ...

in the epic Mahabharata, then all the Pandavas came to this place through a tunnel and stayed here for several days. It was built as their shelter during the exile.

References

Archaeological sites in India Places in the Mahabharata Mithila Samastipur district Krishna temples