Kurukshetra is a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as 'Dharamkshetra' ('Holy City'). According to the Puranas Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and Pandavas, as depicted in epic Mahabharata. The importance of the place is attributed to the fact that the Kurukshetra war of the Mahabharata was fought on this land and the Bhagavad Gita was preached on this land during the war when Lord Krishna found Arjuna in a terrible dilemma
History
It is written in Puranas that Kurukshetra is named after the King Kuru of Bharata Dynasty, ancestor of Pandavas and Kauravas.
The Vamana Purana tells how King Kuru came to settle on this land. He chose this land at the banks of Sarasvati River for embedding spirituality with 8 virtues- austerity (tapas), truth (satya), forgiveness (kshama), kindness (daya), purity (sucha), charity (dana), yagya and brahmacharya. Lord Vishnu was impressed with the act of King Kuru and blessed him. God gave him two boons, one that this land forever will be known as a Holy Land after his name as Kurukshetra (the land of Kuru) and the other that anyone dying on this land will be going to heaven. The land of Kurukshetra was separated between two rivers — the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati.
This land has been known as Uttravedi, Brahmavedi, Dharamkshetra and Kurukshetra at different periods. When King Kuru came on this land it was called Uttarvedi. Over the period this land has been ruled by many empires. Bharata Dynasty came and settled on this land.
Later Battle of Mahabharata was fought on this land during which Lord Krishna preached Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.
It reached zenith of progress during the reign of King Harsha during the period of which Chinese scholar Hieun Tsang visited this land at Thanesar. By the archaeological grounds it has been proved that Ashoka the Great made Kurukshetra a centre of learning for people from all over the world. Mughals also ruled this land. Sufi saint Sheikh Chehli's tomb on this land is an evidence of this fact.
