Indraprastha

The city of Indraprastha ("City of Indra") (Sanskrit: इन्‍द्रप्रस्‍थ), a city in ancient India that was the capital of the kingdom led by the Pandavas in the "Mahabharata" epic. It was located upon the banks of the river Yamuna and close to the modern national capital of Delhi.

When Yudhisthira, the eldest of the five Pandava brothers was given the kingdom of "Khandavaprastha", a region northwest to the city of Hastinapura, a land cursed with barren and arid soils, diseased and dangerous forests and famine. However Lord Krishna summoned Indra, the king of the Devas to help Yudhisthira, who in turn summoned the Deva architect Vishwakarman.

After the Kurukshetra War, Yudhisthira, now king of Hastinapura retained control of his city. It is not known what happened after the Mahabharata epic.

Hindu monarch Raja Dhilu is said to have founded the ancient city of Delhi close to Indraprastha. [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/3440/books.html Swami Dayananda Saraswati, "Satyarth Prakash."]

References

ee also

* Hindu mythology