Located 27 kms from the City of
Kurukshetra, Pheowa derives its name from the Sanskrit Word Prithudaka. The
Word Prithu means the best & udaka stands for greatest happiness. The
origin Of it traces back to Rig Veda & Atharva Veda which mentions of King
Prithu the first coronated king on Earth who played a major role in introducing
agriculture & cultivation of seeds to humanity & also went to the
extent of flattening hills to establish civilizations. Pheowa was founded by
him & hence this is place as old as the Rig Veda.
While the Kurukshetra War was
fought over a total area of 192 kms (48 Kosh) spread across Jhind,
Kuruskshetra,Karnal, Palwal, Panipat & Kaithal, Pheowa is on the Western
side, where Yudhistir guided by Dwarikadhish Sri Krishna had performed the
Shraddha ( last rituals) of the 4 million men slaughtered in the battle of
Kurukshetra. post which the duo lit two lamps in the nearby Kartikeya Temple
which even today keep’s burning.
During the Third Battle of
Panipat, Shrimant Sadashiv Rao Bhao decided to camp with his Maratha Army here
in Pheowa before launching a full scale attack on Ahmad Shah Abdali,
considering that he was having with him almost a lakh of civilians who accompanied
the Maratha Army for pilgrimage.
It was during
this two month stay that he built the Pashupatinath Temple in resemblance to
the Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath, wherein the Lord Shiva Lingam has four heads. It’s
a grand temple built on a raised platform & the Lingam is made of
touchstone.
While Pheowa has numerous ghats,
& temple’s but it was the sacred Saraswati river which flowed by it’s side
made it so special wherein as per Rig Vedic rituals & having created by
Lord Bramha himself also made the Pandavas & Sri Krishna select this for
the final rites of the departed soldiers & chieftains. While it’s said that
King Prithu had also performed the funerary rites of King Vena, his father, the
tradition of offering the Sharaddha even continue’s today. After Gaya
(Jharkhand) & Jajpur (Odisha) Prithudaka or Pheowa is the only other place
wherein the last rites of Sharddha is considered extremely purifying.
Interestingly it’s believed that
the heaven is One Yojana from Gaya, Half from Prayag (Allahabad), One Kosh from
Haridwar but only a cubit away from Prithudaka. As per Rig Veda (read this
carefully) & making it extremely interesting, that a Sin committed anywhere
is washed away in Prayag, a sin comitted in Prayag is washed away in Ganga,
committed in Ganga washed away in Kashi, committed in Kashi is removed at
Kurukshetra & if a sin is made at
Kurukshetra is washed away in Prithudaka.
Our series on Kurukshetra will
continue with the 8th Episode will be touching Bramha Sarovar.
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