Virata Kingdom

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Matsya Viratnagar in the Mahajanpad period

Virata was a kingdom ruled by the Matsya king by the name Virata. It was here that the Pandavas spent their 13th year of anonymity () after their 12 years of forest-life () in the forests of Kamyaka and Dwaita. It was also known as , modern Bairat in the Jaipur district of Rajasthan. Akhnoor, a town in Jammu and Kashmir is also considered by some as the Virat Nagar.^[1] Upaplavya was another city in this kingdom where the Pandavas and their allies camped before the beginning of the great Kurukshetra War.

King Virata and his sons took part in the great war and perished. Virata's daughter Uttara married Arjuna's son Abhimanyu and gave birth to Parikshit who later became the Kuru king after the reign of the Pandavas. Buddhanagar: Archaeological survey in 1960 also found ruins of a temple estimated to be built around the 1st century BCE, around the time of the Mahabharat.

See also[]

• Matsya Kingdom
• Kingdoms of Ancient India

References[]

• Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

This Indian history-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t