The vastness of the Bharath, the land rich in heritage and cultural diversity
Mithila was remembered as the kingdom of Janaka and Sita in the Ramayana, as a centre of philosophical debate and learning in Vedic and Upanishadic tradition, and again in the Mahabharata as a land where questions of dharma, renunciation, kingship and liberation were explored through some of the epic’s most remarkable narratives.
In the Mahabharata, territories identified with southern and eastern Kosala appear particularly during Sahadeva’s southern Digvijaya, the military expedition undertaken before Yudhishthira’s Rajasuya Yajna.
The Mahabharata-era ruler most clearly associated with Kosala is King Brihadbala — Vrihadvala in some translations. He was defeated by Bhima during the Pandavas’ campaigns before the Rajasuya, but later fought on the side of Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War.
In modern geographical terms, the heartland of Kashi corresponds most closely to Varanasi and adjoining parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The exact political boundaries of a Mahabharata-era kingdom cannot be reconstructed with modern district-level precision, so any modern map should be treated as an approximate geographical representation rather than a fixed ancient frontier. The Government of Uttar Pradesh likewise identifies Varanasi with the ancient name Kashi.
Panchala was closely connected with the Kurus and formed one of the principal centres of later Vedic civilisation. Its royal courts, settlements and centres of learning appear in the Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, Puranas and the Mahabharata. In the epic tradition, it was the kingdom of King Drupada, Draupadi, Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi.
Kuru was more than the territory of a royal dynasty. It was a fertile riverine region in which clans were consolidated into an organised state, Vedic rituals were systematised, political authority became more structured and traditions that shaped later Indian civilisation acquired a durable form.
The Puranas later transform this Vedic riverine memory into a detailed sacred landscape. Kashmir appears as a northern region of Bharat, the dwelling place of sages and deities, the land of Sharada, the visible form of Goddess Uma and a country associated with Kashyapa, Vishnu, Shiva and Ananta.
Prathamshree Mahavihar forms part of Patan’s historic network of Buddhist monasteries, locally associated with the traditional bahi and bahal architectural traditions of the Kathmandu Valley. These complexes serve as places of worship, ritual practice, community gathering and preservation of Newar Buddhist traditions. The project covered the Gusthal Bahi and its Agam, a sacred component of the monastic complex used for religious and ceremonial functions.
The early history of Palakkad contains a mixture of inscriptional evidence, royal genealogies and regional traditions. After the decline of the Chera Perumals, Kerala became divided among hereditary chiefs and royal houses exercising authority over different nadus or territorial divisions. The prominent powers of the Palakkad region included the Valluvakonathiri of Valluvanad, the Kollengode Rajas of Vengunad and the Sekharivarma Rajas of Palakkattussery.
For generations of pilgrims from Nepal and India, Janakpur represents the maternal home of Sita. Ayodhya is remembered as the kingdom of Rama, while Janakpur is cherished as the city from which Janaki entered the royal household of Raghu. The sacred relationship between the two cities has shaped pilgrimage routes, devotional songs, wedding customs and family traditions across the Himalayan and Gangetic regions.
