1 - Devtaa Built Cities
[From Bhavishya
Puraan, 3/19]
It is really
interesting to know that some cities were established by Devee and
Devtaa only. Bhavishya Puraan describes the origin of Braahman, in its
3-Pratisarg, 4th Part. It says that after 1,000 years of Kali Yug passed
a Braahman named Kaashyap [3-Pratisarg-5]
came on Prithvi by the order of Devtaa. He had 10 sons. One of those
sons' name was Shukla. All these cities were built by Devee for Agni
Vanshee kings.
Ajmer
Built
by Lakshmee Jee for Brahmaa Jee. Vayahaani (Chapahaani or Chauhaans) ruled there.
Ambaavatee
Puree
Built by Ambaa Devee, King Pramar ruled there.
Dwaarakaa
Krishn gave this Dwaarakaa to Shukla (Kaashyap's son), as Shkla pleased
Krishn by doing Tapasyaa on Raivat mountain.
Gaud Desh
This place
was not only built by her, but she lived there. Shak named king, worshipped
Mahaalakshmee. After 3 years, she lived there in the form of Kaamaakshee
to please her Bhakt.
Indraprasth
Vayahaani's son was Tomar who worshipped Shiv for one year, so pleased
with his worship he gave him Indraprasth city.
Jayapur
From Chauhaan Vansh, there was a king named Mantradev whose son was
Jayasinh. He inhabited this city.
Kaanyakubj
(present Kannauj)
Raashtrapaal's son Prajaya also worshipped Shaaradaa
Devee. Pleased with his worship, she appeared before him in the form of
a Kanyaa (girl) and asked him to ask for a Var. He asked for a city, so
she gave him this city. Since it was given by a Kanyaa and the place
itself was a bit odd shaped, that it was called Kaanyakubj - Kaanya
means Kanyaa, and Kubj means odd shaped.
Kalikaataa Puree
(present Calcutta)
Kaalivarmaa, a descendent of Parihaar, worshipped
Mahaakaalee. Pleased with him, she showered many buds of several flowers
which created a city, which became famous with the name of Kalikaataa
Puree.
[According to
"A New History of India" by Lumpert - "There
was a Kaalee shrine from which "ghaat" (steps) descended to
the water, hence its name was Calcattaa may have been derived from the
words "Kaalee-Ghaat"." It matches with the above
description.]
Kalinjar
Parihaar, a knower of Atharv Ved, worshipped Devee. Pleased with his
worship, Devee built a beautiful city (of 1 and 1/2 Yojan extension) on
Chitrakoot Parvat for him. Kali was imprisoned in this city and Kali
never enters this city, that is why this city became famous with the
name "Kalinjar".
Mahaavatee
Raashtrapaal worshipped Shaaradaa Devee and attained Vaishnavee Power.
Devee kindly gave him this city protected by Mani Dev.
Multaan
According to Padm Puraan,
5/16, this city was built by Devtaa.
Saambpur
According to Bhavishya Puraan, p 99, Saambpur was inhabited by Saamb,
Krishn's son from Jaambvatee.
Shaahjahaanbaad
Built and inhabited by Emperor Shaah Jahaan, during 17th century AD. It
was built in 10 years.
There are some other
cities and countries which have their own stories -
Kaling
A kingdom in the region which later became known as Udeesaa.
The name of this kingdom became immortal in the history of India because
of the tragic invasion of Emperor Ashok in 260 BC. He captured it by
winning perhaps the fiercest war in the history of India. It is said
that in this war 100,000 soldiers were killed, more than the number of
helpers and civilians died, and 150,000 were made prisoners of war. Even
though Ashok won this war, killing of so many people and destruction of
the society at this scale changed his mind and he had decided to win
people not by war but by goodness. He converted to Buddhism and started
spreading Buddhism with the same vigor with which he used to wage wars.
Kaling kingdom again flourished and prospered.
[Aangiras, p 101]
Kambuj
Name of a country, later called Combodia. The word Combodia is derived
from the Sanskrit word Kambuj. Part of what became Combodia was called
Funnan in the 2nd century AD. This kingdom was established by Kaundinya
- a Hindoo King who along with his descendants ruled the country for a
100 years. In the 4th century, another descendant of Kaundinya took over
the country and established Hindoo culture throughout the country. Hindoo
ruled this country until the end of the 13th century, where Ved were
recited regularly. The last great Hindoo King of Kambuj was Jayavarmaa,
the VIIth, who, extended his empire to include what later became
northern Myanmaar, Vietnaam, Laaos, Thaailand and northern Malayasia.
In the 13th century Kambuj
was taken over by a Buddhist monarch. From then on Hindoo rule was
replaced by Buddhist. Combodia contains the famous Angkor Vat temple of
Vishnu which reflects the height of achievement of Hindoo architecture. Its
many ideas have been incorporated in the construction of Taaj Mahal.
[Aangiras, p 97]
Kannauj
A city in western
UP. This is one of the oldest city of the world. It is 4,000 or more
years old. It was the capital of Kaanyakubj kingdom, when Jahnu, the
ancestor of King Kaushik, the grandfather of Vishwaamitra, ruled.
Perhaps Jahnu was the founder of this kingdom. The kingdom of Kaanyakubj
came to an end when Vishwaamitra decided to leave it and become an
ascetic Braahman.
King Harshvardhan made it
his capital in the beginning of the 7th century AD. Harsh is famous for
organizing a religious conference in which close to 1,000 religious
leaders participated, including the Buddhist Chinese visitor Huen Saang.
This conference lasted for 21 days. The lecture of Huen Saang on
Mahaayaan annoyed Heenyaan Buddhists and they tried to harm him
physically, but Harsh saved him. While the deliberations of the
conference annoyed Braahman and they tried to kill the King himself, but
failed.
It became famous again,
after 100 years, when Yashovarmaa became its King and extended it to all
the way to what later became Bangaal. In 12th century AD, Jaichand
became its ruler. After him its culture decayed completely.
[Aangiras, p 95]
Kapilvastu
A town where
Siddhaarth (later known as Gautam Buddha or Shaakya Muni) was born.
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