Arjuna married Chitragnda - the princess of the Manipura. Is this the same place as the current Indian state of Manipura?
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The current Indian state of Manipur?– Severus SnapeAug 13, 2021 at 16:53
1 Answer
Actually, it is not!
Mahabharata Adi Parva, Arjuna Vanavasa Parva Chapter 217 describes Arjuna's pilgrimage route.
Getting down from the Himalayas, he went eastward. He visited many famous pilgrimage sites in Anga (Bihar-Jharkhand) and Vanga (Bengal). For example, he went to Gaya kshetra. Then he went to Kalinga (Odisha).
From Kalinga, he went to Mahendra Parvat (Parasurama's ashrama was situated there in ancient times. It is part of the Sahyadri or Eastern Ghat mountain range).
From there, he went along the seashore and reached Manipur. So Manipur of Mahabharata was situated in Andhra or maybe in the modern-day Andhra-Odisha border. But definitely, it has no connection with the current Manipura state.
Here I am quoting the relevant verses from "A prose English translation of the Mahabharata (translated literally from the original Sanskrit text)" by Manmatha Nath Dutt, 1895, Calcutta. I have also added the link to the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguly. Though unfortunately, in that book, verse numbers are not there.
Whatever Tirthas and other holy places were in Anga, Banga and Kalinga, he went to all of them. - Mahabharata 1.217.9
Crossing (the country of) the Kalingas and seeing on his way many countries, holy places, and charming mansions, that lord proceeded on. - Mahabharata 1.217.12
Seeing the Mahendra mountain adorned with the ascetics and going slowly along the seashores, he went to Manipur. - Mahabharata 1.217.13
To the king of Manipur, the virtuous Chitravahana, who had a beautiful daughter named Chitrangada. - Mahabharata 1.217.15
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1Very well. had liked yesterday’s Q and had put a comment to find Manipura location but then deleted it. You can add a Tamil folklore of Alli and Arjuna maybe related to Chitrangada and Arjuna. Some say Alli is from Tamil Nadu only (south). But we don’t know which kingdom - Pandya chola Kerala? Aug 14, 2021 at 6:17
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@Archit, I do not know about that Tamil folklore. If you know, please add it as an answer. Aug 14, 2021 at 6:18
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4It just says from Kalinga, he went along sea-shore. It doesn't say south or north. He could have gone north along sea-shore, and Manipur is right there. It is very strange that you accept Anga as current state Bihar, Vanga as the current Stage Bengal, Kalinga as current state Odisha, but not Manipura as current state Manipur @Archit– marAug 14, 2021 at 14:52
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