HISTORY OF VADNAGAR-GUJARAT-COLLECTION

VADNAGAR – A HISTORIC TOWN OF GUJARAT

Situated at a distance of 112 km from Ahmedabad in the north direction, Vadnagar is a historic town known for its legends, battles, temples, forts, gates and large water bodies.

In ancient time Vadnagar was called Chamatkarpur. According to a legend, there was a king named Chamatkar who ruled Anarthdesh, the ancient Vadnagar. The legend tells us that he was suffering from leprosy due to a curse from a she-deer. With the advice of sages, the king did penance and took bath in the famous ‘Sankh Tirth’ situated in Vadnagar, and his leprosy was cured. Thereafter he established the town name Chamatkarpur.

Vadnagar was also known as Anarthapur, the capital of the kingdom of Anartha. Anartha is referred to in Mahabharata. It says: warriors from Anartha participated in Kurukshetra war on the side of both the Pandavas and the Karuavas.

Post Mahabharata war, Anarthapura was no more remained the capital city and seat of power. In its west a new and powerful city called Vallabhi became the capital of Gujarat. But Anarthapura continued to be a prosperous trading city. It remained as a cultural centre and patronized artists, sculptors, musicians, dancers and actors. The city was joyful and happy. By 2nd century AD, it came to be known as the Ananadapura - ‘the City of Joy’. It attracted monks and followers of Buddhism and Jainism. The city supported hundreds of Buddhist monks. Recent archaeological discoveries of a finely carved Buddha head from a farmland suggest the presence of Buddhism.

The city was visited by the Chinese traveller Huen T Sang twice. He wrote:

‘This country is about 2000li in circuit, the capital about 20li. The population is dense; the establishments rich. There is no chief ruler, but it is an appendage of Malava. There are some ten sangharamas with less than 1000 priests; they study the Little Vehicle of Sammatiya School. There are several tens of Deva temples, and sectaries of different kinds frequent them. Going west from Valabhi 500li or so, we come to the country of ‘Su-la-Cha’.

The city of Anandapura became very old and at some stage people started calling it Vruddhanagar. However, the city maintained its importance as a place of art, literature, music, drama, architecture, sculpture, learning and trade.

The city was conquered by the Malvas and ruined its prosperity. However, under the rule of Solankis (942 – 1244) the Malvas were driven out from Vadnagar. To strengthen its security the Solanki ruler Kumarpal rebuilt the fort around it in 1152 AD. The city reached to its zenith during the Solanki rule. Great many temples, palaces, residences, bazaars, wells, vavs, kunds, roads were built in and around the city. Yet the most remarkable among the Solanki remains are the twin torans, which were built in the 10th century as victory symbols over the Malvas.

The entire city had a protective fort with six gates built by the Solanki rulers.

Vadnagar has always been a city of temples. However, the most important is the temple of Hatkeshwar, a 15th century monument and the shrine of the Nagar Brahmins.

After about four centuries of peace Vadnagar was attacked, looted, burnt by the army of Delhi Sultanate. Yet, during the rule of Gujarat Sultanate, Vadnagar bounced back its prosperity. But it was short lived. In 1726 Marathas sacked it and it was practically burnt down into ashes. Many of its citizens fled. It was again looted in 1735 by Khandji Holker and in 1737 by Daqmaji Gaekwad. The city was left to ruin.

Vadnagar has been strongly associated with Nagar Brahmins, a caste of high order Brahmins known for their novelty and knowledge. Though Vadnagar has been the original home of Nagar Brahmins yet the city could never sustain them. Vadnagar was invaded several times and Nagar had to flee and seek refuge at various places. It is believed that it is because of Lord Hatkeshwar the Nagar families have never been able to permanently settle at Vadnagar.

In 1669 AD, Vadnagar was invaded by the Maharana of Mewar. In the Maratha regime Vadnagar was repeatedly invaded forcing Nagars to move out of the city. In 1693, Aurangzeb ordered the destruction of the Hatkeshwar temple at Vadnagar. Shri Govindramji Tikaramji, a great poet of Shajapur has written ‘fed up the atrocities of the Muslim kingdom, our Nagar ancestors moved to Malva in 1400 bullock carts.’

ADHYTAMIK JAGRUTI JYOTISH SANSTHAN: ADHYATMIK JAGRUTI JYOTISH SANSTHAN

ADHYTAMIK JAGRUTI JYOTISH SANSTHAN: ADHYATMIK JAGRUTI JYOTISH SANSTHAN: JAI JAI JAI JAI HAI!!!!!!!!!

VADNAGAR -HATKESHWER MAHADEV -JAI HO

Known history of Vadnagar goes back to more than 2500 years. Vadnagar is referred to as Anartapur in Mahabharata. According to the great epic the Anarta warriors fought in the Mahabharata war on both the sides and the feud among them continued even after the war was over. Recent archaeological excavations have established the existence of a thriving city of religious and cultural activities at the location around the 1st century.
It is also said that Vadnagar was the earliest capital of Gujarat. Vadnagar's main is located inside the walls of a fort which has 6 huge gates namely Arjun Bari, Nadiol, Amarthol, Ghaskol, Pithori and Amarthol in which Amarthol gate area is the oldest existing part of the town. The river Kapila used to flow through the town of Vadnagar.
There are scores of temples dedicated to almost every God: Shiva, Chhabila, Hanuman, Ashapuri Mata, Ambaji Mata, Vishnupuri, Gaurikund to name just a few. Of the numerous Shiva shrines, the 15th-century "Hatkeshver Mahadev" is the most important. He is the family deity of the Nagar Brahmins. Facing the east, it is enclosed by a high wall surmounted by three circular domes. From the roof of the sanctum rises a massive pinnacle, which soars high above in the sky. A massive congregation hall leads to the sanctum which houses a shivling said to have self-emerged or as it is said -"Swayambhu"(self emerged). The exterior of the temple is exquisitely and profusely ornamented with figures of the nine planets, regent deities, the chief gods of the Hindu pantheon, scenes from the life of Krishna and Pandava princes, besides the varied animal and floral motifs. The premises also house an older Swaminarayan Temples (one for male and one for females), two Jain derasars, a goddess Ashapuri temple (Shaktipith), goddess Bhuvaneshpuri Temple, Somnath Mahadev Temple, Daaneshwar Mahadev Temple and Vishnupuri Temple (it is said that God Vishnu himself had stepped here).

Vadnagar is famous to kirti toran and Hatkeshwar Temple.Vadnagar to mehsana distance is 48 k.m and Ahmedabad is 112 k.m.
The name of the Nag King, the grand father of Babrovahan was Hatak and therefore Lord Shiv, his principal deity, whose penance Babrovahan carried out was, called Lord Hatakeshwar. It is believed that Babrovahan joined his father Arjun and established a temple of Lord Hatkeshwar at Vadnagar.
 The exterior of the temple is exquisitely ornamented with figures of the nine planets, musicians , evocative dancing apsaras, regent deities, the chief gods of the Hindu pantheon , scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata , and varied animal and floral motifs. The premises also have an ancient Kashivishveshvara Shiva temple, a Swaminarayan temple and two Jain temples .Nearest Siddhapur is a railway station on Ahmedabad – New Delhi railway line, 42 k.m from Vadnagar.

NAGAR BRAHMIN AND HATKESHWER -VADNAGAR-GUJARAT

Nagar History

Nagars are believed to be one of the oldest of the Brahmin groups.Historians claim the origin of Nagars to be purely Aryan, having come to India from Southern Europe and Central Asia.

They migrated through the Hindu Kush to either Trivishtapa or Tibet; later through Kashmir and settled around Kurukshetra.

 Current research speculates the Aryan origin to be Hatak, where the predominant deity is Hatak, Hatkesh or Hatkeshwar.

 According to the Skandapurana, the land of Hatkeshwar was a gift from Lord Shiva for the Nagars to colonize.

 This after Lord Shiva created Nagars to celebrate his marriage to Uma.

Legend has it, this land (along with money) was awarded to the Nagars by King Chamatkar of Anarta for having saved his life.

 According to the story, the King was out on a hunt when he killed a deer suckling her young.

The deer placed a curse on the King. As a result of the curse, the King developed leukoderma. In the area, lived a small village of Brahmins, who, with the use of herbs, cured the King of his illness.

 King Chamatkar was thankful and offered them, as a reward, money and land. The Brahmins were men of high principle and believed in austere living; they refused the Kings offerings.

The queen then went to the village and spoke with the wives of the Brahmin

She persuaded 68 of the 72 into accepting the offer. The four who refused, left the village for the Himalayas with their family. Those who remained are called the founders of the Nagar family descendant identity or “Gotra”.

Another version of the legend claims the King of Anarta rebuilt an abandoned city, Chamatkarpur, and consecrated a temple to Hatkeshwar to show his gratitude to the Brahmins.

Through the years, and many name changes, the town is currently known as Vadnagar. The inhabitants of the city were known as Nagars.

As time passed, the city of Vadnagar was invaded on more than one occasion. Nagars sought refuge in the nearby areas of Saurashtra and Rajasthan. During this time, they did their best to observe and preserve the code, to guard their identity.

After King Vishaldev conquered Gujarat (around A.C.E. 1040), the King of Ajmer established the cities of Vishnagar (formerly Vishalnagar), Chitrod (or Chitakutpati), Prashnipur, Krashnor, and Sathod (or Shatpad). He offered these cities to the Brahmins who were descendants or an offshoot of the Nagars from Vadnagar.

 “Nagar Samaj”

In mythology, the origin of Nagars is linked to the marriage of Lord Shiv to Uma. Lord Shiva created a sect of Brahmins to perform his marriage with Uma and asked these Brahmins to settle in the Hatkeshwar kshetra.
Another tale depicting the origin of Nagars goes telling the story of a Brahmin boy Kratha who was once roaming about Nag Lok-Nag Tirth the abode of Nags (Serpents) and while roaming he happen into a confrontation with Rudamal - the Nag prince. 

Rudamal was killed in the confrontation. Enraged by the killing of his son, the Nag King vowed to destroy the entire community of the killer of his son and in the process invaded the town, which is believed to be the present day Vadnagar, where Kratha- the Brahmin boy, lived. Several of the Brahmin families living in the town were killed and several families fled the town.

The fleeing Brahmin families took refuge with Trijat, a great saint and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Trijat advised the Brahmins to worship and please Lord Shiva, which they did. Lord Shiva, however, expressed his inability in destroying the Nags as they were also his devotees.

 He however, blessed the Brahmins with the powers with the help of which the Brahmins could nullify the poison of the Nags.

 The Brahmins returned to their town with the blessings of Lord Shiva and were called Nagars - Na-Gar, i.e. without any poison. (The Nagar community is therefore also revered as the most sacred among the Brahmins as they do not possess any poison in them in the form of any evils.) However, when the Brahmins returned to their town they had grown very old (vriddha) and therefore the town was known as Vriddha Nagar or the city of the old. The name later became Vadnagar. Incidentally, Lord Krishna was also referred to as Nag-Har since he destroyed Kaliya in the river Yamuna.

Another similar story says that the Brahmins of Chamatkarpur were frequently persecuted by the community of Naags. It is believed^[ that a child widow named Bhattika was kidnapped by them. This led to a bitter fight between the Brahmins of Chamatkarpur and Naags. 

It happened during the reign of King Prabhanjna. A son was born in his house at an inauspicious time. At his request, the Brahmins of Chamatkarpur performed a sacrifice for “shanty” (peace) but all they got in return was an epidemic. The Brahmins came to learn from the fire god that some one among them was not pure. One Prabhavdatta wore the cap, went to the forest, practiced penance and propitiated Lord Shiv.

 The Brahmins of Chamatkarpur who were persecuted by Naag community sought shelter from Prabhavdatta, who had now the blessings of Lord Shiv. Lord Shiv gave them the Nagara Mantra by which the Naags could be subdued. The Brahmins of Chamatkarpur thereafter once again fought the Naags and defeated them. They accepted Prabhavdatta as their leader and since then Prabhavdatta is known as Bhartiyajna.

Manshankar Pitamberdas Mehta identifies Prabhanjna of Anarta country with the Kshatrapa ruler of Gujarat, King Rudradaman-II. He comes to the conclusion that the fight of the Vadnagara Nagar Brahmins with the Naag community took place in AD 347 and that Vadnagar was regained by the Nagars in AD 348. Hence the significance of the Samvat Year 404 corresponding to AD 348 is invariably referred to by the Vadnagar Nagar Brahmins in the Uptamani, which is read at the end of the Marriage ceremony. It is said  that a man of a very low caste once impersonated a Nagar and married a Nagar girl. When the truth came to the knowledge of the girl, she burnt herself to death. After this incident, Prabhavdatta of Bhartiyajna, who had by then laid down special rules and regulations for the benefit of Nagars, declared that no one should have his daughter married without making proper enquiries and thus the custom of reading the Uptamani (the names of the leading members of the two families and other members of the community) came into existence - from Samvat year 404 or AD 348.