A journey to lesser known ancient cities of India - Hastinapur & Shukratal

"Once war has been undertaken, no peace is made by pretending there is no war." - Duryodhana (The Book of the Effort)

This time we headed to meet some of my relatives in residing in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. After greeting & meeting, they gave us the suggestion to visit ancient cities which are also mentioned in the Epic - Mahabharat.

Places to visit near Meerut/Muzaffarnagar:
Shukratal:-

It is situated 150km from Delhi, on the way to Haridwar.

Historical Significance- It's also known as Shukteerth. This place is named after the sage Shuk. There is a canal which is a part of Ganga. It is believed that Shuk used to visit here to worship Ganga every morning. Nearby, there is a Vat Vriksha(Banian tree). 





I had to capture this tree in 2 photos and still I could not cover it all as it is a huge tree.

Acc. to Hindu mythology, Shuk Muni recited the Bhagwat Katha(story) to King Parikshit(son of Abhimanyu who was son of Pandavas).For full story, read here. Also there is Dharamshala known as Shukdev Ashram(~homestay) where you can stay as well.

Timing- 6am-8pm
Parking Availability- Yes, Open & Free
Entry Fee - Free
Camera fee- free
Public Convenience- available, but less hygenic
Food- Rasoi(Kitchen) is available but there is timing for food distribution (7am-1pm,6pm-9pm)
How to reach- Hire local taxi or take bus from Delhi for Shukratal(few buses), so better take bus for Meerut and then take next bus.
Others- There is a Hanuman temple where the size of Hanuman statue is 72 feet. Few other temples are also there. Beware of Monkeys there. :)

Hastinapur:-
Hastinapur = Hastina(Elephant) + Pur(City)

Historical Significance- Acc. to the epic Mahabharata, Hastinapur is known as the home of Kauravas and Pandavas(Kuru Kingdom).It is also believed to be birth place of three Jain Tirthankaras. There is a near by place called Jambudweep where all Jain temples are available.
Timing- 6am-8pm
Parking Availability- Yes, Open&Free
Entry Fee - Free
Camera fee- free, not allowed inside temples
Public Convenience- available
Food- Not inside campus, but shops are outside available
How to reach- Bus from Delhi ISBT to Hastinapur or hire a taxi

According to Jainism, there are 3 lok(~place) exists which are represented in this building.


There are many other temples with amazing architecture. This place is neat & clean and full of parks. People come with their children and family to spend good time with them. For any history lover, this is definitely a worth to visit.









After visiting these temples, we came to know about small temple of Karna who played an important role in Mahabharata.

Karna temple:


This is the place in Hastinapur where Karna bestowed his Kavach(shield), Kundal(earrings) to Indra. You'll not find any status of Karna but the seat where he used to sit.

Jayanti Temple: Next we visited to Jayanti Shaktipeeth temple. This temple comes under UP Tourism Protected Monuments. There is a small well nearby. It is said that while Kauravs and Pandavs were playing ball, one of them threw the ball and it directly went inside this well. Then Guru Dronacharya came and pull the ball out of well.

According to Hindu mythology, there are 9 shaktipeeth(avatar of goddess). So we visited 1 of those shaktipeeth. It is very less known place and also its inside forest. It took 40 min from car to reach there.

BhadraKali Temple: This temple is around 10 km away from Hastinapur. You must have your own vehicle only to reach here.





This time being Navratri(9 days to worship 9 avatar of goddess), people were getting ready to get involved in village fair which was supposed to take place on last day of Navratri. 

After visiting all these sacred places, we all left for Meerut and after saying good bye to my relatives, we came back to Delhi.


Thank you for reading this article. If you have any query/suggestion, comment section is all yours. I'd be happy to hear from you. :)