The original native name of this city is Prayaga, representing the sacred union of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. The name is still used by only Hindus to refer to the city.
The area became a part of the Mauryan and Gupta empires of the east and the Kushan empire of the west before becoming part of the Kannauj empire.
Prayag became a part of the Mughal Empire after the Mughal invasion of India in 1526. The Mughal emperor Akbar built a magnificent fort in Prayag. The city was the scene of Maratha incursions before colonial rule was imposed over India.
PrayagRaj is the king of all pilgrimage centers because Lord Brahma conducted first (pra) ten yajnas (yag) there at Dashaswamedh Ghat also located in Daraganj. Considering that Lord Brahma lives one hundred celestial years- equivalent to 311 trillion 40 billion earth years, and we are currently in fiftyfifth year of Brahma, and assumimg that Brahma performed first ten Yajnas when he was twenty years of age, it is established that it happened 110 trillions years ago."Lord Brahmā's day, consisting of his 12 hours, lasts 4 billion 320 million years, and his night is of the same duration." (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.8.2-5) [1]
ReplyDeleteLord Rama visited Prayag twice. The first stay was at Bharadwaj Ashram which still exists near University of Allahabad. Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana visited the Veni Madhav Temple during their fourteen year long exile and it was at Daraganj where "Nishad", the king of boatsmen, helped them cross the Ganges river. After killing Ravana,the "Pushpak Viman" carrying Lord Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman and the victorious army of monkeys and bears stopped over at Prayag again where Lord Rama and Lakshman did "prayashchit" for having killed Brahmanas. This happened 1.7 million years ago in Treta Yuga. NASA photographs confirm the bridge made of boulders between Sri Lanka and India and predict it to be 1.7 million years old. The famous debate between Shankaracharya and Mandan Mishra and his learned wife Bharati Mishra took place in 700 AD- Bharati Mishra was the judge. When the couple lost the philosophical debate and was about to enter alive in the pyre- according to "rules of engagement" in those days- Shankaracharya granted them pardon and right to live, and preach Vedic knowledge rather than Buddhism.
About 500 years ago, Lord Chaitanya preached the essential principals of devotion to Rupa Goswami for ten days at Dashaswamedh Ghat. There is a plaque bearing the historic marking "Rupa Shikshsthali" at Dashaswamedh Ghat. Not far is another plaque bearing the foot prints of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at Veni Madhava Temple, where Lord Chaitanya used to sing and dance everyday. Lord Chaitanya stayed for three nights at "Naag Vasuki " Mandir. About 500 years ago, Mirabai visited Daraganj and composed famous devotional poem "chalo man Ganga Yamuna teer". In 483 AD, Moghul Emperor Akbar named Prayag as Ilahabad - City of God- also called Allahabad. Founder of Arya Samaj Dayanand Saraswati too stayed at " Naag Vasuki " Mandir for three nights.
It is an important religious center with hundreds of Hindu temples, such as Dashaswamedh Temple, Veni-Madhav Temple, Naag-Vasuki Temple,"Bhishma Shaiya", Bade Hanumaanji Temple, and Sri Jagannath Temple. Thus, it is considered inappropriate to skip the visit to Dashaswamedh temple after bathing in the holy river of Ganges at the Daraganj Ghat. Next to Daraganj is the "Alopi Devi Mandir", It is a temple dedicated to "Mother Sati", the wife of Lord Shiva. The story as told in Puranas suggests that the Alopi Temple was the place where the last remains of Mother Sati fell, when Shiva was sadly carrying them around the world. To bring Lord Shiva out of his mourning, Lord Vishnu threw his "Chakra' at the remains causing the remains to drop at various places on the earth. The last piece of the remains dropped at this place. Hence the place came to be known as "Alopi" meaning disappearance (of remains).
[edit]Notable residents