Abhimanyupur (formerly Amin) is a village in

Kurukshetra district Kurukshetra district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. The town of Kurukshetra, a sacred place for the Hindus, is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district occupies an area of 1530.00 km2. ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. This village is 8

kilometre The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the ...

s from the city of

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra () is a city and administrative headquarters of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Puranas ...

. This village is famous for being the site where

Abhimanyu Abhimanyu (, ) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He was a young and valiant warrior of the Kuru lineage, born to Arjuna—the third Pandava brother—and Subhadra—a Yadava princess. He was also one of the few indivi ...

, the son of

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

, died in the

Mahabharata War The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. ...

. This is the site where the

Kaurava ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his ...

s arranged the deadly "

chakravyuha The Padmavyūha () or Chakravyūha () is a military formation used to surround enemies, depicted in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. It resembles a labyrinth of multiple defensive walls. Background The Padmavyūha is a multi-tiered defensive ...

" formation and trapped and killed

. This village is part of the

48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra The 48 kos parikrama is a parikrama (a circumbabulatory pilgrimage) of various ''Mahabharata''-related and other Vedic-era tirthas (Hindu sacred sites) around the Hindu holy city of Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana, India. Associated ...

. This village has many sacred places associated with

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Background

Eymology

The village used to be called Amin, which was most likely a version of the word "Abhimanyu". In October 2019,

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Manohar Lal Khattar Manohar Lal Khattar (born 5 May 1954) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the Minister of Power and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in the central Modi government since June 2024. A prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata P ...

visited the village as part of his plans to develop an organized tourism circuit of the

. During his visit,

renamed Amin to Abhimanyupur after the Mahabharata-era Abhimanyu.

History

In October 2019, Haryana Chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, included Abhimanyupur in the Indian government's Krishna Tourism Circuit development project, under which the site and village will be developed for tourism and amenities for the villagers. He instructed the Kurukshetra Development Board to develop an Abhimanyu Park, widen the road to Abhimanyupur, and build basic amenities like toilets and water facilities in Abhimanyupur and surrounding areas.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, about 8167 people lived in this village, 4333 were men, while 3834 were women, giving the village a sex ratio of about 885. About 26% of the population are scheduled caste, while 0% of the population are scheduled tribe. The literacy rate of this village was 75.05%, 84.03% for males and 64.99% for females.

Mahabharat era sites

Archaeological mound

Chakravyuha and Abhimanyu ka tila

Abhimanyu ka tila or Abhimanyupur Fort is a 10-meter high 650x250m unexcavated archaeological mound at Amin (Abhimanyupur) in Kurukshetra in Haryana. It is popularly also known as Abhimanyukhera. It is believed to be the site of famous

Chakravyuha The Padmavyūha () or Chakravyūha () is a military formation used to surround enemies, depicted in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. It resembles a labyrinth of multiple defensive walls. Background The Padmavyūha is a multi-tiered defensive ...

, arranged by the

Kauravas ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his ...

to fight

Mahabharata war The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. ...

with

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

in which

, the son of

, was trapped in this Chakravyuha and killed.Ancient mound at Amin
Haryana Tourism, accessed 22 Aug 2021.

Excavations and finds

The mound remains unexcavated. Two inscribed red sandstone pillars decorated with reliefs of

Yaksha The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...

and other motifs belonging to 2nd century BC Ewere found here, which are presently are displayed in the ''Sculpture Gallery'' at

National Museum, New Delhi The National Museum in New Delhi, also known as the National Museum of India, is one of the largest museums in India. Established in 1949, it holds a variety of articles ranging from the pre-historic era to modern works of art. It functions un ...

. In second century BCE, this area was under

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...

till 185 BCE and thereafter

Indo-Greek Kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...

Abhimanyu park

Abhimanyu Park is being developed by the Kurukshetra Development Board. The park, developed on 8-acre land in the village, will house a statue of Abhimanyuand Chakravyūha formation.

Abhimanyu statue

A 18-ft tall statue of

, with a chariot wheel carried in both hands above his head depicting his stance during the Chakravyūha battle of mahabharta war, is installed at Abhimanyupur at the place where he was killed. It was installed by the Kurukshetra Development Board at a cost of Rs 24 lakh in 2020.Kurukshetra to have 4 bronze statues
The Tribune,23 Oct 2020.

Wetlands and temples

Aditi wetland and temple

Aditi Kund and Aditi Temple: There is a sacred "kund" (water tank) in Abhimanyupur. It is said that the goddess

Aditi Aditi (Sanskrit: अदिति, lit. 'boundless' or 'limitless' or 'innocence') is an important Vedic goddess in Hinduism. She is the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos. She is the goddess of motherhood, consciousne ...

gave birth to Surya deva (the Sun God in Hinduism) here. There is also a small temple here.

Surya wetland and temple

Abhimanyupur Surya Kund and Surya Temple: Next to the Aditi Kund and temple are a small kund and temple dedicated to

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

. Villagers generally deposit the "asthi kalash" (mortal remains) of dead people in the Surya Kund. It is said that if any pregnant lady takes a bath in this holy kund and worships at the Aditi Temple, the male child will be brave.

Modern amenities

There is a

Government veterinary hospital to cater to the needs of the village people for quite some time. There is a school that provides education until senior secondary level. There is a stadium in the name of Mr. Sunil Chauhan. The village also has a pond that is used for

pisciculture Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial animal husbandry, breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial pen (enclosure), enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled ...

References

{{reflist Villages in Kurukshetra district Places in the Mahabharata 48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra