Driving from Banur to Kurukshetra Part 3

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• published: 24 Aug 2015
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Banur is a small Town about 25 km from Chandigarh, the capital of Indian Punjab, on the Chandigarh-Patiala National Highway, NH 64. Its history dates back to ancient times, when it was called Pushpawati. This name was derived from the abundance of flowering plants in the region (Pushp means flower in Hindi, Pushp + wati means a place where flowers are in abundance). The name "Banur" is from the name of a local deity, Mai Banno. A temple to Mai Banno stands in the town and is revered by all, irrespective of their religion. A legend has it that Mai Banno was a better musician than Tansen, the great musician in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She could cause rains by singing Raga Megh Malhaar, and could light lamps by singing Deepak Raag. It is a legend that once Mata Banno defeated Tansen in music competition. During Mughal times, it was a sizeable town along with its neighbour Chatt. Banda Singh Bahadur reduced it to ruins on his way to Sirhind. Some people call it a 'theh' or ruin. Its varying topography above the surrounding countryside is a tell tale sign of the tumultuous event. There used to be a sizeable Muslim population before partition. There is a grave of a pir in the town and the fields were dotted with dilapidated structures. The mosque fell during the 1990s due to ravages of time and weather. A historic Gurudwara is situated in the south of the town. In the past, the parts of the town were known by localities (Mohallas). For example- Kamboj mohalla,Mohalla Saini's, Mohalla Kaura khatrian, Mohalla Mehtian, Jainian, Mohalla Jattan Wala etc. Though called a town, Banur had a feel of a village life and in reality, was more like a large village. A medium size market, with about more than 200 shops, provided basic amenities. There were many wells in and around the town which were source of water for the people in the past. Almost all these wells have now been filled up. Kurukshetra is a city in the state of Haryana, India. It is also known as Dharmakshetra. According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is a region named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and Pandavas, as depicted in epic Mahabharata. The importance of the place is attributed to the fact that the Kurukshetra War of the Mahabharata was fought on this land and the Bhagavad Gita was preached here during the war when Lord Krishna found Arjuna in a terrible dilemma. Before the establishment of a refugee camp named Kurukshetra in 1947, Thanesar was the name of the tehsil headquarters and the town. Thanesar or Sthaneswar is a historical town located adjacent to what is now the newly created Kurukshetra city. Thanesar derives its name from the word "Sthaneshwar", which means "Place of God". The Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, whose presiding deity is Lord Shiva, is believed to be the oldest temple in the vicinity. Local hearsay identifies the legendary "Kurukshetra" with a place near Thanesar. A few kilometers from Kurukshetra is the village known as Amin, where there are remnants of a fort which is believed to be Abhimanyu's. In most ancient Hindu texts, Kurukshetra is not a city but a region. The boundaries of Kurukshetra correspond roughly to the central and western parts of state of Haryana and southern Punjab. Thus according to the Taittiriya Aranyaka 5.1.1., the Kurukshetra region is south of Turghna, north of Khandava, east of Maru (desert) and west of Parin. In early July 2013 the Haryana Department of Archaeology and Museums announced that the earlier excavated remains of a Buddhist stupa in Kurukshetra were ready to be displayed for the public. Source : Wikipedia This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The collection comprises of 100, 000+ hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, XDCAM and 4K. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Please subscribe to our channel wildfilmsindia on Youtube for a steady stream of videos from across India. Also, visit and enjoy your journey across India at www.clipahoy.com , India's first video-based social networking experience! Reach us at rupindang [at] gmail [dot] com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com