- Pratisthan Pur (Jhunsi)
Prayag's glorious past buried at Jhunsi
ONCE BELONGING to the rulers of Mauryan, Shunga, Kushana and Gupta period, the ancient
Pratisthana has lost its identity to the modernity ofJhunsi .The only evidence related to this historical fact is still visible in the shape of high mounds inJhunsi . Surprisingly, these high mounds have further added to the significance of the city as the articles excavated from here belong to thesixth century BC and antiquities belonging to five cultural phases ranging fromchalcolithic toearly medieval period have been found here.As per the historians and the pre NBP ware deposit the site ofKumbh Mela is marked at this place as the earliest culture represented at the site. Early layer of this deposit has yielded iron objects. Some pottery items and antiquities are similar to those found at different chalcolithic sites in UP,Bihar andNorthern Vindhyas .From the pre-NBP Ware period to the Gupta period there had been continuous settlement at the site. However, there appears to be a cultural gap between the end of Gupta period and the beginning of early medieval period. "There is every likelihood that the site may show up no gap at all when excavated extensively. This possibility is based on the strategic location of the site itself which, by virtue of the same reason, would have never been abandoned after having been once occupied. The excavations in the area only hint at the above fact.The ruins of ancientPratishthana which are represented by the high mounds ofJhunsi on the eastern bank ofGanga are spread over an area of about four square miles.Pratishthana was the most important locality of Prayag and it was founded byking Ila and was the capital of Pururavas and other kings ofLunar Dynasty Kalidasa too mentions about Pratishthana in his drama Vikramor-vasiyam. He has given an imaginary account of this palace of Pururavas which was magnificent. Various myths are also associated with this site.An inscription ofTrilochanapala , the Pratihara king, was discovered from the site in 1830.In his book, VN Pandey mentions that the naming ofJhunsi too has a legend associated with it. It was once ruled byHar-bonga , an imbecile and foolish king in whose reign chaos prevailed everywhere. When the cup of his inequity was full there was an upheaval on the earth and the capital Pratishthana was turned upside down hence now known as'Ulta Quila' . There was conflagration which completed the destruction of the city and the ruins went by the name ofJhunsi , a burnt town from the Hindi root 'jhulasna'.It is also said that the town was destroyed in an earthquake in CE 1359 as a result of the invocations of saint Ali Mur-taza."These traditions and the etymological meaning of the nameJhunsi possibly indicate to the destruction and burning of the site by the Muslim invaders in the 13th century CE. The traditions relating to the scattering ofBrahmana andKshatriya clans abandoning their homes inJhunsi and emigrating to distant places during the medieval period lend colour to this theory.There is also the historical and sacredSamudrakoop here which has its own story. "It is known as Samudrakoop since it belongs to the period ofSamudragupta . In fact five such wells are found in Ujjain, Mathura,Prayag (Allahabad ), Varanasi and Patalpur. It was dumped with garbage once but the efforts of a sage Dayaram brought its historical importance to limelight."Research on lost heritage ofAllahabad under Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) suggests that the site is slowly losing its identity on account of continuous erosion of Ganga river. "The high mound, which belong toKushana period, has few bricks exposed right now".ulta kila
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ulta kila
it is said that once the saint Ali Mur-taza(maqdoom sahab) was invited on the lunch by the king haribong who lived on this kila. the king haribong gave him the wrong things to eat.This made the saint ali-murtaza angy and he ordered a star named mirrikh to fall on that kila, and as the order the star fell on the kila and the whole kila burnt out and this gave it the nam,e ulta kila and also this was the origin of the name jhuns(which means burnt).
External links
* [http://www.travelwithtarun.com Jhunsi or the Pratishthanpur as it was]
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