Cities and Kingdoms

Alakā, also called Alakāpurī, is the city of Kubera, the deva of wealth, in the northern Himālaya near Kailāsa.

Aṅga Deśa is an ancient kingdom in eastern Bhārata, with Campā as its capital, ruled by Romapāda in the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata.

Antarvedī is the sacred land between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā, where Indra killed the asura Vṛtra with the Vajra made from Dadhīci's bones.

Ayodhyā, on the Sarayū, was the capital of the Sūryavaṃśa, the birthplace of Bhagavān Rāma and one of the seven cities that give moksha.

Bhallāṭanagara was the capital of King Śaśidhvaja, where Bhagavān Kalki fought him and then married his daughter Ramā.

Campā was the capital of the kingdom of Aṅga on the Gaṅgā, where Ṛshyaśṛṅga was brought and his arrival ended the drought.

Daśārṇa was an ancient kingdom of Bhāratavarsha, ruled by King Sudāmana, named in the search for Damayantī in the Mahābhārata.

Dvārakā, also called Dvāravatī, was the island city in the western ocean built for Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and the Yādavas, and swallowed by the sea after his departure.

Gokula is the settlement of cowherd families under Nanda, near the Yamunā in Vraja, where the infant Kṛshṇa was brought and spent his earliest years.

Hastināpura, on the bank of the Gaṅgā, was the capital of the Kuru dynasty and the home of the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas.

Hiraṇyapura, the flying golden city of the Pauloma and Kālakañja rākshasas, was made by Brahmā and destroyed by Arjuna in the Vana Parva.

Indraprastha, on the bank of the Yamunā at the Khāṇḍavana forest, was named by Bhagavān Vishṇu and holds copies of all great tīrthas; it later became the Pāṇḍava capital.

Kaliṅga was an ancient kingdom on the eastern coast of Bhārata, in present-day Odisha and parts of Andhra Pradesh, home of the Mahendra parvata.

Kamalapura is the home of the brāhmaṇa Nṛsiṃha in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, from where he went to bathe at the Rāmahrada in Pratishṭhāna on the Godāvarī.

Kāñcanīpura was a city of serpent-women and poison serpents, where Bhagavān Kalki freed the vishakanyā Sulocanā and made Mahāmati king.

Kānyakubja, also called Kanauj, is an ancient city of northern India on the Gaṅgā-Yamunā corridor, named in the Mahābhārata's Vana Parva.

Karavīra-pura was the capital of the Padmāvata country, built by Padmavarṇa on the Veṇā river, where Bhagavān Kṛshṇa slew king Śṛgāla.

Kekaya was an ancient kingdom northwest of Ayodhyā, homeland of Kaikeyī, where Bharata stayed during the exile of Rāma, and earlier home of Śatayūpa.

Kīkaṭapura was a city of Buddhist teaching in the Kali Yuga, ruled by King Jina, which Bhagavān Kalki marched against first.

Kishkindhā was the cave capital of the vānaras in the southern forests, ruled by Vāli and then Sugrīva, where the search for Sītā began.

Kuṇḍina, also called Kuṇḍinapura, was the capital of Vidarbha under King Bhīshmaka and the city where Rukmiṇī was married to Kṛshṇa.

Laṅkā was the golden island city built by Viśvakarma, home of Kubera, then the capital of Rāvaṇa and the place of the great war in the Rāmāyaṇa.

Māhishmatī is the ancient city on the Narmadā where Gajānana was raised by Queen Pushpikā and where Kārtavīrya Arjuna once ruled.

Maṇimatī, also called Durjaya, was the city of the rākshasa king Ilvala, where Agastya Maharshi ended Ilvala's deadly scheme.

Mārtikāvata is the city where Arjuna settled the Bhoja king's household and the son of Kṛtavarmā after Dvārakā was drowned.

Mathurā, on the Yamunā, is the ancient city of Kṛshṇa's birth and the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu, with the twelve sacred vanas of Vṛndāvana around it.

Meruvṛja is the city of the rākshasa king Virūpāksha, where the brāhmaṇa Gautama was a guest in the Kṛtagnopākhyāna of the Mahābhārata.

Mithilā in northern Bihar is the city and kingdom of the Janaka kings and the birthplace of Sītādevī, where Rāma broke Śiva's bow and four weddings were held.

Nandigrāma is the village outside Ayodhyā where Bharata lived as an ascetic for fourteen years and ruled in the name of Rāma's sandals.

Nishadha is the kingdom of Nala, son of Vīrasena, in the Nala-Damayantī Upākhyāna of the Mahābhārata, lost at dice and won back.

Pañcanada, the land of five rivers, is where Arjuna's Gāṇḍīva failed him and Ābhīra robbers seized Vṛshṇi women after the fall of Dvārakā.

Prāgjyotisha was the great fortified city of the far east, capital of the asura king Narakāsura and later of Bhagadatta, in the region of present-day Assam.

Pratishṭhāna is an ancient sacred city on the Godāvarī, today's Paithan in Maharashtra, home of the Rāmahrada where Bhagavān Rāma appears on Caitra Navamī.

Pushkarāvatī was the city Bharata founded for his son Pushkara west of the Sindhu, after his victory over the gandharva king Śailūsha.

Rāmanāthapura is a sacred city near Kāñcī in the south, given by Bhagavān Rāma to King Kambukantha and sealed by Hanumān with the Rāmamudrā.

Saubha was both the kingdom of Śālva and his flying city-fortress, the vimāna that attacked Dvārakā and was shattered by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

Śambhala is the sacred brāhmaṇa village where Bhagavān Vishṇu is born as the Kalki avatāra, the son of the brāhmaṇa Vishṇuyaśas, at the end of the Kali Yuga.

Shaṭpura, the six underground cities of the asuras who survived the Tripura war, lay along the Āvarta river and fell to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa's Sudarśana cakra.

Siṃhala Dvīpa is the great island in the ocean ruled by King Bṛhadratha, where Padmāvatī, the avatāra of Lakshmīdevī, was born to become Bhagavān Kalki's wife.

Śoṇitapura, the "city of blood-red", was the capital of Bāṇāsura, guarded by Bhagavān Śiva, and the place where Bhagavān Kṛshṇa fought for Aniruddha.

Śrāvastī was a great ancient city of northern Kosala, built by the Ikshvāku king Śrāvasta and later the capital of Lava, the younger son of Rāma.

Śṛṅgaverapura, on the Gaṅgā, was the capital of the Nishāda king Guha and the first halt of Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa in their exile.

Suvīra, also called Saubīra, was the kingdom of King Śatruṃjaya, for whom Bharadvāja gave the Kaṇikopadeśa on statecraft in an emergency.

Takshaśilā is the city Bharata founded for his son Taksha in the north-west, and it later became a famous centre of learning.

Upaplava, also called Upaplavya, was the city in the Matsya kingdom where the Pāṇḍavas stayed before the Kurukshetra war.

Vaiśālī is one of the oldest cities of Bhārata, founded by King Viśāla of the Solar dynasty in the region of present-day north Bihar.

Vajrapura was the jewelled city of the asura Vajranābha near Meru Parvata, given to him by Brahmā's vara and later divided after his defeat.

Vardhamāna Dvāra was the gate of Hastināpura through which Dhṛtarāshṭra left the city to begin his life in the forest.

Vaṭapura was the capital of Bhūrikīrti's realm on the eastern sea, where Kuśa and Lava married Campikā and Sumatī.

Vatsa-deśa was an ancient kingdom of central Bhāratavarsha around Kauśāmbī, through which the Ambā nadī flows.

Vidiśā is an ancient city and kingdom, the royal seat of King Rukmāṅgada in the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, near today's Sāṃcī in Madhya Pradesh.

Virāṭanagara was the capital of the Matsya kingdom of King Virāṭa, where the Pāṇḍavas spent their thirteenth year in hiding.

Viśasana Pura was the capital city of Kali in the Kalki Purāṇa, burned to ash by Dharma after Kali's defeat.

Ahicchatra was the capital of northern Pāñcāla, the half of the kingdom that Droṇācārya kept after Drupada's defeat.

Ekacakrā was the brāhmaṇa town where the Pāṇḍavas and Kuntī hid after the lākshāgṛha fire, and where Bhīma killed Baka.

Kāmpilya, on the Gaṅgā, was the capital of southern Pāñcāla and the seat of King Drupada after Droṇa divided the kingdom.

Kuśāvatī was the city Rāma built in southern Kosala, at the foot of the Vindhya mountains, for his elder son Kuśa.

Maṇipura was an eastern kingdom ruled by King Citravāhana, where Arjuna married Citrangadā and where Babhruvāhana was born.

Ujjayinī, also called Avantī or Avantikā (modern Ujjain), is a sacred city on the Kshiprā river and the home of Mahākāleśvara.