Hastināpura is the ancient capital of the Kuru dynasty. It stands on the bank of the Gaṅgā and was the seat of the great kings of the Bharata line, from whom both the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas descended. After Pāṇḍu died, the widowed Kuntī brought her five sons to this city and placed them under the care of Dhṛtarāshṭra. In the 10th Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Hastināpura first enters the story when Bhagavān Kṛshṇa sends Akrūra there to learn how the Pāṇḍavas are living.

First mention in the 10th Skanda

The Bhāgavata brings Hastināpura into the 10th Skanda through Kṛshṇa’s errand to Akrūra. Kṛshṇa had heard that Pāṇḍu, the husband of his father Vasudeva’s sister and father of the five Pāṇḍava princes, had died. He had also heard that Dhṛtarāshṭra had taken the Pāṇḍavas into his household at Hastināpura. He sent Akrūra to see how things stood. Was Dhṛtarāshṭra ruling with dharma? Were the Pāṇḍavas safe?

When Akrūra reached Hastināpura, the grandeur of the city spoke of the ancient glory of the Pūru and Bharata dynasties, and its buildings and ceremonies recalled the line of great kings from Śantanu onward. Inside, the situation was hard. Dhṛtarāshṭra was ruled by the hostility of his sons toward the Pāṇḍavas. The Bhāgavata tells this in the 10th Skanda, Chapter 49.

The court of Hastināpura

Akrūra met these people at Hastināpura:

Dhṛtarāshṭra, the blind king and elder uncle, whose weakness was his love for his own sons.
Bhīshma, the great patriarch, grandson of Śantanu and the celibate guardian of the Kuru throne.
Vidura, the half-brother of Dhṛtarāshṭra and minister of dharma, who told Akrūra the full extent of the danger to the Pāṇḍavas.
Kuntī, mother of the Pāṇḍavas and paternal aunt of Kṛshṇa, who wept and prayed to Kṛshṇa through Akrūra.
Also present were Bāhlīka, Somadatta, Kṛpācārya, Droṇācārya, Aśvatthāmā, Karṇa, Duryodhana and the five Pāṇḍavas.

Kuntī and Vidura told Akrūra that Duryodhana and his party had already tried to harm the Pāṇḍavas with poison and were still plotting against them. The Bhāgavata tells this in the 10th Skanda, Chapter 49.

Seat of the Kuru kingdom in the Ādi Parva

In the Ādi Parva of the Mahābhārata, Hastināpura is the main stage of the events of the Sambhava Parva. It is the city to which Bhīshma brought the Kāśī princesses for Vicitravīrya. The niyoga births of Dhṛtarāshṭra, Pāṇḍu and Vidura took place here. Droṇācārya trained the Kuru and Pāṇḍava princes here, and the astra-darśana, the great public display of arms, was held here. The five Pāṇḍavas were also brought to this city after Pāṇḍu died in the forest, and they entered the household of Dhṛtarāshṭra. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 96–140.

Arjuna’s return with news of the Yādava ruin

At the end of the Mausala Parva, Arjuna had settled the Yādava survivors and had received from Vyāsa the teaching that all things are rooted in Kāla (Time). He then returned to Hastināpura. The grief-worn hero entered the city and told Yudhishṭhira everything that had happened to the Vṛshṇi and Andhaka houses: the curse of the brāhmaṇas, the mutual slaughter at Prabhāsa, the departure of Kṛshṇa and Balarāma, and the submersion of Dvārakā. So Hastināpura is the place where the news of the end of the Yādavas reached the Pāṇḍava court. It moved Yudhishṭhira toward his resolve to set out on the mahāprasthāna (the great final journey). The Mahābhārata tells this in the Mausala Parva, Chapter 8.

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 49
Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Pūrṇa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 1–6
Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 96–140
Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 8