Guwahati: The Heritage City

 

Guwahati: The Heritage City

 

Guwahati: The Heritage City - 1

Radiocarbon isotope tests have determined that the Kāmākhyā Temple in Guwahati is about 2,200 years old, that is, the city has been in existence since 200 BC[1].  Therefore, in a nutshell, Guwahati is one of the most mythical heritage cities in India. 

Guwahati: The Heritage City - 2

The original Valmiki Rāmāyaņa was compiled between the seventh and fifth centuries BC. The city of Pragjyotishpur[2] is mentioned in the Rāmāyaņa of Valmiki and this Pragjyotishpur is the present city of Guwahati.  Therefore, we can claim that Guwahati is a heritage city dating back to the seventh century BC. 

GUWAHATI: The Heritage City – III

No urban civilization journeys forward in an unbroken line. Time, like an unseen sculptor, reshapes every city—through the tempests of nature, the rise and fall of kings, and the ruthless march of invaders. Yet, from every ruin, the spirit of civilization rises again, luminous and eternal.

So too was the fate of Prāgjyotiṣapura, the radiant city we now call Guwahati—a city that has witnessed grandeur and desolation, glory and silence, through the rolling centuries.

The illustrious Kashmiri poet-historian Kalhaṇa, in his 12th-century masterpiece Rājataraṅgiṇī (Chaturthas Taraṅgaḥ)[3], painted a haunting picture of this once-prosperous city in ruins:

 Ø  “In the ancient city of Prāgjyotiṣapura, he beheld a clear and sacred stream.

Ø  The air was perfumed with the fragrant smoke of incense, rising from forests rich with the resin of kālāguru (aloes-wood).

Ø  And upon the mirage-drenched sands, the mighty elephants of that land seemed to wrestle with great sea-monsters in the distant haze.”

Even in ruin, Guwahati glowed with the fragrance of divinity and the majesty of legend—its essence eternal, its memory immortal.

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] Source: Courtesy of www.kamakhya.org

[2] The name Prāgjyotiṣa / Prāgjyotiṣapur (Pragjyotisha / Pragjyotishpura) does occur in the Valmīki Rāmāyaṇa.

 

तत्र प्राग्ज्योतिषं नाम जातरूपमयं पुरम् ।

यस्मिन् वसति दुष्टात्मा नरको नाम दानवः ॥

 

Location / Reference

 

·         Kāṇda (Book): Kiṣkindhā-kāṇda (Book IV) — this passage appears in the chapter describing the Varāha Mountain and its wealthy city.

·         Sarga / Verse numbering (variant editions):

 

1.       In the Valmiki Rāmāyaṇa edition hosted by IIT Kanpur (valmiki.iitk.ac.in) the verse is given as 4.42.31 (Kiṣkindhā 42.31). ([valmiki.iitk.ac.in][1])

2.       Some other online texts/editions number the same line differently (e.g., versions that group sargas slightly differently show it as 4.41.25). This variation is due to differences across printed/online editions and counting conventions. ([ambuda.org][2])

 

(So please note the Kiṣkindhā and the surrounding lines — that is the most reliable way to locate the verse across editions.)

 

“There is a city called Prāgjyotiṣa, all of gold. In it dwells an evil-minded demon named Naraka.” The literal sense of the Sanskrit: tatra = there; prāgjyotiṣam nāma = named Pragjyotisha; jātarūpamayam puram = a city made/appearing of gold; yasmin vasi ti = in which dwells; duṣṭātmā narakaḥ nāma dānavaḥ = the wicked (demon) named Naraka.

 

Context:

The lines occur while describing the golden Varāha mountain in the ocean and the wonderful places on it — valleys, caves and the city Pragjyotisha — and noting that the demon Naraka (identified in local traditions with the early ruler of Pragjyotisha / Kamarupa) dwells there. The immediately surrounding verses describe the mountain’s extent, its golden peaks, caves, and that Ravana and Vaidehī (Sītā) might be sought in such places — so the mention of Pragjyotisha is part of that geographic/mythic description. ([valmiki.iitk.ac.in][1])

 

Sources / Editions consulted

 

·         Valmiki Rāmāyaṇa (IIT Kanpur text & translation pages) — Kiṣkindhā 4.42.31 (Sanskrit text with word meanings and short translation). ([valmiki.iitk.ac.in][1])

·         Ambuda / other on-line editions (showing alternate numbering 4.41.25 in some versions). ([ambuda.org][2])

 

[3] शून्ये प्राग्ज्योतिषपुरे निर्झानं ददर्श सः। धूपधूमं वनप्लुष्टात् कालागुरुणात् परम्॥ १७१॥ मरीचिकावतीर्णाविभ्रमे बालुकाम्बुधौ।तद्गजेन्द्रा महाग्राहसमूहसमतां ययुः॥ १७२॥चतुर्थस्तरङ्गः – राजतरङ्गिणी