The Biratnagar Metropolitan City has put forward a plan to make the area called Virat Raja's Palace at Budhanagar Bhediyari of Morang a protected area. The area will be named 'Virat Raja Gram' and at least 139 bighas of land will be required for the project.
According to religious texts such as Mahabharata and Shiva Purana, the palace of the great King is mentioned near the northeastern mountain of the Ganges Sea. It is mentioned in the Mahabharata that Lord Krishna also came to visit the place where the five Pandavas and Draupadi were hiding. He said that it would cost around 10 Billion Nrs. Parajuli expressed confidence that not only the resources of the metropolis but also the federal and state governments would paid with the development of a monument of national pride. Agreeing with this, another local Sugan Lal Yadav said that we know it as the palace of the great king, adding that the area should be developed to maintain its importance and dignity.
According to the recent excavations carried out by the Archaeological Department in the area, it is said to be the palace of the great King, Taranath Mishra, an official from the Department of Archeology, who came to the place called Virat Raja's Durbar Kshetra in 1970, said that the excavation work was carried out by Prakash Darnal, Uddhav Acharya, Shalikram Kattel and Sandeep Khanal.
He said that a historical temple was found during the excavation at the place called Virat Raja's Durbar and it is estimated that the area may have been densely populated in the second century when excavated on the land cultivated by the local Mahendra Mandal 200 meters west of the temple.
Although excavations did not reveal any significant objects, bricks of 34 cm length, 25 cm width and 5 cm thickness used at that time were found. Other pottery materials were also found there and it is said that packaging work is being done after cleaning it. The palace area of Virat Raja, which was encroached by human settlements and integrated customs checkpoints, has now shrunk. According to Kamal Kishor Yadav, a local who is involved in the care and protection of Virat Raja, archeological experts from 13 countries have visited the site so far. He further added that there was no doubt that the palace belonged to the great king, adding that it could be estimated that the palace stretched for one and a half kilometers to the north-east, south and west.
Patron Yadav said that the items found here included Simala, Puvallo, Puling, Ratna, Sapphire, Granite, Lasuniya, Onyx, Red Coral and Rewest and some coins. He said that he had found a very valuable object here since 1996 A.D when he started dreaming and taking care of it. He said that all these are safe in his own museum.
Dr. Rajesh Jha, the then chief of Province No. 2 and 1, and Somnath Adhikari, had observed the area, which could not be publicized and the real identity could not be ascertained from the excavations. Mukesh Yadav, a local youth, said that the Virat Region Tourism Promotion and Development Committee has helped in the development of the region, albeit to a small extent.
Gyawali, an official of the department, said that additional structures including Kichkabad pond were seen in the area of Virat Raja Durbar.
READ ALSO:
