Ramparts of the medieval Purana Qila (Old Fort) in Delhi, which is believed to have been built on the site of ancient Indraprastha.
Recently, Praveen Khandelwal, a member of parliament (MP) from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representing Delhi, sent a letter to the Union and Delhi governments urging them to rename India’s capital, New Delhi, to Indraprastha.
Indraprastha means the city of the Hindu god Indra. It was the name of an ancient city renowned in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. Indraprastha was the capital of the epic’s protagonists, the Pandavas, and as such, has civilizational connotations that are particularly appealing to nationalists. Archaeologists believe Indraprastha may have been located at the site of present-day Delhi.
The Mahabharata described the centerpiece palace of Indraprastha as the pinnacle of glory:
The hall, which had solid golden pillars…measured ten thousand cubits in circumference.
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