Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c21.19

c21.19

It is unfortunate that in most maps of Nepal no locality called Varāha-kṣetra or Barāh-chatra is indicated. Of course Dhankuta a little to the north and Bijapur to the east of the holy region are found even in ordinary maps. E. Thornton's Gazetteer of India (London, 1886, s.v.) spells the name wrongly as Vardhachatra instead of Varahachatra (with d wrongly printed for a) and says, "Town in Nepal State; situated on the left bank of the San-Kusi river, 124 miles east-south-east of Khatmandu. Lat. 26° 57', long. 87° 4'." The Gupta Press Directory Pañjikā (in Bengali) observes, "Varāhachatra.—The image of Varāhadeva, the third incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, is placed on the Dhavalāgiri near the kingdom of Bhuṭān forming part of the kingdom of Nepāl. A fair is held at the place every year during the full-moon day of the month of Kārttika. From Calcutta to Jogbani (Kāṭihār-Jogbani branch, B. & A. Ry.), the distance is 331 miles (via Rāṇāghāṭ and Lālgolāghāṭ). The foot of the Dhavalāgiri peak is 20 miles from that place by a road along the Kuśī river; the temple of Varāhadeva lies 20 miles above." Although Bhutan and the celebrated Dhavalāgiri in Nepal are far away from the Varāha-kṣetra or Barāh-chatra, the location of the holy place indicated above is fairly correct. The Barāh-chatra and the Kokā river have been placed in the same region in an old book entitled *An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal* (being the substance of observations made during a Mission to that country in the year 1793) by Colonel Kirkpatrick, London, 1811. They are also indicated in the map inserted in the book. While describing the route from Khatmandu to Bijapur, the author says (pp. 324-25): "From Ohdhang ghaut 'To the conflux of the Arun and Soan-Kousi—7 [ghurries]; To Ukhurria ghaut (the 2nd) —5 [ghurries]; To the Thumboor, *i. e.* the confluence of the Thumboor and Soan-Kousi at Tambraphede—26 [ghurries]; To Koka-Kola (which falls into the Soan-Kousi according to the map)—28 [ghurries]; To Barah-chatra—28 [ghurries]; To Chattraghaut (on the Kousi)—5 [ghurries]; To Bejapour—16 [ghurries].'" The distance between the localities has been indicated by time, a ghurry being equal to 22½ minutes. But the estimates are only approximate as the time required in travelling in a hilly region can hardly be uniform. The word *kolā* (probably from Sanskrit *kulyā*) means a stream and Kokākolā means the small river called Kokā. Thus we have here not only a Varāha-kṣetra but also the junction of the rivers Kauśikī (Sun-Kuśī) and the Kokā (Kokā-kolā). There is therefore no doubt that the Barāh-chatra in Nepal has to be identified with the Kokāmukha *tīrtha* mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas* and that the temples of the gods Kokāmukha and Śvetavarāha, associated in the Dāmodarpur inscription with *Himavac-chikhara*, were situated at this place.