01Virata’s city
The Mahabharata’s Virata Parva is set here, in the Matsya kingdom. Before they entered the city in disguise, the Pandavas hid their weapons in a shami tree outside it, and Yudhishthira sang a hymn to Durga, who appeared and promised them victory. Bhima served as the king’s cook and Draupadi as the queen’s maid, and at the year’s end Arjuna took back his Gandiva from the shami to turn back the Kauravas. The low rocky hills round the town still carry names from that year: Bhim ki Dungri, where Bhima is said to have lived, is shown to every visitor.
02Ambika and the toes of Sati
The Peetha Nirnaya Tantra names Virat as the place where the toes of Sati’s foot fell; the commonly printed list says the left foot. The Devi is Ambika and the Bhairava Amrita, called Amriteshwar. The Ambika shrine of the town is identified with this peetha. Some lists write the place as lying between Jaipur and Bharatpur, which is the same country seen from another road. Shakti Peetha lists differ, but the identification of Virat with Bairat is old and widely held. Bairat is also a place of record in another sense: an edict of Ashoka was found on a hill here, and the ruins of a Buddhist monastery stand on Bijak ki Pahari.
Viratnagar lies north-east of Jaipur, on the road towards Alwar. The rocky hills are hot by noon; go in the morning.
