So, what's wrong with Kurukshetra?

Mell

I went to Kurukshetra, India in December. All Indians I spoke with expressed disbelief that I would go there.

I thought it was a lovely town. Peaceful, because without many tourists there were not so many touts as in some towns in India.

There are not many tourist attractions there, but it was still interesting because everyplace in India is exotic for a European such as myself.

I asked one Indian guy why exactly he thinks it is a bad place to go to. He said, the people there are not nice. I told him they had been nice and friendly to me, my boyfriend and daugher while we were there. He said, that is just because it was my first visit to the town. He said, the people there dont have a brain. I dont really understand this reasoning because there were quite a few people there who spoke well in English which indicates to me that they have a certain standard of education.

So, anybody got anything further to add, as to why Indians dont like Kurukshetra?

Haylo

No idea about that place in particular, but I've noticed it seems common for Indian people to express what can only be sweeping generalised warnings against other cities, religions or Indian states.

I've had people tell me to be careful in a certain area because there are a lot of *insert state here* people living there. When questioned for more detail, the answer seems to be simply that people from that place are "bad"

Now I'm sure some must be "bad", but to not trust anyone from a certain state "because they are all thieves" just sounds like prejudice to me.

Part of it is, I believe, Indian people feeling very protective towards visitors and not wanting anything bad to happen to them. Just a thought to show what I mean, maybe many years ago, someone came from Kurukshetra and was particularly unpleasant or stupid, so now people will warn visitors about the place for generations!

Or maybe you were lucky and during your visit the stupid people of Kurukshetra wer e all away on a day trip together!

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Haylo.....


Think you are right

Generally Indians will bend over backwards to help a foreigner

(those scumbags called touts taken out of the equation)

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karnail

Hahahahaha
I come from Kurukshetra. Kurukshetra is in Haryana and the state is known for the sturdiness and rustic manners of its menfolk. People in the neighouboring staes particularly Delhi, U.P., Punjab and Himachal consider ourselves a bit different from themselves and say that we lack sophistication(?). Beleive me no one in India can match the sense of humour of the Haryanvis and that is why our neighbours always try to avoid our company and speak BAD about Haryana.
Any way Kurukshetra District of Haryana is a rural District with farming communities and the locals are not big businessmen or Executives there are local farmers all around you. The area is very peaceful crime free, no racial or other tensions, no issues and above all free from any type of insurgency. This District has the richest soils. A lot of English speaking people in all the towns. But no hills, no rivers, no forts, no jungle safaris and no interesting local traditions make the town and state to vanish from the tourist maps.
All I can say that some one might have said that Kurukshetra is not worth a visit and not otherwise. I am living in Delhi these days and never ever in my life have I heard that people from Kurukshetra are bad. It is one of the best towns in Haryana and one more thing the town is more Punjabi than Haryanvi due to large population of Pakistani refugees settled here (Hindus of 1947).

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Mell

Thanks for the replies.

pontesnm

The famous battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabarata) was fought there.

just_an_old_boy

Exactly

Young man, as the postor above has mentioned significance of Kurushetra, you seemed to have skipped it.

Sorry to be blunt and harsh, it is with a reason that nowadays Haryanvi's are greeted with adjectives.

What do I say...Kurushetra the very grounds where BhagavadGita was uttered by Shri Krishna that has shaped the spiritual consiouscness of India and beyond...and you dismiss case with "But no hills, no rivers, no forts, no jungle safaris and no interesting local traditions ".

Yep, current dwellers around are there brainless, unware of their heritage.

Haylo

You are right, that was harsh.

I agree with the point that karnail was making, which is that in terms of tourism, the majority of visitors to India are interested in the scenery, architecture, culture and beaches. Without an excellent visitor centre or museum (I am assuming there is neither) the fact that the famous battle of Kurukshetra was fought there would attract very few foreign tourists.

just_an_old_boy

There is one...maybe not be impressive though.

karnail

So nice of you, this is not unusual. It is said that Gita happened in Kurukshetra but it is totally missing in the local tales or traditions. No one seems to care or know who was who. Any effort from your part to dignify anything that has happened here is of no use for a peasant society. We must have forgotten it like the Khajurahos and the Chinese buried warriors. But there is no indication any where on ground except two water tanks (large). And believe me it is not because the people around are brainless thickheads. Heritage is not what you have read in books written by some individuals (of course for there bread and butter). As far as significance is concerned it should be judged from the fact that how significant it was for the general public in the nineteenth century when our forefathers were feeding themselves on the heritage only and riding on traditions only

Nick-H

and was quickly followed by the then equivalent of a nuclear war, with death and destruction on a massive scale.

livinhimalayas

Not quite true, have you ever been to Hastinapur near Mawana in Western Uttarpradesh? It is a very small town very quiet and has a massive Jain temple( of very recent origin). The community is of exactly the kind of people you speak of as regards Kurukshetra and very few there speak English. Still, they are very aware of their heritage and there are numerous sites, temples and monuments that you are proudly led to associated with the Mahabharata. I think much depends upon your own sense of pride in your area!

just_an_old_boy

So???

livinhimalayas

Let us go and look for the radioactivity to prove or disprove the claim!

Nick-H

Oh, nothing much, really --- just a reminder that there was more to it that the Bhagavad gita.

Wonderful story, Mahabarata!


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