Allahabad Travel Guide
The ancient name of the city is Prayaga (Sanskrit for "place of sacrifice", Prayag in modern Hindi) and is believed to be the spot where Brahma offered his first sacrifice after creating the world. It is one of four sites of the Kumbh Mela, the others being Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. It has a position of importance in the Hindu religion and mythology since it is situated at the confluence of the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna, and Hindu belief says that the invisible Sarasvati River joins here also. Allahabad or Prayagraj is a historian"s paradise.History lies embedded everywhere, in its fields, forests and settlements. Forty-eight kilometres, towards the southwest, on the placid banks of the Jamuna, the ruins of Kaushambi, at one time capital of the Vatsa kingdom and later a thriving center of Buddhism, bear silent testimony to a forgotten and bygone era. On the eastern side, across the river Ganga and connected to the city by the Shastri Bridge is Jhunsi, identified with the ancient city of Pratisthanpur, capital of the Chandra dynasty.
About 58 kilometres northwest is the medieval site of Kara with its impressive wreckage of Jayachand"s fort. Sringverpur, another ancient site discovered relatively recently, has become a major attraction for tourists and antiquarians alike. Prayag is an extremely important and integral part of the Ganga Yamuna Doab, and its history is inherently tied with that of the Doab region, right from the inception of the town. The city was known earlier as Prayaga - a name that is still commonly used. That it is an ancient town, is illustrated by supposed references in the Vedas to Prayag, where Brahma, the Hindu Creator of the Universe, is believed to have attended a sacrificial ritual.
Excavations have revealed Northern Black Polished ware objects in Prayag, further corroborating the conjecture that Prayag existed as a town as early as 600 B.C. The Puranas record that Yayati left Prayag and conquered the region of Saptha Sindhu. His five sons Yadu, Druhyu, Puru, Anu and Turvashu became the main tribes of the Rigveda. When the Aryans first settled in what they termed the Aryavarta, or Madhyadesha, Prayag or Kaushambi was an important part of their territory.
The Vatsa (a branch of the early Indo-Aryans) were rulers of Hastinapur (near present day Delhi), and they established the town of Kaushambi near present day Prayag. They shifted their capital to Kaushambi when Hastinapur was destroyed by floods. In the times of the Ramayana, Prayag was made up of a few rishis" huts at the confluence of the sacred rivers, and much of the vats country was continuous jungle. Lord Rama, the main protagonist in the Ramayana, spent some time here, at the Ashram of Sage Bharadwaj, before proceeding to nearby Chitrakoot.
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