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PRA
180
PRI
Pratyagraha--Same as Ahichchhatra (Hemakosha ; Mbh., Adi, ch. 63). Pravanga-It has been identified with Anga (Pargiter's Markand. P., p. 325). Pravarapura-Srinagar in Kashmir named after its founder Pravarasena II ; the city was built
on the site of the village called Sharitaka ; Pravarasena reigned for sixty years (Dr. Stein's Rajatarangin, Vol. I, p. 20 note). Bilhana, who gives a description of the town in his Vikramankadeva-charitam (C. 18), says it was situated on the confluence of the Bitasta (Jhelum) and the Sindhu. Bilhana flourished in the eleventh century A.D., ho is also said to be the author of the Panchasika, the authorship of which is generally ascribed to
poet Chaura (see Bohler's Introduction to the Vikraman kadevacharita, p. 7). Pravijaya-Same as Pragvijaya (Markandeya P., ch. 57). Prayaga-Allahabad. It formed a part of the kingdom of Kosala at the time of the Rama
yaņa and Fa Hian in 414 A.D. The celebrated Alshaya Bata or the undecaying banyan tree, which is still an object of worship and which is now situated within a dark subterranean chamber called Patalapura in the fort of Allahabad built by Akbar in 1581, is thus described by Hiuen Tsiang who visited India in the seventh century: "In the city there is a Deva temple beautifully ornamented and celebrated for its numerous miracles. According to their records, this place is a noted one for all living beings to acquire merit." He further says "Before the hall of the temple there is a great tree with spreading boughs and branches, and casting a deep shadow. There was a body-eating demon here, who, depending on this custom (viz., of committing suicide), made his abode here; accordingly on the left and right one sees heaps of bones. Hence when a person comes to this temple, there is everything to persuade him to despise his life and give it up; he is encouraged thereto both by promptings of the heretics and also by tho seduction of the (evil) spirit. From very early days till now this very false custom has been practised." (See also Kurma P., ch. 37 ; and also the story of king Ranaditya in Rajatarangins, Bk. III ; Anarghardghava. Aot VII, 129). Purûra vå, the hero of the Vikramorvast is said to have been the king of the country of Prayaga (Allahabad), the capital of which was Pratishthana, now called Jhusi. Nahusa, Yayati, Puru, Dushmanta and Bharata are said to have reigned in this city (Brahma Purdna, che. 10, 11, 12; Linga P., Pt. I, ch. 63). The fort of Allahabad was built by Akbar on the site of an ancient Hindoo fort and within it is one of the celebrated pillars of Asoka, set up there in the third century B.O., promulgating the necessity of erecting hospitals and other charitable institutions and interdicting cruelty to animals (see JASB., 1837, p. 796). The Khasru Bagh contains the mausoleum of Khasru, the ill-fated son of Jahangir; it is situated between the mausoleum of his mother, the sistor of Man Singh, and that of his brother Purviz. The temple of Alopi is one of the Pithas, where Sati's back is said to have fallen. The temple of Benimadhava on the confluence
of the Ganges and Yamuna is mentioned in the MadhaváchArya's Sarkaravijaya (ch. VII). Pretoddhariņt-The river Pyri or Pairi which joins the Mahanadi at Raju (Asiatic Re
searches. Vol. XV; Cunningham's Arch. S. Rep., XVII, p. 8). See Devapura. Prishtha-Champa-Biha: (Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson's Heart of Jainism, p. 41). Prithadaka-Pehoa in the Karnal distriot, Panjab, on the river Sarasvati where the cele
brated Brahmayoni-tirtha is situated. It is fourteen miles to the west of Thênesvara (Mbh., Vana P., oh. 83; Bhagavata, Bk. X, ch. 77; Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India, XIV, p. 101, Ep. Ind., Vol. I, p. 184). According to the Bamana Purana (ch. 58, v. 116), Prithdaks is situated on the Oghavati. For the Prithadaka inscription, see JA8B, 1863, p. 673.1
