Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra is a pilgrim town in Haryana, about 160 km north of Delhi, held in Hindu tradition to be the battlefield of the Mahabharata and the place where Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. Pilgrims have come to Kurukshetra for many centuries on that basis, and the wider area is dotted with sacred tanks and temples linked to the epic.

Kurukshetra is centred on Brahma Sarovar, a huge rectangular tank where bathing is held to be especially meritorious during a solar eclipse, when hundreds of thousands gather. Jyotisar, about 6 km west, marks the spot where the Gita was spoken, beneath an old banyan tree. Each November or December the International Gita Mahotsav fills the town with readings, crafts and evening aarti on the water, and the old town of Thanesar, next door, was the capital of the 7th-century emperor Harsha.

What to see

• Brahma Sarovar and its ghats, especially at evening aarti
• Jyotisar and the banyan tree of the Gita
• Sannihit Sarovar, another sacred tank
• The Sri Krishna Museum and the Kurukshetra Panorama and Science Centre
• Sheikh Chilli's Tomb, a Mughal-era tomb in Thanesar

What to wear

Kurukshetra is a pilgrimage town, so dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered. Shoes come off at temples and the ghats, so wear slip-ons. Summers are very hot, above 40°C in May and June, and winter mornings are cold and foggy, so pack layers from December to February. Traditional Haryanvi dress is still seen in villages: men in white dhoti, kurta and pagri, and women in the long pleated daaman skirt with a kurti and a bright chunder veil.

Local food to try

Haryana's food is simple and dairy-rich: bajra roti with white butter, kadhi pakora, singri ki sabzi, bajre ki khichdi, churma and tall glasses of lassi. As a pilgrim town, Kurukshetra is largely vegetarian, and dhabas on the Grand Trunk Road nearby serve Punjabi and Haryanvi thalis with paranthas and lassi.

Good to know

• Best from October to March; the Gita Mahotsav is in November or December
• Open daily; museums keep daytime hours
• Most sites free; museums charge a small fee
• Allow a full day to see the main sites
• About 160 km north of Delhi by road or train, and about 90 km south of Chandigarh
• Photography is fine at the tanks; ask before photographing pilgrims bathing

Nearby places

Chandigarh is the nearest city, about 90 km north, with the Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake. Heading south to Delhi, the Red Fort is about 160 km away.