Ghatotkacha
Encyclopedia
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, the son of Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
and the giantess Hidimbi
Hidimbi
Hidimbi or Hidimbā, in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, is a Rakshasi. She met Bhima while he was travelling in the forest with his Pandava brothers and mother Kunti. After fleeing a burning palace at Varanavat, which was set up by their cousin Duryodhana to burn them alive; the Pandavas were wandering...
(sister of Hidimba
Hidimba
In the Mahābhārata, Hidimba was a rakshasa, the brother of Hidimbi and a forest dweller. He and his sister, Hidimbi were tempted at the sight of the Pandavas and wished to eat them. For this purpose Hidimbi changed herself into a beautiful woman and brought him near Hidimba...
). His maternal parentage made him half-rakshasa
Rakshasa
A Rakshasa or alternatively rakshas, is a race of mythological humanoid beings or unrighteous spirit in Hindu and Buddhist religion...
and gave him many magical powers that made him an important fighter in the Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
war, the climax of the epic. He got his name from his head, which was hairless (utkaca) and shaped like a ghatam
Ghatam
The ghaṭam is a percussion instrument used in the Carnatic music of South India. Its analogue in Rajasthan is known as the madga and pani mataqa "water jug"....
.
Mahabharata
Ghatotkacha, when he was young, lived with his mother Hidimbi. One day he got a moti which he gave to his brother AbhimanyuAbhimanyu
Abhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...
.
Ghatotkacha is considered to be a loyal and humble figure. He made himself and his followers available to his father Bhima at any time; all Bhima had to do was to think of him and he would appear. Like his father,Ghatotkacha primarily fought with the mace.
His wife was Ahilawati
Ahilawati
Ahilawati was a female character in the famous epic Mahābhārata. She was a Nag Kanya meaning a snake girl and was married to Bhima's son Ghatotkacha. Prior to her marriage she was referred to as Maurvi. She was won by Ghatotkacha after passing a difficult exam. She asked him various questions but...
and his sons were Barbarika
Barbarika
In the Mahābhārata, Barbarika was the son of Ghatotkacha and Maurvi , daughter of Muru, a Yadava king.Barbarika was originally a yaksha, and was reborn as a man....
and Meghvarna.
In the Mahābhārata, Ghatotkacha was summoned by Bhima to fight on the Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
side in the Kurukshetra battle. Invoking his magical powers, he wrought great havoc in the Kaurava
Kaurava
The term Kaurava is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahābhārata.The term is used in the Mahābhārata with two meanings:...
army. In particular after the death of Jayadratha
Jayadratha
In the epic Mahābhārata, Jayadratha was the king of Sindhu Kingdom . He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the 100 Kaurava brothers. He was the son of the sinful king Vridhakshtra.- Abduction of Draupadi:...
, when the battle continued on past sunset, his powers were at their most effective (at night).Ghatotkach had received the ultimate boon from Shri Krishna that nobody in all the worlds could match his magical capabilities, except himself (Shri Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
).
At this point in the battle, the Kaurava leader Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
appealed to his best fighter, Karna
Karna
Karna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...
, to kill Ghatotkacha as the whole Kaurava army was coming close to annihilation due to his ceaseless strikes from the air. Karna possessed a divine weapon called vasavi shakti, granted by the god Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. It could be used only once, and Karna had been saving it to use on his arch-enemy, the best Pandava fighter, Arjuna
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
.
Unable to refuse Duryodhana, Karna used the vasavi shakti against Ghatotkacha, killing him. This is considered to be the turning point of the war. After his death, the Pandava counselor Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
smiled, as he considered the war to have been won for the Pandavas now that Karna no longer had a divine weapon to use in fighting Arjuna.
There is a temple built in Manali, Himachal Pradesh for Ghatotkacha near Hidimba Devi Temple
Hidimba Devi Temple
Hidimba Devi Temple, also known as the Hadimba Temple, is located in Manāli, a hill station in the State of Himāchal Pradesh in north India. It is an ancient cave temple dedicated to Hidimbi Devi, sister of Hidimba, who was a character in the Indian epic, Mahābhārata. The temple is surrounded by a...
.
In Other Literature
Ghatotkacha is the main character in Bhasa's play, MadhyamavyayogaMadhyamavyayoga
Madhyamavyayoga or Madhyama Vyāyoga , is a Sanskrit play attributed to Bhāsa. There is no real consensus regarding when the play was written, and it has been dated variously from 475 BCE to the 11th century CE...
. This play depicts a scene outside the Mahabharata in which Ghatotkacha is sent by his mother to bring back a human for her to feast on, but he is hindered by the appearance of his father, Bhima.
See also
- Ghatothkach (An animated Hindi movie based on Ghatotkacha's life)
- HanumanHanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
- MayabazarMayabazarMayabazar is a folklore Telugu Cinema first released in Andhra Pradesh, India on 27 March 1957, produced by B.Nagi Reddy and Alur Chakrapani. It was also dubbed in Tamil , and the Telugu version was later dubbed in Kannada. The story, dialogues, and song lyrics were written by Pingali Nagendra...