Agrasen

Hindu temple located in Agroha, Hisar district, Haryana. The temple is dedicated to goddess Mahalakshmi, the Kuladevi of the Agrawals, who trace their origins to Agroha, whose foundations were laid by the great king Maharaja Agrasen. Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-1885), a renowned Agrawal author and poet, compiled the legend of Maharaja Agrasen in his 1871 essay Agarwalon ki Utpatti ("Origins of Agrawals and Agrahari"). Bhartendu is not clear about his sources, stating that he compiled the legend from "tradition" and "ancient writings", naming one of these texts as Sri Mahalakshmi Vrat Ki Katha ("The Story of the Fast for Goddess Mahalakshmi"). He claimed to have found this text in a "later" part of the Bhavishya Purana, which exists in several recensions. However, subsequent researchers were unsuccessful in tracing this text in any published version of the "Bhavishya Purana. In 1976, the Agrawal historian Satyaketu Vidyalankar published a copy of the Mahalakshmi Vrat Ki Katha in his Agrwal Jati Ka Prachin Itihas ("Ancient History of the Agrawal caste"). He states that he had found this copy in the personal library of Bharatendu Harishchandra; some academics note that this copy does not contain any clue about its origin. == Legend ==

Agrasen was a Kshatriya king of the Sūryavaṃśi dynasty who adopted the Vanika dharma for the benefit of his people. He was the ruler of Khandavprasth, Ballabhgarh, and Agr Janapada (present-day Delhi, Ballabhgarh, and Agra). According to Bharatendu Harishchandra's account, Maharaja Agrasen was born on 15th September 3082 BC, or in 4250 BC on the first day of Ashvin Shukla Paksha, in the last stages of Dvapara Yuga, or the beginning of Kali Yuga. He was the eldest son of Sūryavaṃśi Maharaja Vallabhsen and Queen Bhagwati Devi of Pratapnagar (in present-day Rajasthan) and the elder brother of Shursen. == Agrawal gotras ==

Per Bharatendu Harishchandra, the Agarwals are organized into seventeen and a half gotras (exogamous clans), which came into being from seventeen and a half sacrifices performed by Agrasen. The last sacrifice is considered "half" because it was abandoned after Agrasen expressed remorse for the violent animal sacrifices. Bharatendu also mentions that Agrasen had 17 queens and a junior queen, but does not mention any connection between these queens and the formation of the gotras. Neither does he explain how sacrifices led to the formation of the gotras. Historically, due to regional differences there has been no single unanimous list of these seventeen and a half gotras. In 1983, The Akhil Bhartiya Aggarwal Sammelan, a major organization of Agrawals (also Baranwals), ratified a list of Agarwal gotras. To avoid classification of any particular gotra as "half", the Sammelan provides a list of following 18 gotras: The list does not include several existing clans such as Kotrivala, Pasari, Mudgal, Tibreval, and Singhla. ==Legacy ==

• Anniversary • Agrasen Jayanti • Education • Delhi • Maharaja Agrasen College of the University of Delhi in Vasundhara Enclave • Maharaja Agrasen Institute Of Technology of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in Rohini • Haryana • Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management and Technology at Yamunanagar • Maharaja Agrasen College, Jagadhri at Yamunanagar • Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha in Hisar in Haryana • Himachal Pradesh • Maharaja Agrasen University at Solan district • Uttar Pradesh • Maharaja Agrasen College of Engineering and Technology • Hospital • Maharaja Agrasen Hospital (Bangalore) • Maharaja Agrasen Hospital (New Delhi) at Palam • Other • Agrasen ki Baoli • Maharaja Agrasen International Airport, Hisar ==See also==