Virata Kingdom

Matsya Kingdom was a kingdom ruled by Virata. It was here that the Pandavas spent their 13th year of anonymity (Agyata Vasa) after their 12 years of forest-life (Vana Vasa) in the forests of Kamyaka and Dwaita. It was also known as Virata Nagari, modern Biratnagar in the Morang district of Nepal. Akhnoor, a town in Jammu and Kashmir is also considered by some as the Virat Nagar.

King Virata and his sons took part in the great war and perished. Virata's daughter Uttara married Arjuna's son Abhimanyu and gave birth to Parikshit who later became the Kuru king after the reign of the Pandavas. Buddhanagar: Archaeological survey in 1960 also found ruins of a temple estimated to be built around the 1st century BCE, around the time of the Mahabharat.