What happened to Ashwathamma

                                 What happened to Ashwattama

 Ashwathamma is the son of the redoubtable Dronacharya, the archery Guru of both the Pandavas and Kauravas.

Drona loved his son so much that when Yudhistera deliberately says during the course of the Kurukshetra war that Ashwathamma was dead, Drona lays down his arms and dies.

Ashwathamma swears revenge and murders Dhristadyumna after the war comes to en end. He also kills the children of the Pandavas (borne from Draupadi) with help from Kritavarma and Kripacharya.

The Pandavas peruse Ashwathamma to avenge the death of their sons. When Arjuna and Ashwathamma meet, both fire the Breahmaastra, the most lethal of all weapons.

Both arte then advised to recall the astra as it has the capacity to destroy the entire world. While Arjuan does so, Ashwathamma deliberately redirects the weapon towards the womb of Uttara, the daughter-in-law of Arjuna and the wife of Abhimanyu.

Uttara was pregnant and she was due to deliver Parikshat.

The astra almost burns the foetus, but Krishna manages to put back life into it. Angered over the unfair manner in which Ashwathamma had directed the weapon against an unborn child and a defenseless woman, Krishna decided to curse him.

Since Ashwathamma is a chiranjeevi (one who cannot die), Krishna cannot curse him to death. He, however, curses Ashwathamma to remain in the mortal world and roam in it alone for 6,000 years or till the end of Kali Yuga.

According to Puranic texts, Ashwathamma leaves the Kurukshetra battlefield and goes towards the Arabian peninsula. Another story is that a highly disturbed Ashwathamma is still alive in the form of hurricanes,  cyclones and typhoons.

The fort of Asirgarh in Burnahapur in Madhya Pradesh has an old temple of Shiva. This is the idol to which Ashwathamma is believed to offera red rose every morning. Locals of Junagadh say Ashwathamma still roams about in and around Gir.

Asirgarh fort is almost in ruins. Nepanagar, which has a big newsprint factory, is near Asirgarh.

Sirgarh was the home to Farooqui Adil Shahis (Do not confuse them with the Adil Shahis of Bijapur).  Mughal emperor conquered Asirgarh and stayed back for some time.