Recently, Yogi Adityanath, the no-nonsensical chief minister of Uttar Pradesh officially expressed his intent to rename Azamgarh to Aryamgarh. However, there are loads of cities that are in dire need of reclaiming their Hindu identity through the stepping stone of renaming. Ghaziabad, the nearest neighbour of the country’s capital Delhi should be the next best contender for the renaming project.
Marxist distorians force-fed their lies about Ghaziabad
The current name of this 210km square area near Delhi traces its origin to 1,740AD. Marxist historians with left-liberal tilts have told Indians that the city was ‘founded’ in 1740 by Ghazi-ud-Din, who served as a Wazir in the court of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. The narcissistic Ghazi-ud-Din decided to name the place after his own name, ‘Ghaziuddinnagar’. 124 years later, when Britishers needed a short name for administrating railway routes through the region, they changed ‘Ghaziuddinnagar’ to ‘Ghaziabad’ in 1864.
As usual, Marxist distortions have done a historical sleight of hand in bringing out the true history of the area. According to them, the city was ‘founded’ by Ghazi-ud-Din. This is a patent, absurd and in-your-face kind of lie. No city in India has been ‘founded’ during the last few thousand years of Sanatan civilisation.
Ghaziabad was not founded but renamed
The foundation of a city can only be laid if it has a few kilometers of barren and unutilised land. If the land is barren, then only a group of people can come, establish their habitat, develop their economic system to feed their people, and then strive on the quest of developing their own cultural and other identities.
When Mughals and other preceding Muslim invaders came to India, it was already known as the Golden Bird. Every land was fertile and people were living peacefully and cordially. The same holds true for the region now known as Ghaziabad. In essence, the concept of Ghaziabad being ‘founded’ does not have a grounding in historical truth. Ghazi-ud-Din did not find Ghaziabad but actually renamed an already established city.
The real history of the place takes us back to Raavan
To find the real history of a place, it is always safe to find some religious places and trace their history as far back as possible. Mandirs and other religious institutes are a sign that administrators of a geographical location (Ghaziabad in this case) had made enough arrangements to feed its population and simultaneously have constructed a place to preserve the sanctity of the Bhagwan who blessed them with food.
In current Ghaziabad, Dudheshwar Nath Mandir is said to be the oldest of the city. The Mandir traces back its origin to Raavan. It is widely believed that the Mandir has been established at the place where Raavan’s father Vishrav had done his Tapasya.
Puranas give an elaborate description of the place
In the Puranas, there is a description of Hiranyagarbha Jyotirlinga on the banks of the river Haranandi (Hiranyada), where Vishwashrava, the father of Ravana, had done his Tapasya. Later on, the name of the river Harnandi became Hindon and Hiranyagarbha Jyotirlinga is the Shivaling established in the Dudheshwar Mahadev Math temple, three and a half feet below the ground.
According to Mahanth Narayan Giri of the Mandir, earlier there was a tunnel through which someone could simply travel to Hindon and Bishrakh, the village of Raavan.
Math Parampara and Shivaji Maharaj Connection
The Mandir is said to be continuing the Mahant tradition for at least 550 years now. The Mandir administration offers its tributes to all those Mahanths who have served the Mandir to date, as it has preserved the ashes of all those Mahanths.
More recently, the Dudheshwar Nath Mandirtraces its history to the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It is widely believed that the main gate of the Mandir has been made by careful calligraphy of only one stone. At the center of the gate, there is a sculpture of Bhagwan Ganesha. It is said that the current structure of the Mandir owes its standing to Chhatrapati Shiva Ji Maharaj.
Looking at the rich history of the area, it is unwise to name it in the name of someone who served the brutal, genocidal and treacherous Mughals.
Harnandpur should be the new name
Since the city traces itself back to the Harnandi river as mentioned in Puranas, it will be justful to change the name from Ghaziabad to Harnandpur. The name Harnandpur will be a fitting tribute to the river which provides its selfless service to the people.
The name of the place should represent its historical truth and not some concocted and fabricated lies. The origin of the place is so old that it’s difficult to figure out its exact date, even by the modern scientific archaeological and anthropological evidence. Thanks to Puranas, we Indians have a fair idea of its historical origin. The next step should be recognising the thousands of years old history and changing the name from Ghaziabad to Harnandpur.