Barbarika: the head that watched the war (Khatu Shyam)

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A grandson of Bhima is a god in Rajasthan with millions of devotees and no verse in Vyasa.

Barbarika, son of Ghatotkacha and Ahilawati (Mauravi), learned warfare from his mother and received three infallible arrows. He is worshipped as Khatu Shyam at Khatu near Sikar in Rajasthan, as Baliyadev in Gujarat, and as Khatu Naath elsewhere. Wikipedia states he is not attested in the Mahabharata; his tale comes from folk and regional tradition. The widely told story has Krishna asking for his head so the war can proceed, with the head granted a view of the battle (the page here does not narrate this part; the Yalambar and Aravan pages describe the same motif).

Who: Barbarika, Ghatotkacha, Krishna, Bhima

Bound to

Ghatotkacha, the riddle and the demon bride past-life-explains

Aravan's head becomes the child Kuttantavar mirror

Yalambar the Kirati king as Barbarik; Akash Bhairav same-story-other-version

Places: Khatu, Sikar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kota

Where this comes from

commentary · Wikipedia: Barbarika (cites Hiltebeitel 2009, Parmeshwaranand 2001)
commentary · Wikipedia: Iravan (head-watching-the-war motif in Rajasthan, HP, Garhwal, Kurukshetra, Bundelkhand, Odisha)

See it on the tree · All stories

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