Harishchandra.

RajaHarishchandra,did he exist or was he a figment of a ancient's imagination ?Can a mind conjure a person and his unique qualities without coming across such a person?Why is this man deeply embedded in the psyche of a nation that has seen the rise and fall of several kings?

Harishchandra had a steadfast devotion to truth ,undeterred by the miseries it brought in its wake. He lost his empire .his wife and finally his only son and was reduced to burning corpses in funeral pyres.Despite the severe scaling down of his fortunes and power and the loss of his near and dear one's ,not once did he succumb to the temptation of telling a lie and thereby lift himself from his fallen state .

The heroic life and story of Harishchandra caught the imagination of the young Ghandhi who, also armed himself with the weapon -'truth ' that was the only weapon in the armoury of that long gone hero of Bharat. And brought the mighty British empire to its knees!

Einstein once remarked the future generations will wonder whether a man called Ghandhi actually walked on the face of this earth!

Naipaul a Nobel laureate, has observed in one of his books that nowhere in the world is a country,its soil ,land and water regarded as sacred as it is in India!

Bharat is regarded as 'Punyabhoomi' . The sacredness of the land is derived from it being trod by many a righteous and pious men and women through the ages !