Uttarakhand	37
and Garhwal Inclusive of three Uttarakhand districts was once
known as "Uttarkuru" or "Brahmarishidesh". It extended
from Kalsi-Ajrakote in the west to Vyas-Chandaus in the
north-east and Tanakpore, Ramnagar, Muni-Ki-Reti and
Dehradun in the south-west. Puranas have described this area
as Kedarkhand which extended from Nari Khorsim (western
Tibet) to Tarai Bhabar in the south-west. Puranas have des-
cribed this area as Kedarkhand, Kinnerdesh and Manaskhand
which extended from Nari-Khorsim (Western Tibet) to Tarai-
Bhabar in the south, Garhwal in the west and Nepal in the
east. Later on, the Puranic chronicles started describing the
present Kumaon as 'Manaskhand' and Garhwal as 'Kedar-
khand'. The entire areas has been thus described in Skanda-
purana—
Agangadwar    maryadam    swetant    barwenium  tamsatat-
patati purvarwaks bauddhachalam subaham
Kedarmandalam khyant bhumyast dwichala sthalam
References  about Kedarkhand,  Manaskhand,  Kinnerdesh
.and  Uttarakhand  are  found  in  various scriptures including
Mahabharata and Ramayana which make pointed reference to
Kulinda,  Kalkoot  and  Anartdesh.   In Mahabharata detailed
description  has  been  given about  the various kingdoms and
places which were  subjudicated by Arjuna.   This is probably
-one reason  that  Garhwal has  been referred in  some ancient
texts  as  Panchaldesh  and even  today  numerous places are
Scnown  after the  names of Pandavas as  Pandosera,  Panai,
Pandukeshwar, Nili and Panduakhal.    In these places, several
dance forms  are in existence after the glorious tradition of
Pandavas and are known as Pandava Nrityas.
Shaktisangam Sutra has described Uttarakhand as—
Kurmashya maheshani kadhyate
srincesampratam
Shankesh dakshbhage kamakhya
purvagochar uttere
Manshesh pachhima shardabhawet.
The very name Kumaon is derived from Kurma, the
tortoise incarnation of Vishnu giving it a mythological
colouring. Legend has that Shri Ram sent the head of
Kumbha Kama, the brother of Ravan to Kumaon through