Origin of Nagars-3

In mythology, the origin of Nagars is linked to the marriage of Lord Shiva to Uma. Lord Shiva created a sect of Brahmins to perform his marriage with Uma and asked these Brahmins to settle in the Hatkeshwar kshetra. Another tale depicting the origin of Nagars goes telling the story of a Brahmin boy Kratha who was once roaming about Nag Lok- Nag Tirth the abode of Nags (Serpents) and while roaming he happen into a confrontation with Rudamal- the Nag prince. Rudamal got killed in the confrontation. Enraged by the killing of his son, the Nag King vowed to destroy the entire community of the killer of his son and in the process invaded the town, which is believed to be the present day Vadnagar, where Kratha- the Brahmin boy, lived. Several of the Brahmin families living in the town were killed and several families fled the town. The fleeing Brahmin families took refuge with Trijat, a great saint and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Trijat advised the Brahmins to worship and please Lord Shiva, which they did. Lord Shiva, however, expressed his inability in destroying the Nags as they were also his devotees. He however, blessed the Brahmins with the powers with the help of which the Brahmins could nullify the poison of the Nags. The Brahmins returned to their town with the blessings of Lord Shiva and were called Nagars- Na- Gar i.e without any poison. (The Nagar community is therefore also revered as the most sacred among the Brahmins as they do not possess any poison in them in the form of any evils). However, when the Brahmins returned to their town they had grown very old (vriddha) and therefore the town was known as Vriddha Nagar or the city of old. The name later became Vadnagar. Incidently, Lord Krishna was also referred to as Nag- Har since he destroyed Kaliya in the river Yamuna.