Soil of Kurukshetra remains soaked with blood even today
Bloody war of Mahabharata took place on the very soil of Kuruskshetra. Thousands of warriors died on this soil including Ganga-Putra Bhishma. The rules of war meant the forces would stop fighting in the evening as the sun set even though for last few days this rule was suspended.
War is not just about soldiers. It is also about animals, food and people who support the war efforts such as personal servants of kings, dancers, singers, musicians, priests, cooks, doctors and also the chandals who are responsible for burning the bodies.
The soil present in Kurukshetra is still red in color. It is said that the color is because of the blood of the soldiers. During excavations many iron weapons were found. Their date of these weapons is approximately 2800 BC.
Once the war stopped after the sunset the chandals would take over along with doctors actively separating dead and injured. The injured were tended to while the dead were identified and handed over to the family members for proper last rites. The priests would then perform the ceremony. Many soldiers had walked thousands of miles to fight in the war and hence had no family. Such people were given proper funeral by the chandals.
However there were pishachas and rakshasas who harasses the chandals all the time. These creatures liked to eat the dead bodies and hence had to be kept away using violence and magical powers. Not all people who died there got proper funeral eventually and it is said that their ghosts haunt the region of Kurukshetra even today.
The soil of Kurukshetra is red in color mostly because of it’s rich iron content. It is possible that such a site was chosen for battle because of its red and bright color. Or perhaps iron weapons used there were over time got mixed with the soil. We would never know.
Archeology has most certainly revealed other types of battle equipment like chariots in the soil of Kurukshetra which all point to the evidence of massive war. But more secrets remain buried. As the technology improves and we can use LIDAR to detect things under ground chances are we will find out even more about the secrets of mahabharata war.