Who was Barbarik in Mahabharat? his relation with Khatu Shyam?

Barbarik, or as is also known as Barbarika, is the warrior described in the Hindu mythology, Mahabharata. He was the son of Ghatotkacha who was the son of Bhima one of the pandavas from the great Indian epic the Mahabharata. He was an outstanding marksman especially in archery They said Barbarik had three arrows which could annihilate the whole universe.

Barbarik, as per some myths, was fore-prematurely decapitated by Lord Krishna before the onset of the war of Mahabharata because the former was too potent a warrior to be allowed to side any of the two warring parties. There are many instances told in the epic of Mahabharata for example once Lord Krishna challenged Barbarik to show how good he is in shooting arrows at leaves of a tree and while Barbarik was busy shooting arrows Lord Krishna cut off his head. Barbarik had requested to watch this war before his death and at his request Krishna lifted his head on a hill to get the complete view of the war.

 

 
Now a days, Khatu Shyam is considered as God in Hinduism and people from Rajasthan show lots of importance to him and the temple of Khatushyam is in Khatushyamji also in Rajasthan. The temple remains a prominent pilgrimage attraction centre for thousands of this devotees every year in order to worship Khatushyamji.

Khatu Shyam Ji is the Hindu deity worshiped particularly in the northern part of India especially in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Lok Nath is also called Khatu Naresh, Barbarik or Shyam Baba.

The importance of Khatu Shyam Ji is believed to be based on his link with mythology especially the Great Epic of Mahabharata. In lore, Khatu Shyam Ji was the born to Barbarika, who’s a child of Bhima and Hidimba. Barbarika was a fearless soldier who had hands on three arrows which were celestial and gifted by lord Shiva. There is a legend that Barbarika wanted to fulfill his dream and take part in the Mahabharata war but Lord Krishna had a different strategy to prevent the war from taking place. So he requested Barbarika to donate his head to Krishna before the war and in turn, he promised to make him the spectator of the whole war.