Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday inaugurated Magadh emperor Jarasandha’s memorial, including his 21-foot-tall statue, at Rajgir in Nalanda district.

The memorial includes a campus with a garden, a water body, an information centre and murals that throw light on Jarasandha’s life and times.

The move comes heavily laced with political implications in a year Bihar is going to the Assembly polls. The Chandravanshi (Kahar) caste claims themselves to be the descendants of Jarasandha — a famed wrestler who was killed by Bhima with help from Lord Krishna.

According to the Bihar caste-based survey, the Chandravanshis are 22 lakh or 1.7 per cent of the 13.07 crore population of Bihar. Despite their smaller percentage, they are counted among the most influential sections of the extremely backward castes (EBCs).

Nitish pointed out that he “wanted to develop ‘Jarasandha ka akhada’ (wrestling arena of Jarasandha) from its present condition, but could not do so because it is a prohibited area under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India”.

“We inspected the construction work many times and the memorial is now ready. The Chandravanshi community of Bihar considers Jarasandha their ancestor. Our government has been officially celebrating the Jarasandha festival since 2023,” Nitish said.

Historians, however, consider Jarasandha more of a mythical king, chiefly mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Asked about the chief minister’s regret that he could not develop the Jarasandha ka akhada, a senior ASI official said that the laws, including the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amasar) Act, did not permit tampering, altering, or construction work at any protected site.

“The place where the Jarasandha memorial has been developed is one of the oldest historical cities in the world. It should have been left untouched because it not only leads to defacement of the original parts of the ancient city but also leads to destruction of antiquities, which might have been beneath the ground, during the construction work,” the ASI official said.