Lakshagriha  Lakshagriha (, )) (The House of Lacquer or House of Wax) is a chapter or "parva" from the "Mahabharata", one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana. Jealous of his cousins the Pandavas, Duryodhana plans to kill them by building a palace made from lacquer, and invites them to stay there for a while. Purochana the architect was employed in the building of Lakshagriha in the forest of Varnavrat. The house was meant to be a death trap, since lacquer (wax) is highly flammable. The plot itself was such that nobody would suspect foul play and the eventual death of the Pandavas would pass off as an accident. In the Mahabharata this incident is considered as a major turning point, since the Pandavas were considered dead by their cousins, the Kauravas which gave them ample opportunity to prepare themselves for an upcoming and unavoidable war. Before the Battle of Kurukshetra, Duryodhana's plan was the peaceful annihilation of his cousins the Pandavas princes, by setting fire to the house he had ordered to be built for them. The architect Purochana, who was also one of his ministers, was ordered to build the house, and for it to be made using lacquer (wax), which is highly flammable. This was duly built at Varanavat, and when finished the Kauravas invited their cousins to visit a fair held there and also to live in the house for some time. Before the start of the journey, Vidura tactfully, in the presence of the Kauravas, warned the Pandavas about the imminent danger in Mleccha language. These advise warnings from Vidura to Yudhishthira are specifically described in the Mahabharata Adi Parva.114 in a form of well versed poems. These messages were meant to indicate to Yudhishthira and to him alone, about Duryodhana's hideous plot and the means of escape from danger. As narrated in the Mahabharata (Mbh.1.147), the Pandavas reached Varanavat on the eighth day of the month of Phalguna when the star Rohini was in the ascendant. As noted by historians, Varanavat was a large town, (for a town in 3000 BCE time periods) containing more than 1000 (perhaps 5000) inhabitants.