What is "lakshagraha"

Lakshagraha or Lakshagriha (The House of Lacquer) is a chapter or parva from the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana.

This house was built under the orders of Duryodhana and his evil uncle and mentor Shakuni in a plot to kill the Pandavas along with their mother Kunti. The architect Purochana was employed in the building of Lakshagraha in the forest of Varnavrat. The house was meant to be a death trap, since lacquer 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.