Vaaranaavatham was the name of a town in the vicinity of the river Ganga, where Dhritharaashtra sent the Paandavas to live away from Hasthinaapuram, at the behest of his son Duryodhana.
Actually, Duryodhana's plan in asking his father to send the Paandavas away to this town was to make them live away from the ancestral capital and the favouring public too. He made arrangements there to kill them secretly , employing his alley Purochana. Purochana built a majestic but inflammable wax house for them . The idea was to burn down the house after a few months when the Paandavas were asleep. But, the Paandavas were already advised by their wellwisher uncle Vidura to be cautious about foul play of the Kouravas. They strictly followed his advice and outplayed Purochana by burning the wax house themselves, causing Purochana's burning down to ashes in the flames. Later,they ran off in the midnight through an underground escape-way which was built for them by a confidant servant sent by Vidura.
It is in this escape run that Bheema killed the demon Hidimba and married his sister Hidimba from whom he got a son Ghatothkacha.
Consequently, the Paandavas lived in a village named Ekachakrapura in the guise of Braahmanas where Bheema killed Baka. Later, they went to Paanchaala country, married Droupadi, went back to Hasthipuram and got their own kingdom at Indraprastham. There they
ruled for 23 years.