Journeying through The Ramayana Day 2 @ Bittoor

Bath at Ganges

This is a small sleepy village which was spectacularly green and lush with the rivers Tamasa and Ganges flowing on two ends of the village. While the Tamasa is almost non-existent and just like a wide canal, the Ganges was overflowing and in full flow. It was a pleasure to watch her flow swirling and turning as she went. There were many bathing ghats and all were filled with people. Yet there was peace and calm – the serenity of the place seemed to seep into the very soul. Overhanging Peepul trees added to the whole beauty of the place.  We went to the last ghat crossing the Brahma temple, and all the other ghats, since this was the only ghat that had chains.  The Ganges had a lot of power and flow and almost pushed us as we stepped in. As Varad and I got in, we could feel the power of the Ganges. It stumped me to imagine how Bhageeratha could have lead such a powerful force to follow him meekly!! We had a great snanam at the ghat as we found that Swamy mama and Renu akka were also at the ghat.  Together we took sankalpam and then took a dip. After changing and doing all the nityakram anushtanams, Mama did thirumanjanam for my Krishna along with all his perumals and saligrama moorthies. By the time the worship was done, a whole lot of bhakthas joined the prayer and it was a beautiful feeling to be praying to our nitya perumals on the banks of the Ganges.  Swamy Velukkudi Krishnan with his wife also bathed at the same ghat and swept a passing glance at the pooja that was happening.  We then walked back the 3 kms towards the college where lunch was arranged and from there on took a long walk to Valmiki Ashramam.

Valmiki Ashram

The hot sun bore down on us as we walked. As I walked I wondered what the ashram would be like. Would it spell out the magnificence of the epic or after all these years would it have gone to seed? I wasn’t to be disappointed – As we approached this beautiful ashram it was lush greenery and peace everywhere. Our joy was compounded as we find that the Luv-Kush janmasthan was to be visited below,  before we climbed the few steps leading up to the ashram.

Luv-Kush Janmasthan: This was a beautiful temple that had a nice feel to it. As soon as we entered the large hall, exactly opposite the entrance, were the idols of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. It was as if they had stood up to receive & welcome all of us. To the right were the idols of Rama & SIta with the twins. To the left was the idol of Hanuman.  The temple had an instant calming effect that cooled the hot senses and made us all feel so rested after the long walk.

We soon climbed up to the ashram. This had a whole lot of small temples and enclosures that brought the whole Bala Kandam & Uttara kandam of the Ramayana to life!!

Sita Rasoi: This is exactly in front of the Valmiki Sannidhi. It’s a small kitchen with some tools and shelves. One can’t imagine how the queen of the  universe, worked here to rough up a meal for her children!!  It was heart rending!

Pracheen Sita Mata Mandir:  This  is said to be an old temple with an ancient idol of Sita. The idol is very difficult to identify and the features are almost indistinguishable.

Valmiki Mandir:  This is the centre piece of the ashram with a large courtyard. The sage sits majestically at the end of the room facing the entrance. It is as if Brahma has just left and Valmiki has just sat down in a meditative trance visualizing the entire Ramayana. There is tremendous peace and tranquility on his face. The middle of the room has a sivalingam.

Valmiki In His Purva Ashramam As A Robber:  This sannidhi has Valimiki dressed in matted hair and saffron clothes but tied unlike a sage. This is supposed to be his idol as a robber, before he became a sage.  

Sita Mata Mandir- One needs to go ahead in the ashram and climb down a flight of steps from valmiki ashramam to go to this temple. It is nestled amongst trees and a garden next to a satsang mandir. The entire place is calm as there is not a soul around me. Fellow Yatrikas are yet to discover this place. To me, in the entire ashram, this was probably the most beautiful place. The idol of sita as a mother is THE most beautiful one that I have ever seen. It is as if the sculptor took all maternal love and instincts in this world and poured it into this form. She is wearing a saree with her head covered. Her palms are on the heads of her 2 sons on either side. There is a gentle smile on her face as if she realizes that her boys are shy and don’t want to meet us. And the boys have this petrified but curious look on their face as they cling to her on either side.  It’s a heart rending sight as you realize that these children should have been playing in the lap of luxury as young princes.

Tying of Hanuman : There is also a they huge tree just outside the Valmiki Sannidhi to which hanuman was tied by the boys. That is why The luv kush janmasthan also has hanuman  sannidhi.

Sita Pataal Pravesh : There is a small pit that marks the point where Sita entered the earth after handing over the boys to Rama in order to prove her purity.

All the swamigals began the Valmiki Ramayana Parayanam (some sargas of balakandam as well as uttara kanda) at the Valmiki Sannidhi.

Soul-satiated at having made a good beginning, we took the long walk back to the bus. On the way, we interacted with the simple local folk and soaked the atmosphere. Dinner was loaded on the bus itself and we soon began our journey towards Ajodhya.

Over dinner on the way, as we ate, we spoke to  co-yatrika, a young software professional called Prakash from London. It was amazing to see such faith in a so young a person – it turned out that he had been a non-believer who began to read only to question and refute the believers. In the process, he realized that science was incapable of explaining all phenomena and that there had to be a God who can only be experienced and not attained through logic and reasoning. Today he has become a staunch devotee himself. He mentioned that the turning point for him was the reading of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech at the World Congress of Religions.  We also spoke to Raghuvir who became emotional when speaking about guru kripay. I asked him how I could turn my face from the Lord to my guru - I don’t yet feel the same attachment for him as I do for the Lord. To which he replied with a smile, you don’t have to do anything, you have already done what is required- Prappati. Nothing  else is not required now – it will happen in course of time.

Following dinner, Aravindalochanan Swamigal came with us on the bus,  gave a pravachanam on Rama Jananam. He spoke of many rather rare nuances which most people would not know. For example, why did Dasaratha have to do the Putrakameshti yagam after doing the Ashwameda yagam, which is superior.  It was a very interesting pravachanam and thus the day ended on a satisfied note. Sleep soon took over after the pravachanam.

Adiyen Devika


 ( To see photos of this click on
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/devikavarad/RamaAnuYatraBittoor# )