Journeying through The Ramayana Day 3 & 4 @ Ayodhya

Day 3

Sarayu Snanam at Ram Ghat

Ayodhya - City that cannot be won over in war. Though it was early days into the yatra, to me reaching Ayodhya was THE most important point of the yatra. Imagining that Rama and Sita would have walked these very places that we were in, was enough to make this stop a momentous one. 

We reached Ayodhya around 4.30 am tired from the long journey. But the excitement of  reaching this punya bhoomi got us on our feet in a jiffy and we soon got ready to leave for Sarayu snanam. As we approached the Ram Ghat, we found that the water was as calm as the Ganga of yesterday was turbulent. She seemed to have the calmness and shantham of Rama himself. Only it was clayey and slippery. As I entered the cool waters of Sarayu,  I thought of Rama’s pain and sorrow on being separated from Sita in the Uttarakanda. It was as if the waters were muddy and unclear since the Lord's heart itself was lost in the agony of separation. Anyhow, we went in for a quick dip. The water was cool and felt nice despite the clayeyness of the water and the sinking feet, which I felt would soon get set there itself as the clay took hold of it!

We got ready in a hurry and then waited for swamis upanyasam which was announced at Ram Ghat. But search as we might, we couldn't find it and missed it due to some miscommunication. We went back to our rooms for breakfast and then proceeded to see Rama Janma bhoomi. 

Rama Janma Bhoomi

We all assembled at the lobby for instructions. It was like getting prepared for entering a high security prison. There is heavy security everywhere and all of us prepared to get ready for it. Chains, pins, paper, purse – even the clips on our tags were removed and kept. There were some emotional moments when the women were asked to remove even their mangalasutras. We all point blank refused and said that we didn’t wish to see Rama in that case. Anyhow, all that apart, dust soon settled and we were on our way.

Aravindalochanan Swamigal on the previous night had mentioned how, before the Babri Masjid incident, Muslims were not using the mosque and that Pooja and all the essentials for Rama  were happening. However, thanks to the unnecessary action, today Rama is sitting under the tarpaulin and all his bhakthas cannot even bring him any Prasad to offer nor can they bring any prayer book or papers.  


Anyhow, coming back to our visit, there is heavy security with checking at about 5 points. The army is everywhere with uniform and guns. We pass through a maze of caged passages. My thought went  back to my 

visit to

 Mathura - wasnt it strange that at  the place where the Lord was born free as a prince, we were coming to see him in cages. And in Mathura where he was born in a prison with his parents chained and caged, we visited him as princes. Right royally! Back at Ayodhya, we were even told not to make noise - but as we chanted his bhajans in low voices, the guard outside the cage asked us why were not singing loudly. When we told hm that we were told to not make noise, he told us, "Who can stop you from chanting His name? What are you afraid of? Sing loudly!!"  Overjoyed, we all sang His name loudly and a nama fever set into the line as the tempo picked up! After a long winding walk through caged paths, we finally reach the sanctum. Despite the tents, security, guns and the grilled fences, when we reached the exact spot, it was an emotional moment. All of us were loudly singing bhajans and namavali of the Lord. When we reached the sanctum, we were asked to move on but not rushed at that point -  I  stood there tearfuly, imagining Dasaratha and Kausalya  and their joy in holding in their arms the much awaited  son born to them after 60,000 years. I strained to see the idol of the Lord through my tears - It was black and quite small. And before I knew it , we were past the sanctum. We began our walk back and all along to our surprise we found the gaurds very encouraging and friendly. One of them even showed us the well from which sita drew water. He was a tamilian ; another smiled at us and responded as he was a malayali. Just steping on that exact soil where Rama was born made me very emotional. The Lord took all this trouble and pain in a life time to come down from His comfort just for us!!!? How much He cares and how eager He is to bring us into His fold! As I looked back on the tarpaulin sheets, I also felt a twinge of agony that thanks to our small measly egos, the Lord has been sitting under a tarpaulin sheet imprisoned away from his devotees, exposed to the very elements that He has created. I came out of the Ramjanmabhoomi enclosure preoccupied and sad. 

Hanuman Gaddi

We came out of the rama Janma Bhoomi and made our way to Hanuman Gaddi. This is a very  old temple on top of a small hillock. It’s a small but cute. We have to climb steep steps. The Hanuman here is supposed to be very powerful and it is one of the important temples in Ayodhya

Dasharath Bhavan

We walked for a late afternoon upanyasam at Dasharath Bhavan. This is quite close to Hanuman Gaddi. This temple was originally the Durbar for Raja Dasarath.  This is where  the children were brought along with their newly wedded wives.  It has a beautiful sannadhi with all the 4 kids and their wives. The late afternoon aarati is an elaborate affair with bhajans. We all joined in with our own songs and nama sankirtan. 

Lakshman ghat

The visit to this place happened around late afternoon. It was a beautiful ghat on the banks of Sarayu, with a small temple for Rama Lakshmana & Sita on the top. The Sarayu flows here with full force  and but is peaceful. It looks as if it is catching the sad mood of the moment when at this very place, Lakshmana entered the Sarayu to go to Vaikuntham.. He must have been so sad to leave Rama behind; he had never in his life ever been separated from Him. The Ramayana mentions that when the princes were born and put into separate cradles, lakshmana cried all the time till he was put in the same cradle as Rama. Such was his closeness. Imagine the  pain he would have felt when Rama asked him to stay away from him, since that is equal to death for Lakshmana! The visit to this ghat made me pensive yet gave a sense that I was experiencing the finishing line of the Ramayana.

Guptar ghat

This is one of the most important temples at Ayodhya on the banks of Sarayu. The Sarayu is very expansive here and seems almost like ganges. Except that  she is a lot more serene and calm. There is majesty to her here that I didn't experience at any other ghat of Sarayu. Probably because it signifies the exact place that Rama discarded all his robes, took on maravoli and sent every single soul in ayodhya to vaikuntam. He then followed all of them, himself . So desolate was the city that Luv & Kush  had to bring people from outside to re establish ayodhya as a city. The beautifully mesmerising sunset at the ghat, added to the whole melancholy of the moment. 

On the banks of such a beautiful  ghat, is a majestic temple of Rama. The temple houses beautiful images of Rama with Sita with many saligrama murthies. The sanctum is on a huge marble platform. With large steps in front of the sanctum, leading to a huge marble courtyard, the place has a tremendous sense of space and peace. 

Kanaka Bhavan

This was the last stop for the day. In the days of Rama, this was a palace made completely of gold. They say here, that it is the palace that Dasaratha built for Sita and Rama soon after their wedding.  It was their Antahapuram -private chanmbers so to say. Today only the main mandapam is made of gold. It houses 4 pairs of rama-sita.  It is clearly visible even from the main entrance as we enter the temple. In order to reach the mandapam, however, one has to walk across  a beautifully engraved, very large marble courtyard. The sense of space is immense and a stillness enters the soul as we move towards the mandapa; this, despite the noise and hub of people milling around the courtyard. The deities are beautifully decorated and it is hard to take your eyes off them.    
What is even more endearing is the cute hanuman. He looks tucked into his dress and hands that bless. The mandapam has in its middle a small mandapam with rama’s foot print in marble.

Hanuman Bagh

This is a dharamashala with a lovely Hanuman sannidhi, tucked away in one of the by lanes. It is also the place where the  food was served on both days. There is a beautiful Hanuman seated here. A huge courtyard with a huge marble hall came in very handy for meals. There was also a sense of peace in the place that wanted one to stay with the plate a little longer. 

Day 4

Vashisht kund

The day started with a visit to the Vashisht Kund. This  is a beautiful temple which signifies the place where the 4 princes came to do gurukula vasam. That is,  the 4 princes stayed here, at the Vashisht hermitage, to study. In fact so did all the kings before rama.  The temple has lovely images of Vasishisht and young Rama and his brothers which are almost life like. Looking at them one can actually imagine the 4 princes sitting around their Guru and learning. They look so eager to get on with their learning. At the basement of the main sannidhi are multiple sannadhis of Saptarishi, Vasisht with his wife Arundhathi, Bhuma devi as a cow, Hanuman, etc. When you come out of this undergorund sannadhi into an open courtyard, there are steps that go further down to  a water tank. The miracle is that the water level in this tank changes with the water inflow into the  Sarayu. There is no direct visible connection to the river yet the tank is influenced by how much water the Sarayu carries. This small tank which can be seen from the top.  It is a very serene and calm place. 

Valmiki Bhavan

Though we saw Valmiki Ashram at Bittoor, according to the Uttara Kanda of Ramayana, when Rama was done with listening to Luv and Kush singing teh Ramayana, he wanted to honour their Guru who had taught them all this. So he asked them to bring their Guru to the court; which they did in a very short time. It seems to indicate that Valmiki must haev moved in closer to Ayodhya in order to be with teh boys  and hence there is valmiki’s ashram near the erstwhile ayodhya which now is in the heart of the city. 

The temple is magnificient marble structure. It is beautifully engraved with paintings on marble. It also has all the 24000 slokas of valmiki Ramayana etched in marble on the walls. The entire temple is a large hall with pillars with the slokas just surrounding you. Its like the Ramayana has come to life with its author standing majestically in the centre with the 2 lovely cherubic boys Luv & Kush. Its an amazing sight - almost as if the boys have just returned triumphantly with their Guru to present before Rama! 

Ammaji Mandir

A strange sight! A sense of home! A beautiful small south indian styled temple, right in the middle of Ayodhya! It was unbleievable! This temple, close to Sarayu,  is more than a 100 years old; it was constructed by  Yogi Sri Parthasarathy Ayyangar at the very spot where the Ikshavaku kings had the Ranganatha shrine . He was a great scholar on theology, traditions etc. The main shrine he constructed was that of Sri sita, Rama with Lakshmana. There are also separate shrines for Sri Ranganatha, Hanuman, Sri Satagopa, Sri Ramanuja and Sri Manavala Mamunigal.  Sri Yogi soon created a trust by name Sri Sarasvathi Bhandar and donated all his wealth to the Trust for the purpose of maintaining this Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Even today, this temple is run on the income derived from the properties left over by the Yogi. 

It is said that Smt. Singaramma, the wife of Sri Yogi, had a dream of the Uthsava Vigrahas of Sri Rama and Seetha being buried in a dilapidated temple in the village of Thiruppullani(Dharbasayanam). When the couple went there they found the dilapidated temple as well as the Sri moorthys. With the permission of the King of Ramanathapuram they took the Vigrahas with them to Ayodhya and built a temple for Sri Rama. With  the passing away of Yogi within  a few years after moving into Ayodhyahis wife took up the responsibility of completing the temple and organizing 

Nithya Aradhanams, Uthsavams etc, the shrine itself is popularly known as AMMAJI MANDIR. There is also a stone inscription in the temple proclaiming the temple as SETHU RAMA MANDIR identifying its origins.

Vanamamalai jeeyar  

A bonus on the Ayodhya visit, was the darshan of Vanamamalai Jeer swamigal who was on a chathurmasa vratham at Ayodhya. He was quite unwell, yet he took the time off to bless all of us and give us mantrakshadai. He also gave a discourse on the importance of Ayodhya and its mahima. The archakas had also given us a feast for our eyes by creating a beautful visual of Ram-Lala with Kausalya.    

This ended the Ayodhya visit. We got ready to 

move on to  Nandigram.

For photos of Ayodhya in  Rama Anu Yatra click on

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/devikavarad/RamaAnuYatraAyodhya#