Journeying through The Ramayana Day 9 & 10 @ Chitrakoot

Chitrakoot a town spread over Chitrakuta dt of Uttarpradesh & Satna dt of Madhya Pradesh, not only has the bounty of nature but is one of the  most important locations in the Ramayana. Rama Sita and Lakshamana  spent the early part of their exile here.  It is the place where one of the most moving episodes of Ramayana – Bharatha’s meeting of Rama and taking his Padukas back to Ayodhya happened - right here at Chitrakoot. Goswami Tulasidas was born close to Chitrakoot at Rajapur. He also received the darshan of his dear Lord Rama here at Chitrakoot. The place resounds with spiritual vibrancy and the peace of nature.

We reached this holy land early morning around  3am - what awaited us was the young fresh faces of pupils in white flowing robes and turbans who were very eager to help us with our luggage and curious to see & hear this strange band of typical 'madrasis'! We were accommodated in a Sanskrit pathshala where young boys and girls had a complete education in Sanskrit - free or partially subsidised. As some of us settled in for a quick nap, we could hear the voice of the teacher and students getting ready to begin their lessons of the day!

Mandakini snanam @ Janaki Ghat

The most important element of Chitrakoot is its natural beauty – lush green everywhere and the Mandakini River gushing along. There are many important ghats at Chitrakoot. The Janaki ghat where Sita used to bathe, is less crowded and safer to bathe in as it is not too deep here. From where we stayed, off the main road, a leisurely walk takes you to a sudden open enclosure of tall trees and the gurgling Mandakini at the janaki Ghat. The river flows here at multiple levels and is sight to see. One can just visualise Sita sitting here amongst the woods and enjoying a leisurely bath.

Gupt Godavari

This is the place where Godavari begins her journey. It is a strange yet beautiful place at the foothills of a small hill.  Climbing up the hill,  the Mandakini flows over man made steps along side the pathway. Young children sit at these steps and enjoy the water.  At the top of the steps, large cave entrances come upon us suddenly. The entrance on the left is narrow and climbs down leading to many dimly lit caves that have various idols of Rama and Sita, Lakshmana and sages. The entrance to the right  leads down into a world underground. There is a strange excitement-laced fear that engulfs my mind as we descend deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth. Its an amazing sight as water levels slowly rise and the stone walls around us get damper. The passage gets narrower and slippery. For many people, navigation is difficult without support as the force of the water unsettles us. At a certain depth at the bottom,  force of the water increases & it slowly rises up to thigh levels. The passage is narrow allowing only a single file to move ahead.  Just as we begin to wonder how much deeper and longer we will walk, the passage ends suddenly from where the Godavari river gushes with immense force out of a small hole in the cave wall. The sight of the river’s force is magnificent and its hard to imagine how such a small beginning can lead to such a large river that feeds so many. We wonder how we will traverse back as there seems no way out. Our guide then shows us a small hidden  side entrance which rejoins the passage in. As we walk back elated, with the sound of the river bombarding our ears, I realise that it is nature’s bounty that we have the Godavari river flowing underground and the Mandakini flowing on the surface above! The passage comes out on to a platform that is raised which gives a bird's eye view of the caves and the surrounding greenery. Nature  in all its glory here, reminded me of how humble our existence is in this universe.

Atri-Anasuya ashram 

Leaving their hermitage at Chitrakoot after Bharatha left, they stayed at the Atri Anasuya ashram. Mata  Anasuya had a long chat with Sita enquiring about her marriage ceremonies and life at Ayodhya. She showered Sita with a lot of love and also gave her celestial jewelry  and flowers. After resting here and partaking of their hospitality, Rama-Sita Lakshmana went on to Dandakaranya to meet the sages and kill the rakshasas there. 

This is a beautiful ashram on the banks of the Mandakini. A huge temple has been built at this spot. The ashram itself has beautiful frescos and Images depicting the life story of Anasuya and Rama-Sita’s visit, the Dashavatara and various stories from our scriptures including those of Savitri, Harishchandra etc.

Sphatika Shila

Close to the Atri Anasuya ashram, is this large rock and temple called Sphatika Shila. This is the place where Kakasura was killed by Rama. The story of Kakasura  was told to Sita by Hanuman when he came to see her at Asoka vanam at Lanka. This story is what gave Sita the confidence that Hanuman was truly Rama’s messenger and not Ravana playing tricks on her.  The temple has a Hanuman sannidhi as well as the sannidhis of Rama-Sita and Lakshmana.   The marks on the rock show details of where Rama kneeled to send out the chakra and where Kakasuran

Ram ghat

It is said that, at this ghat, where Rama and Lakshmana bathed, many sages and munis used also bathe at this ghat and conduct yagnas. The ghat therefore has a lot of spiritual vibrancy. There are many temples like the Sita Rama  temple and Krishna temple. The Mandakini is not very wide here yet we need a boat to go to Ram Ghat across the river.

The Ram ghat also plays an important role in Goswami Tulasidas’ life. He had already been given darshan of the 2 princes on horseback but unfortunately failed to recognize them. On pleading with Hanuman again,  he sat  everyday at the Ram Ghat, as instructed by Hanuman, singing the Lord’s glories and making sandal paste, waiting for his Rama Lakshmana to come and give him darshan. Then on a Mauni Amavasya in 1663, a dark young boy came along with a fairer look alike, and asked Tulsidas to give him some sandal paste. Tulasidas again didn’t recognize the divine boys and asked them to wait. Hanuman thought that Tulsidas may again miss this opportunity, so, he took the form of a parrot  on the tree under which Tulasidas was sitting and sang this couplet (doha) -"Chitrakut ke ghat par Bhai Santan ki Bhir, Tulsidas Chandan Ghisse, Tilak dait Raghubir." The Lord himself put sandal on Tulsidas's forehead and his own and then they both disappeared.

Bharat Milap

This is one of the most important locations at Chitrakoot, situated on a small hill called Kamdagiri,  Locals say that this hill is the actual place where Bharatha came with all Ayodhya hoping to take Rama back with him to Ayodhya. There are many small temples on this hill depicting various scenes and characters from the Ramayana. The most important of these is the large Bharat Milap temple.  This is the place where Bharatha came to request Rama to return to Ayodhya. Instead Rama gave away his paduka to Bharatha. At the Bharat Milap temple, the entire scene is etched out as beautiful sculpted images of Rama with Bharatha  at his feet pleading with his eyes for Rama to come back. Rama himself is the image of compassion. As you watch this scene you can feel the intense bonding and love between the two brothers. We did a parikrama of the hill as is the custom here. It was also probably the best way to see all the sights and temples on the hill.

Hanuman Dhara

At the top of a steep hill, one reaches this very important temple of  Panch Mukhi Hanuman Dhara  by climbing a steep 360 steps. It is believed, that the spectacular spring here was created by Rama to give relief to Hanuman when he returned after having set fire to Lanka.  Apart from the spring there are several temples which are located here.  It is believed that the kitchen of Sita  - Sita Rasoi is also located on top of this hill.  The great view of the historic town of Chitrakoot makes the climb really worthwhile.

To view photos of Chitrakoot in Rama Anu Yatra click on:

https://picasaweb.google.com/devikavarad/RamaAnuYatraChitrakoot#