Yatra- Chitrakoot, Proof of Ramayana

Chitrakoot a village of religious importance interestingly half lies in Madhya Pradesh and half in
Uttar Pradesh. Chitrakoot is one of the most important place mentioned in the great Hindu
Epic Ramayana. I have always been interested in knowing Hindu Mythology and so thought of visiting
the places on the route of Lord Rama's journey from Ayodhya to Lanka during his exile and rescuing
his wife Sita Devi.

I googled and found this map. The places I have visited so far are Kishkindha (present day Hampi)
and Panchvati (present
day
Nasik).
oh!
so
many
more
to
go!
I started from Maihar railway station to Satna (35KM) and then from there took a private bus to
Chitrakoot (77KM). Bus journey was through a lonely, dry forested area. The road widening work was
going on ... Initially it was little difficult to find a place to stay. Chitrakoot is a village and
has many dormitories with basic facilities than hotels and lodges. In one of the ashrams I took a
room for myself and asked the caretaker to change the sheets, give me a clean blanket and I would
pay Rs 50 more. He happily agreed. I hired autorikshaw for Rs 350 to go to all the places of
interest
around.
And
then
I
saw
one
hotel
but,
I
was
already
in
a
dormitory.
Initially, the autorikshaw driver was a bit annoyed with me because
rikshaw with other shared passengers. Later on he gave up. I mainly
importance, there was nothing else as I know. Monkeys are all around
more than the pilgrims and local population there.
Map image courtesy
Anusuya Ashram on the
one of the saptarshis
good wife. The whole
Anusuya. In the below

I didn't allow him to fill the

covered the places of religious
... may be their number is much
wiki (Original image from wiki)

banks of sacred River Mandakini, where Devi Anusuya and her husbandRishi Atri,
(seven sages), lived here. And she preached Sita Deviabout being a devoted and
ashram has sculptural depiction of scenes from Ramayana and the life of Sati
picture, Sita Devi receiving wisdom from Sati Anusuya.

The riverbed is very cool and calm. But, monkeys just bother so much that one feels like getting out
of there asap. The monkeys pulled my bag and demanded food. They showed some arrogance too by
showing me teeth, grunting etc. My nice waterproof bag got few holes as evidence.
Ram Ghat, located at the center of the town is the place where Lord Rama used to take a dip in river
Mandakini during his stay in Chitrakoot with his wife Sita Devi and brother Lakshmana. Now, people
take a dip here. Along the riverbanks there are temples. A boat ride would take us to several
important ones. A Shivatemple is believed to be founded by Brahmadev and Lord Rama worshipped.
Hanumaan Dhara, located on a hilltop is a spring created when Lord Rama shot an arrow on the rock
face. When Hanuman returned back from Lanka, setting the whole city on fire, he was too ferocious
with anger and heat. To calm him down Lord Rama created this cool spring. The temple has five faced
Hanumann deity. To reach the temple one has to climb up more than thousand steps barefoot.

Sita Rasoi, located further up the hill is a place believed to be a place where Devi Sita cooked
food for five maharshis (sages) who were the guests. From here one can have a great view of
Chitrakoot village.

Kamadgiri, is the original Chitrakuta hill where Lord Rama lived during his exile. This hill is
considered of prime religious importance. There is aparikrama (perimeter) path at the base which is
lined with many other shrines. There is a Kamadanathji temple which is dedicated to Lord Rama. I
went on this 5KM path early in the morning, greeted and bothered by monkeys all the way.
Bharat Milap temple, is on the Kamadgiri parikrama path where Lord Rama met his brother Bharatha who
came to persuade Rama to return from exile to Ayodhya. The temple has the footprints of Lord Rama
and his brother Bharatha.
Gupta Godavari, located 18KM from the town, there are two caves. One has to walk through the narrow
entrance in the knee deep stream water. Inside the cave there are two throne-like rocks where it is
believed that Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana took seats.

Spatik Shila, located in a forested area on the banks of river Mandakini is a rock resembling
crystal (spatik). This rock bears the footprints of Lord Rama and Sita. The legend says ... Rama and
Sita used to sit on this rock and enjoy the nature around. Once, Jayant- the son of Indra, disguised
himself as a crow and pecked Sita's foot. Annoyed with this Rama shot an arrow and took the crows
eye!
Sri Ram Darshan museum, the best in Chitrakoot or anywhere else ... The museum has sculptural
depiction of the Epic Ramayana. The sculptures are the finest. There is another museum on the
similar theme based on Tulsidas- Ramcharit manas. There were ducks around and this one gave a nice
pose.

It was a good experience with all the other passionate pilgrims ... but, few things bothered me!
First, the way priests here try to make money taking the name of God! They almost try to loot the
pilgrims! At one place I was almost chased by one to perform some religious ceremony. I feel sad for
them. Per Hindu religion, once up on a time Brahmins were held at highest regard for their selfless
service to the society. They promoted spirituality. Now, these descendants of great sages have come
down to extorting money from pilgrims in the name of God!
Secondly, man-monkey joint venture ... wondering what this could be?! well ... there are few vendors
selling chickpeas to feed monkeys. I refused to buy, because I hate feeding wild animals. The vendor
called the monkeys with some code-language, monkeys came running and jumped all over me!! The vendor
might have expected me to buy chickpeas!!! I didn't buy. Monkeys hanged on to my clothes and bag and
then somebody shoed them away!
I took a bus to Satna on the way back. From there took a bus to Panna National Park which later
didn't materialize. So, ended up in Khajuraho- the place very popular among international tourists.
Scrapbook- A Travel Blog by Kusum Sanu