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Lord
Rama and Sita are said to have stayed in the forest here for
11 years of their 14 year exile. Chitra literally means “beautiful”
and kut means “mountain.” Chitrakut is by the border of
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, 132km south of Allahabad.
It
is a nice peaceful place to stop for a day or two while going between
Khajuraho and either Allahabad or Varanasi via Satna. This town is one
of the nicer towns in India.
Bharata,
the brother of Rama, came to Chitrakut and begged Rama to return to
Ayodhya, but Rama would not disobey his father’s order. Rama stayed
on Kamadgiri, which means “the hill that can fulfill all desires.”
Nearby
lived the sage Atri and his wife Anusuya. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are
said to have taken incarnations here. It is said that Anusuya made the
Ganges appear as the Mandakini River, because holy water was needed
for her husband’s penance. Lord Rama would bathe daily in that
river. Sita’s footprints are said to be embedded in the rocks
at Janaki Kund, where she took bath.
There
are over 30 temples in the town, and there are bathing ghats along the
Mandakini River (also called Payasvini or Paisuni River).
Chitrakut
is a peaceful place and is untouched by the foreign tourist trail. It
is relatively hassle-free. On a major festival day over 100,000 people
come to Chitrakut. Villagers mainly visit this place for the day. Every
day bus loads of pilgrims come here.
Information
The UP Tourist Office, next to the UP Tourist Bungalow,
has no literature about Chitrakut in English, but they can be a little
helpful. You can get useful tourist information at the Madhya
Pradesh Tourist Bungalow and a brochure in English about the
sites in the area.
Seeing
the Sites
The central part of town is the Ramghat area by the Madhya Pradesh Tourist
Bungalow. You can see the town in three sections. One is the Ramghat
area. Then you can take an auto-rickshaw to both Hanuman Dhara and Kamadgiri
Hill. In the morning there are buses leaving every half-hour on Char
Dhama that goes to Janaki Kund, Sati Anusuya, Sphatik Shila, and Gupta
Godavari. You get the bus about a hundred metres from the Madhya Pradesh
Tourist Hotel. Ask for the Char Dhama bus, which costs about Rs 25.
Buses also go to Hanuman Dhara. You can also hire a jeep to take you
to all these places.
Ramghat
Ramghat, the main bathing ghat in town, is located in the center of
Chitrakut, on the banks of the Mandakini River. It is a peaceful ghat
where you can take a tranquil boat ride for around Rs 20 for a half-hour.
Kamadgiri Hill
Kamadgiri Hill (Old Chitrakut) is a forest-covered hill that is surrounded
by a 5km parikrama path, with temples all the way around the hill. Every
day many people walk around the hill barefoot. Rama is said to have
lived here. One of the major temples here is the Shree Kamatanath
Temple. The Bharat Milap Temple is located
on the back side of the hill. It marks the spot where Bharat, the brother
of Rama, is said to have tried to convince Rama to return to Ayodhya,
to be the king.
Right
after you past the Bharat Milap Temple there is a path that leads to
Laksman Pahadi. On this hill, Laksman is said to have
maintained guard for Rama and Sita. There is a Laksman Temple
on top of the hill.
Janaki
Kund
This is a peaceful place, located 2km upstream from Ramghat on the bank
of the Mandakini River. Sita, who is also known as
Janaki, the daughter of Janaka, is said to have bathed here. The Rama
Janaki Raghuveer Temple is situated here. There is
also the Sankat Mochan Hanuman deity here. You can
reach this place by road or by a 2km boat ride from Ramghat.
Sphatik Shila
Sphatik Shila is a few km upstream from Janaki Kund, on the bank of
the Mandakini River. There is a boulder here that is supposed to have
the footprints of Rama on it. Sita was also supposed
to have been pecked by Jayant, who was in the form of crow, while standing
on this boulder.
Sati
Anusuya
Sati Anusuya is upstream from Janaki Kund, about 16km from the center
of town. It is said that at this place Atri Muni and
his wife, Anusuya, had their ashram with their three
sons, who were incarnations of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.
There
is a temple here that has a deity of Anusuya swinging
her three babies. There are also nice dioramas (statues), which tell
the story of Atri Muni and Anusuya, but the captions are just in Hindi.
There are many hungry monkeys at this place who will grab anything they
see to eat.
Gupta Godavari
Gupta Godavari is about 18km from the town. Located here are two caves.
One is wide and high and has an entrance that is hard to enter. At the
end of this cave is a small pond, which is said to be the same as the
Godavari River. The other cave is long and narrow with
water in it. Rama and his brother, Laksman, are said to have held court
at the end of the cave.
Hanuman
Dhara
There is a spring several hundred feet up the hillside, on the
rock-face, that is said to have been made by Rama to relieve Hanuman
when he returned after setting Lanka on fire. It is a hard walk up the
hill, which has many monkeys on it. The Panch Mukhi (five-headed) Hanuman
Dhara deity is on this hill. You get a great view of the town of Chitrakut
from here. Sita Rasoi (the kitchen of Sita) is on top of the hill here.
Bharata
Koop
This is where Bharata, the brother of Rama, is said to have stored water
collected from all the pilgrimage places in India. It is at an isolated
place, about a half hour from town.
Where to Stay
Annapurna Hotel, by Ramghat, has simple rooms for Rs
75/100 a night.
Yatrika, outside of town by Janaki Kund, has simple
rooms for about the same price.
There are many simple cheap dharamshalas in town such as the Pramod
Van Dharamshala. Many do not have beds.
Madhya Pradesh Tourist Hotel (0519768/326), by the
Satna bus stand, near Ram Ghat, is the best place to stay. Rooms are
Rs 250/350. It is centrally located and quiet.
UP Tourist Bungalow (0519768/224-219), Karbi Rd, Sitapur,
has rooms for Rs 350/450 and dorm beds for Rs 70.
Shree Kamadgiri Bhawan, on Ratnavali Marg, between
the two tourist bungalows, is a nice place that has rooms with common
bath for up to three people for Rs 125 and Rs 250 with attached bath.
Jaipuriya Hotel is a good place with rooms for about
Rs 250.
Where
to Eat
Being a holy place, no meat, fish, or eggs are sold in Chitrakut. There
are restaurants at both the Madhya Pradesh and UP Tourist Bungalows.
Shree Kamadgiri Bhawan has thalis for Rs 20.
Jaipuriya Hotel has a restaurant, as does the Annapurna
Hotel.
When I went to Chitrakut there was no bottled water or cold drinks sold
there. I asked the hotel manager where I was staying to have water boiled
for drinking.
Travel
Air The nearest airports are Khajuraho (175km) and Varanasi
(260km). Neither is very easy to reach.
Train
The closest train station is at Chitrakoot (Chitrakut) Dhama Karvi on
the Jhansi-Manikpur main line about 10km from Chitrakut. From there
you can get a train to Allahabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Mathura and Varanasi.
There is a 12.30 am train that goes to Allahabad and then onto Varanasi
arriving in the morning. The Mahakosal Exp #1449 departs to Delhi (14
hr) via Mathura (11 hr) and Agra in the afternoon. The Mahakosal Exp
#1450 departs from Mathura to Chitrakut.
Bus
There are many buses going to Chitrakut from places in the area, including
Allahabad, Satna, Mahoba, and Jhansi. The bus stand for some buses going
north is located next to the UP Tourist Bungalow, slightly north of
town.
In Allahabad the buses to Chitrakut depart from the Zero Road bus station.
In the morning you can get direct luxury buses from private companies
in the Zero Road area.
If you know of
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