Wednesday, 29th August 2012. Fourth Day of Third Leg of Our Trip
Subhash Varma, my roommate, was scheduled to leave us as he had other commitments. So we bid bye to him in the morning. Pakkabhai and Dakshaben also had to bid bye to us. So our troupe was shrunk but with a decent size of sixteen.
This was another important day in my life as this was the day I visited Devghat or Devighat, Balmiki or Valmiki Asram and other holy places. Let me confess until I read the brochure from Earthbound Expeditions I did not know that Sitadevi disappeared or passed away at Devighat. My impression was that it happened at Ayodhya on the banks of Sarayu/Saraswathy River where Sri Rama Deva conducted the sacrifice. When I read this I definitely wanted to visit Devghat or Devighat, Valmiki Asram and Janakpur as much as I wanted to have the Mansarovar Kailash Parikram. Having gone there I did not want to miss the chance to visit Chitwan National Park also. Even if I was alone I should have covered all these places.
After breakfast we started our trip by bus from Pokhara hotel to Devghat. It was about two and a half three hours drive of about seventy miles. Devghat is at the confluence of Trishuli and Kali Gandhaki rivers. After getting off the bus we had to walk through a suspension bridge. And after crossing the bridge it is about fifteen minutes walk to reach the Sree Ram Mandir and Sree Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir. The fifteen minutes walk would look like you are walking inside thick forest with tall crowded trees. I definitely enjoyed the walk.
When I visited the temple for darsan my mind and body were equally refreshed. I felt the place as very serene and holy. A true devotee of Lord Sri Ramachandra Swamy would definitely cherish the stay for the rest of his/her life.
We also visited a Vedic School here which is being run in the true traditional style of old Gurukul. Inmates in saffron dresses are staying within the compound. You would definitely be reminded of lines:
“Sarvarthu phala pushpadyam nana mriga ganair yutham
Kananam jathi vaira rahitha janthu poornam
Nandana samanam ananda thanadyam muni
Nandhana veda dhwani manditham anupamam”
Agasthya Sandarsanam of Adhyatma Ramayanam when you listen to the husky recitals of the inmates of the Vedic School from those surroundings.
Then we walked down to a cave believed to be the one where Sitadevi disappeared or taken away by her mother Bhoomidevi at her own request to the nether world (Pathal) as an affidavit confirming her chastity to the assembly. The icon or a shrine of Sitadevi is in the Mandir in the cave. The roaring sound of the rivers may be scary and may remind you of the sequence of events on the concluding day of the Yenjas conducted by Lord Sri Rama Swamy.
The way towards the cave is risky and please be careful while stepping down as well as climbing back up.
With a short walk you can reach the cave where the great sage Valmiki wrote the Adi Kavya (First Poetry) the well known Valmiki Ramayanam. It is interesting to see the animation of the great sage Valmiki writing the Adi Kavya in that cage. It is on the banks of Kali Gandhaki or Krishna Gandhaki River which is also known as Narayani River. The area is full of reeds and bamboo trees and always filled with the sounds of the breeze from the leaves. The river flows in a fury but as it is curved inside in front of the Asram it is very calm. We were warned not to get into the water as the area is very deep and extremely dangerous. But by all means the most appropriate place to write such a grand epic.
I think at this point it would be injustice to continue my travelogue without writing at least a few sentences about this Adi Kavya. The famous Adi Kavya is known to all or at least the first two words.
“Maa Nishada Pratistham Tvamagamahsāsvati Samaa
Yat Kraunchamithunaadekam Avadhi Kaamamohitam”
The original meaning of these lines is: Hey hunter you will never attain permanent peace because you shot to death one of the birds which was romantically involved with its female mate.
Whereas the same lines when it is used as Moola Kavya of Ramayana the meaning is:
Oh Lord, Sri Rama Swamy, (Lakshmipathi = Lord Sri Maha Vishnu) you have established the highest of the eternal fame ever possible (incomparable name and fame) by killing demon/devilish Ravana (referred as the male bird in aadi kavya) who was ignorantly and illusorily involved in romantic affairs with Mandothari (referred as the female bird in aadi kavya).
When I came to know that I was going to have an opportunity to visit the place where this great sage Valmiki believed to have been living and wrote this Adi Kavya, I decided that at any cost I should grab this opportunity and see this most divine place as well.
Visiting these places is also a life fulfilling ambitions as that of Kailash Parikram for me. If you have time please also visit Pandavanagar or The Someswar Kalika Temple and Fort which we could not visit as we had scheduled to go to Chitwan Gardens. It is believed that Pandavas used to live here also while they were in exile.
From Devghat it was less than half an hour drive to Chitwan National Park. We had booking at Jungle Safari Lodge. Accommodation was comfortable. Our guide was also ready. After a late lunch in the evening our tourist guide took us for a walk in the National Park. This park has been declared as World Heritage Site by UN. The grasslands and the forest areas extend to over one thousand square miles. North West boundaries of the Garden are Narayani – Rapti River. Walking inside the forest carefully looking for snakes and avoiding hot dung of elephant is definitely a varied experience.
As Subhash has left I had an independent room for the rest of the tour.
Subhash Varma, my roommate, was scheduled to leave us as he had other commitments. So we bid bye to him in the morning. Pakkabhai and Dakshaben also had to bid bye to us. So our troupe was shrunk but with a decent size of sixteen.
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| Subhash was my room mate for the whole Kailash Manasarovar Parikram for eighteen days |
This was another important day in my life as this was the day I visited Devghat or Devighat, Balmiki or Valmiki Asram and other holy places. Let me confess until I read the brochure from Earthbound Expeditions I did not know that Sitadevi disappeared or passed away at Devighat. My impression was that it happened at Ayodhya on the banks of Sarayu/Saraswathy River where Sri Rama Deva conducted the sacrifice. When I read this I definitely wanted to visit Devghat or Devighat, Valmiki Asram and Janakpur as much as I wanted to have the Mansarovar Kailash Parikram. Having gone there I did not want to miss the chance to visit Chitwan National Park also. Even if I was alone I should have covered all these places.
After breakfast we started our trip by bus from Pokhara hotel to Devghat. It was about two and a half three hours drive of about seventy miles. Devghat is at the confluence of Trishuli and Kali Gandhaki rivers. After getting off the bus we had to walk through a suspension bridge. And after crossing the bridge it is about fifteen minutes walk to reach the Sree Ram Mandir and Sree Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir. The fifteen minutes walk would look like you are walking inside thick forest with tall crowded trees. I definitely enjoyed the walk.
When I visited the temple for darsan my mind and body were equally refreshed. I felt the place as very serene and holy. A true devotee of Lord Sri Ramachandra Swamy would definitely cherish the stay for the rest of his/her life.
We also visited a Vedic School here which is being run in the true traditional style of old Gurukul. Inmates in saffron dresses are staying within the compound. You would definitely be reminded of lines:
“Sarvarthu phala pushpadyam nana mriga ganair yutham
Kananam jathi vaira rahitha janthu poornam
Nandana samanam ananda thanadyam muni
Nandhana veda dhwani manditham anupamam”
Agasthya Sandarsanam of Adhyatma Ramayanam when you listen to the husky recitals of the inmates of the Vedic School from those surroundings.
Then we walked down to a cave believed to be the one where Sitadevi disappeared or taken away by her mother Bhoomidevi at her own request to the nether world (Pathal) as an affidavit confirming her chastity to the assembly. The icon or a shrine of Sitadevi is in the Mandir in the cave. The roaring sound of the rivers may be scary and may remind you of the sequence of events on the concluding day of the Yenjas conducted by Lord Sri Rama Swamy.
The way towards the cave is risky and please be careful while stepping down as well as climbing back up.
With a short walk you can reach the cave where the great sage Valmiki wrote the Adi Kavya (First Poetry) the well known Valmiki Ramayanam. It is interesting to see the animation of the great sage Valmiki writing the Adi Kavya in that cage. It is on the banks of Kali Gandhaki or Krishna Gandhaki River which is also known as Narayani River. The area is full of reeds and bamboo trees and always filled with the sounds of the breeze from the leaves. The river flows in a fury but as it is curved inside in front of the Asram it is very calm. We were warned not to get into the water as the area is very deep and extremely dangerous. But by all means the most appropriate place to write such a grand epic.
I think at this point it would be injustice to continue my travelogue without writing at least a few sentences about this Adi Kavya. The famous Adi Kavya is known to all or at least the first two words.
“Maa Nishada Pratistham Tvamagamahsāsvati Samaa
Yat Kraunchamithunaadekam Avadhi Kaamamohitam”
The original meaning of these lines is: Hey hunter you will never attain permanent peace because you shot to death one of the birds which was romantically involved with its female mate.
Whereas the same lines when it is used as Moola Kavya of Ramayana the meaning is:
Oh Lord, Sri Rama Swamy, (Lakshmipathi = Lord Sri Maha Vishnu) you have established the highest of the eternal fame ever possible (incomparable name and fame) by killing demon/devilish Ravana (referred as the male bird in aadi kavya) who was ignorantly and illusorily involved in romantic affairs with Mandothari (referred as the female bird in aadi kavya).
When I came to know that I was going to have an opportunity to visit the place where this great sage Valmiki believed to have been living and wrote this Adi Kavya, I decided that at any cost I should grab this opportunity and see this most divine place as well.
Visiting these places is also a life fulfilling ambitions as that of Kailash Parikram for me. If you have time please also visit Pandavanagar or The Someswar Kalika Temple and Fort which we could not visit as we had scheduled to go to Chitwan Gardens. It is believed that Pandavas used to live here also while they were in exile.
From Devghat it was less than half an hour drive to Chitwan National Park. We had booking at Jungle Safari Lodge. Accommodation was comfortable. Our guide was also ready. After a late lunch in the evening our tourist guide took us for a walk in the National Park. This park has been declared as World Heritage Site by UN. The grasslands and the forest areas extend to over one thousand square miles. North West boundaries of the Garden are Narayani – Rapti River. Walking inside the forest carefully looking for snakes and avoiding hot dung of elephant is definitely a varied experience.
As Subhash has left I had an independent room for the rest of the tour.
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| Khulla Disa Mukt Kshethra between Pokhara and Valmiki Asram |
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| Rammandir at Devghat (bleived to be the place where Sitadevi ended her worldly life and went to her abode of Vaikunda) - Near Valmiki Asram |
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| Narayani-Rapti river at Chitwan National Park |
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| Some of our group members strolling at Chitiwan Gardens - On the side it is Narayani - Rapti River |
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| Our guide explains about Chitwan National Park |
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| Wah! What an evening view from Chitwan National Park - Declared by UNESCO to preserve specifically Bengal Tigers and Asian Rhino |
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| Elephants another attraction of Chitwan National Park. See the calf sleeping near mom |
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