Where Rama walked: The Telugu states story

HYDERABAD: “I am tired. Where do we sleep tonight?” asked Sita, to which Rama replied: “Sakhi, neti palle idey.”

For people of Sakinetipalle of today in Konaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, it does not matter if Lord Rama truly walked in their village during his 14-year exile. They believe that He did, and He told Goddess Sita that ‘this is the village where we will sleep tonight’, thus sowing the seed for the village name today.

“It is believed that Lord Rama’s maternal grandmother was from today’s Raipur in Chhattisgarh, which is part of Dandakaryana, and that He visited that place before entering Andhra Pradesh,” says Dr P. Bhaskara Yogi, who specialises in Sankeerthana Sahityam.

Then there is Kalidindi, not far from Eluru, also believed to be part of the same forest described as hostile swarming with rakshasas. This is where Lord Rama is believed to have slayed 14,000 rakshasas in the event described as Khara Dushana, named after the two rakshasa leaders Khara and Dushana.

One of the seminal events during the exile, according to the scriptures, is Ravana abducting Goddess Sita and taking her to his kingdom. As definitive evidence of some of the actual locations of events as described in the Ramayana are hard to come by, a single event is claimed to have occurred in two places – Panchavati in Maharashtra, and Parnasala near Bhadrachalam in Telangana state.

These events, claimed to have occurred at these two locations, are pivotal in Ramayana as it was here that Ravana is believed to have abducted Goddess Sita, following the episode where Lord Rama turns down advances from Surpanakha, Ravana’s sister, whose nose and ears are subsequently cut off by Lakshmana. The abduction eventually leads Lord Rama to Lanka and Ravana’s death.

“They have their Panchavati, we have our Parnasala. It is a matter of faith. Lord Rama is for everyone and people claim he was present at two locations, there is nothing to dispute about it,” says Swami Kamalanda Bharati of Bhuvaneswari Peetham in Gannavaram of Andhra Pradesh.

It is not just what are now Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that Lord Rama passed through during his exile from Ayodhya. People from Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh take pride in their beliefs on Lord Rama’s presence in their respective villages and towns of today, he says.

There are also several other locations in the two Telugu states where people believed that Lord Rama walked. There is Ramagundam, where by one account, He dug holes to get water for a thirsty Goddess Sita, just as people believe that He did the same, but this time shooting arrows at a place known as Ramulavari Banam between Nuziveedu and Medicherla where two small springs in stone produce water. And there is Ramadugu in Karimnagar district where people believe two footprints on a stone belonged to Rama.

Across the two states, there are many places where people believe that Lord Rama had come to where they live today. In Nellore district, there is Ramatheertham on the coast where Lord Rama is believed to have installed a Shiva lingam and had prayed, Vontimitta in Kadapa district, and near Singarayakonda in Prakasam district where Goddess Sita is believed to have washed herself clean in today’s Muttu Madugu, a small water tank.

One of the more famous and better-known places, just as Parnasala in Bhadrachalam is Lepakshi, where Lord Rama is believed to have met Jatayu, the eagle king who fights Ravana flying with Goddess Sita to Lanka, only to have his wings sliced off and falling on earth in what is today’s Lepakshi.

“You just have to look for them, and you will find places with stories and mythology about the presence of Lord Rama in Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh. And faith of the people keeps these alive,” says Swami Kamalanda Bharati.