In today’s newspaper, I saw a full-page advertisement issued by Chhattisgarh Govt ‘Ram Van Gaman Tourism Circuit’ which took me by surprise.
The ambitious project of ‘Ram Van Gaman Tourism Circuit’ aims to preserve memories linked to Lord Ram’s stay in Chhattisgarh during his exile from Ayodhya. The memories of Lord Rama are being revived, renovated, and beautified from Koriya to Sukma district. A total of nine places are being developed under this project, which are listed below:
1 It is believed that Lord Rama entered Chhattisgarh from SITAMARHI in Koriya district. This auspicious place is widely known as Sita’s kitchen. There is Shivling present in the middle of caves in this area.
2 Progressing further with his journey, Lord Rama left Sitamarhi and reached Kotgarh via RAMGARH hills in Surguja district. Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshman spent a few days of their exile period at this place which lead to caves being renovated by their names. One cave was named Jogimara, referring to the ascetic disguise of Lord Rama, the others were known as Sita Bengra and Lakshman cave.
3 SHIVINARAYAN is situated at the Sangam of three rivers Shivnath, Jonk and Mahanadi in Janjgir Champa district. The site was believed to be blessed with Mata Shabri. The legend of her handpicking and tasting the berries one by one, to feed the sweetest one to Lord Rama has a special place in the. History.
4 TURTURIYA is a small village situated on the banks of the Balamdevi river. Maharishi Valmiki’s ashram was believed to be here and thus, the region is believed to birthplace of Luv and Kush.
5 CHANDKHURI is a small village in Raipur that derives its name from Chandrapuri, which was ruled by the Chandravanshi kings in ancient times. The place is the home of Lord Rama’s mother, Mata Kaushalya.
6 PRAYAGRAJ, in ancient times this place was famous as Kamal Kshetra Padiamavatipura. Lord Rama spent some time during the exile period in the ashram of Lomash Rishi situated at this place.
7 SIHAWA is a revered site surrounded by dense forests and hills. The divine Mahanadi originates from this region. This place derives its name from the ashram of Shiringi Rishi. It is believed that Shiringi Rishi was called by King Dashratha to perform the Putraeshti yagya to have sons from his three queens, after which Lord Rama was born.
8 CHITRAKOOT is considered to be an important site of the historical and religious importance of ‘Ran Van Gaman’. According to the mythological legends, Lord Shiva ND Parvati arrived here from the Himgiri mountains to meet Lord Rama. Rampal is a place near Jagdalpur, where Lord Rama created a Shivling to mark his arrival from north to south India.
9 SUKMA, there is a popular belief in the folk of south Bastar region which states that Ramaram in Sukma district, houses the footprints of Lord Rama, and he worshipped the Bhumi Devi here. The region houses the famous Chittamittin temple. The villagers celebrate the birth of Lord Rama with great zeal and enthusiasm. A mega fail is also held every year on the occasion of Ram Navmi.
The total length of this route is approx. 2260 Km. The project once completed will boost religious tourism and also generate thousands of jobs for natives of the state.
A wild thought on this matter- when these types of important religious places connected with Lord Rama were there in this area, why no earlier govt never thought of developing this religious tourism. My contention is that BJP was more engrossed in the issue of Babri Masjid and Ram Janam Bhoomi in Ayoydha and the Congress party never believed in the existence of Lord Rama. This was evident when many stalwart Congressmen (who were advocates) fought against the Ram Janam Bhoomi and Babri Masjid issue, and some of their advocates went on to say Lord Rama is a fictional mythological character. Even today Congress party is averse to the Grand Lord Rama temple being built at Ayodhya, after SC allotted the Ram Janam Bhoomi site to Hindu petitioners, and the new site was allotted for the mosque.
It looks like a political move to attract Hindu voters for the Congress party in the next state elections in 2023, after sensing that BJP is gaining ground with the Ram Janam Bhoomi temple at Ayodhya. Whether this pseudo-Hinduism will benefit the Congress party or not, will be seen in the next state election.
But one thing is certain when this project of Van Gaman Path is fully completed, it will definitely attract tourists, and it might become like Char Dham Yatra tourism.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
9th June 2022