The Land of goddess Sita-Sitamari

50 km away from Allahabad on National Highway 2 there is a place called 'Sitamari' which is very sacred for hindus for many reasons.According to Indian mythology, Sitamarhi has got immense significance, because it was here at the ashram of sage Valmiki that goddess Sita gave birth to sons Luv and Kush and leter descended into the lap of Mother Earth . Even a 108 ft statue of Lord Hanuman is installed here which could be seen from the distance. It is one of the five ‘Teerths’ in Poorvanchal which are Prayagraj, Sitamarhi,Sarnath. Vindhyachal and  Kashi. Still it is believe that the unique grass found in this region is actually hairs of goddess Sita which glitters at night and on uprooting it on particular time , a blood like substance oozes. When goddess Sita was about to merged into the earth, Lord Rama did tried to hold her , but he managed to get few hairs of her. In the month of Shravan, females perform special pooja of these hairs like grass for the longevity of their husbands.

Exactly here goddess merged into the earth.

The carving on walls showing different episodes of Ramayana

The excellent glass work

108 ft Statue of Hanuman

The famous tree at the backdrop where sons of Lord Rama tied the horse of Ashwamegh Yagya

Kewat- a friend indeed

During the years of exile when Lord Rama reached at the banks of river Ganga, he needed a boat to cross it. He approached a boatman, Kewat for his services. But Kewat refused.He said, “I have heard that there is magic in the dust of your feet. By the touch of your feet, a stone can change into a woman.( he was referring to the previous incident in which Lord Rama removed the curse of Ahilya by touching his foot to a stone which turned into a woman)”. Kewat laid the condition that first he would wash Rama's feet to remove the dust and only then he would allow him to to sit on the boat. Lord Rama smiled  and allowed Kewat to wash His feet. Kevat by his simple manner, thus achieved what great sages could not achieve. It was kewat’s   devotion which made it possible for him to accomplish a feat that even the gods are envy of.

After washing the Lord’s feet, Kewat ferried them across the river Ganga. As soon as they alighted from the boat, goddess Sita immediately withdrew a ring from her finger and handed it over to Lord Rama, signaling to him to pass it on to the boatman.But Kewat refused to accept it. On asking the reason, kewat replied," Lord, ! how can i accept any money from You because   people of the same profession do not charge each other for their services. A barber never takes payment, when he gives a haircut to another barber. Even a washer-man never charges a fellow washer-man.". Lord Rama was surprised with the response and wanted clarification from Kewat that how could he be of the same profession . Kewat answered "Lord, both of us do the same work. I ferry people from this bank of the Ganges to the other. You ferry people across the ocean of Sansaara (Bhav-sagar), through the journey of life.How can I accept payment from you? Lord! . But please, as I have made you cross this river today, when my time comes, take me across sansaar saagar (the ocean of life). That would be your return to me."The Lord was so overwhelmed at this devotional request from Kewat, that he held out his arms and embraced the boatman and blessed him. Later, the Kewat was liberated from the cycle of birth and death just because of this little service done unto the Supreme Lord! After the completion of his exile when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya, he was crowned as King. But in coronation ceremony his eyes were looking for some special guest. When Sita asked Rama that is he waiting for some one. Lord Rama replied that he is missing Kewat too much today. Even on the day of extreme happiness Lord Rama did not forget the  good deed done by Kewat long time ago.
Jai Shri Ram!

Hanuman and Betel leaves

When the war between Lord Rama and King Ravana was over, then it was time for them to return to Ayodhya along with Goddess Sita. But at the time of departure Hanuman was missing who played a key role in the victory of Lord Rama. Everyone searched for Hanuman. Eventually, Sita found Hanuma in a betel leaves garden .  When Hanuman saw Sita , he bowed his head down to seek the blessings.Sita was overwhelmed with his devotion. She plucked few betel leaves and showered on hanuman in order to bless him. Since then  this tradition of offering garland of betel leaves is follows

Panch Kanya

'Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara, Mandodari tatha,

Panchakanya smarn nityam maha pataka nasanam'

As per above shloka, remembering the 5 panch kanya(5 women), mentioned here in pooja can remove the sin

According to scriptures the following 5 women are called "Panch Kanyas" .

1)Ahilya- She was a wife of Sage Gautam. She suffered the curse of her husband for many years.She waited of Lord Rama for many years to liberate her from the curse

2) Draupadi- During the exile, she supported her husbands at every point.She took the death of her son,Abhimanyu with courage and strength

3)Sita- She was an incarnation of goddess lakshmi. She remained with Lord Rama in the most difficult conditions which she could had been avoided. The was totally dedicated to Lord Rama.

4)Tara- She was the wife of King Bali. She was famous for her diplomacy and even after the death of her husband she laid condition before her brother in law Sugriv to make her son successor of the throne.

5)Mandodri- She was the wife of King Ravana. She knew the nature of her husband and she handled him very well till the end and kept persuading him to drop the idea of Sita from his mind.

remembering them helps to destroy the greatest sins.

The literal meaning of 'kanya' means 'a young girl'. Though the above 5 women were married and their lives were full of miseries.They were much ahead of the time and tackled the most difficult situations of their lives with courage.

Trijata- The Sita's saviour

 'Trijata'  was one of the demoness in King Ravana’s court. She was appointed to have an eye on Sita and convinced her to marry King. Due to her past lives good deeds,Trijata, was devotee of Lord Rama despite born in demon community. Instead of threatening Sita, she was the only one there in Ashok Vatika where Sita was kept who treated Sita like her daughter. She even freed Sita from the fear by disclosing the secret that Ravana could not marry her due to involvement of previous curses to him. One night she had a dream in which she saw that Lord Rama defeated Ravana. After the dream she even tried her best to persuade King to set Sita free from his captivity.She was sure the Ravanas act of keeping Sita in his kingdom would bring destruction to the whole family. Trijata clearly understood the powers of Sita at once. Even during the war she kept the hopes of Sita alive when Ravana spread the rumors about his victory.She morally supported Sita all the way during the war. Trijata's role can never be underestimated. Actually Trijata was a niece of Ravana,the daughter of Vibhishan.

Curse of Sage Bhrigu

During the fight between gods and demons, at one stage gods overpowered demons. Sensing the massive defeat ,the demons reached the ashram of Sage Bhrigu who was not present at that time. His wife greeted the demons as they were came for the help and she promised to provide shelter to demons. On the other hand, Indra who was chief of gods came to know about the hideout of demons. Indra reached the ashram and threatened demons to surrender before him. But wife of Sage Bhrigu stood in between them and drove Indra away. Indra rushed to Lord Vishnu for the help. To assist Indra he went to ashram where the demons were hidden. Again, the wife of Sage Bhrigu came to rescue demons. Finally, Lord Vishnu killed her with his Sudarshan Chakra in order to ensure win for gods. At this point Sage Bhrigu returned to ashram and shocked to see the dead body of his wife. When he came to know that it was Lord Vishnu who was responsible for the death of his wife, he cursed Lord Vishnu that he too would have to suffer the pain of separation from his wife on earth like him . Lord Vishnu accepted the curse with dignity. Due to curse he was born as Lord Rama(an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and had to suffer the grief of separation from his wife Sita.

The curse of Vedvati

King Kushadhwaj was a powerful king and he was true devotee of Lord Vishnu. His wife gave birth to a daughter. At the time of birth the little girl was chanting the vedic mantras(prayer). This was a good omen for an extraordinary child. As a result her parents named her as “Vedvati”. Like her father she was also a true devotee of Lord Vishnu. She performed very tough tapasya(meditation) to please Lord Vishnu. As she grow older and older , she became adamant that she would marry to only Lord Vishnu. All the efforts of her parents of guiding her to marry some other king on earth went in vain. After the death of her parents , she preferred to stay in the forest and did meditation just to have a glimpse of lord Vishnu. Once the King Ravana, the ruler of Lanka visited her hermitage. He was stunned by the beauty of Vedvati and proposed her to marry him. But Vedvati rejected his offer. The angry King Ravana insulted her and destroyed her tapasya. She cursed Ravana that in her next birth she would become the cause of his death .She could not bear the insult , so she immolated herself . The vedvati reborn as Sita in the next birth. Due to all her merits which she acquired in previous birth she married to Rama(an incarnation of lord Vishnu). Later , Sita(vedvati , in previous birth) became the cause of destruction of the vast empire of King Ravana!

The Curse of Sita

After the death of King Dashrath, Lord Rama decided to perform the shraadh ceremony because it was necessary to gave solace to the departed soul. Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman went to Gaya(a place in Bihar). On reaching there Lord Rama and Lakshman went in search for material required to perform the ceremony. Sita was waiting at the bank of Phalgu river. After waiting for long time she noticed that the soul of King Dashrath appeared and asked for the pinda(offering given to souls).As the time was running out , Sita herself decided to perform the ceremony with all the possible means. After the ceremony the soul of King Dashrath blessed her and departed. There were 5 witnesses to this ceremony- the Phalgu river,the Akshay vatam(a sacred tree), a cow ,the Brahmin and the fire. Later when the Lord Rama returned, Sita told the whole incident. But Lord Rama didn’t believe. Then Sita asked the 5 witnesses. Among the 5 only Akshay vatam told the truth. This upset Sita and she cursed the other 4. She cursed Phalgu river that it would be dried on the top. She cursed cow that it would no longer be worshipped from the front and only its backside would be considered as auspicious. She cursed fire that whatever came in contact with it would be destroyed. Then she cursed Brahmins that they would never be satisfied. Lastly She blessed Akshay vatam that it would remain evergreen. Even today the Phalgu river looses its water when it enters Gaya, though the water is still present below the river bed

Lord Hanuman & Shani Devta

Saturn descended on Hanuman when he was busy building a bridge over the ocean to help Rama and his army cross over to Lanka. Hanuman requested the planet to postpone his visit till he had successfully assisted Rama in regaining Sita. But Saturn was adamant and Hanuman had to bow against the will of nature. He suggested that Saturn sit on his (Hanuman's) head as his hands were engaged in serving Rama and his legs were too lowly for Saturn.

Saturn happily settled on Hanuman's head and the mighty Hanuman continued with his work, piling heavy boulders and stones on his head in an apparently casual manner and carrying them to the construction site. After a while Saturn found it impossible to bear the load of the heaped boulders any longer and wished to climb down. Hanuman insisted that he complete his mandatory seven-and-a-half years but Saturn pleaded for release saying that the seven-and-a-half minutes he stayed on Hanuman's head felt like seven-and-a-half years anyway. Thus speaking Saturn took leave of Hanuman and since then worshippers of Hanuman rest assured that the unavoidable ill effects of Saturn's sade-sati (seven-and-a-half year's stay) can be whittled down by a true devotion to Hanuman.

Shani ki drishti

When King Ravana succeeded in getting the control over all the nine planets, he installed them face downward on the nine steps that led to his throne. Each morning, he would step on their back to ascend his throne, causing insult and anguish to them. One day the sage Narada came to Ravana, and upon seeing the state of the nine planets asked Shani, how as the mightiest and the most terrible of the planets, he can bear this insult? Shani replied that because he is laying face downward he is helpless, if only he can cast his gaze on Ravana, matters would change. After Narada was shown around the magnificent palace of Ravana the proud king wanted his opinion. The wise sage replied that everything was excellent at the palace of Ravana, except for one. That was, how can Ravana get the pleasure of subduing the nine planets when they are lying face downward? It is better if they were to lay face upward so that when Ravana stepped over their chests, he could get the pleasure of seeing their discomfort on their faces. This suggestion appealed to the mighty king and he quickly ordered his staff to turn the nine planets around on their backs. As soon as that was done, Shani's gaze fell on Ravana and his reason abandoned him. Within a few months he kidnapped Sita, the wife of Lord Rama that led to Lord Rama's invasion of his kingdom. Ravana and his entire family was killed, all this during the seven and half year cycle of Shani.