Chhattisgarh: Mata Sita established kitchen, this holy land is Sitamarhi Harchauka

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Raipur, 20 May (Hindustan Times). Sitamarhi Harchauka in Chhattisgarh’s Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district is such a place where the feet of Lord Shri Ram and Mother Sita fell in Chhattisgarh during exile and this land became holy land. Mawai river washed the feet of Mother Sita. Lord Shriram spent his initial time here during exile and was accompanied by mother Sita and brother Laxman. Mother Sita made a kitchen here and Lord Shri Ram’s household settled in this forest region. There were local legends about this holy place associated with Lord Shri Ram, but the tourist map for the devotees had information about this place.

Chief Minister Bhupesh’s government took the initiative to make Ramvangaman tourism circuit so that the local devotees coming here can also get the necessary facilities and the devotees of Ram settled in the country and abroad can reach them. Now this beautiful holy place is all set for the devotees. Its splendor and its spiritual significance are now readily available to the people. There are 17 chambers in the caves of this beautiful holy land associated with Lord Shri Ram and Mother Sita. This place is called Harchauka and people also know it by the name of Sita’s kitchen.

Sitamarhi Harchauka – Most of the time of Lord Rama’s 14 years of exile was spent in Dandakaranya. 75 such places have been identified wherever Lord Shri Ram stayed with his wife Sita and brother Laxman during the exile period and where their feet fell. Out of these, Chhattisgarh government has started to develop the first 09 places as world-class tourist destinations. Ram Vanagaman tourism circuit project starts from a place called ‘Sitamarhi Harchauka’ in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district. Sitamarhi Harchauka, situated on the banks of Mawai river, is the starting point of Dandakaranya, from where Lord Shriram arrived on the land of Chhattisgarh during the exile period. In order to preserve the archaeological importance of Sitamarhi-Harchauka, major sites of this circuit are being developed as tourist pilgrimage.

Footprints of Lord Rama on the boulder

A huge boulder is located in Sitamarhi Harchauka, which people consider to be the footprint of Lord Rama. Due to public faith and belief, people worship Shilakhand. Due to the archaeological importance of Lord Ram’s footprint, research work is also going on. It is a pleasant coincidence that there are many places associated with him in Chhattisgarh which underline his events. The whole life of exile Ram is a symbol of social harmony. Lord Rama always embraced the underprivileged section of the society during his exile.

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p style=”text-align: justify;”>Development as a tourist destination

Work is being done to develop Sitamarhi-Harchauka as a center of public faith. Beautification of river ghat is going on. An ashram is also under construction here for the tourists to stay and a cafeteria is also being built for food and drink arrangements. A 25 feet tall statue of Lord Rama can also be seen from here.

How to reach Sitamarhi Harchauka

The distance from capital Raipur to Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district headquarter Manendragarh is about 400 km and one can directly reach Harchauka by road. There is a direct train available from the capital Raipur to reach here till Baikunthpur Road station. Sitamarhi-Harchauka is situated at a distance of about 170 km from here. Taxi service is also available from Baikunthpur Road Station to Sitamarhi-Harchauka.

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