We then proceeded to the most sought after and wanting place namely ASHOKA VATIKA, where Sita Matha was kept imprisoned. Until the time I stepped down from the bus, I did not feel much but the moment I stepped into the precincts, I felt an electrical shock like feeling going through realizing that this is where the worst of the treatment to womanhood occurred , how the victim fought with greatest conviction and belief that dharma will prevail and wrong will be corrected establishing dharma and how the wrong doer however strong and mighty may be, will be humbled.
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Landing moment |
As we stepped into the precincts as directed, we went to our right, past some construction work going on and got down to the flowing river and the immediate chillness made us shiver more until the body could observe the chillness and get acclimatized.
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Furious stream |
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Getting feet wet
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But the pravachan related to the place that followed was more chilling and we then crossed a small bridge over the gushing stream leading to the actual spot where Hanumanji landed in the Ashoka Vatika.
The craters of different sizes, we were informed , were created by the foot prints of Hanumanji on his landing and the bigger ones were when He took a huge size and the smaller ones were the ones when He shrank his size to escape the attention of the guarding asuras.
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At the foot print of Hanumanji |
Not only our group but everyone around were also overwhelmed with the sanctity of the spot realizing how blessed we were to stand near and touch the spot where the holy feet of Rama Dhoothan was planted ! After praying and countless number of pictures, we moved reluctantly and were led to the temple at the entrance where we were shown a part of the tree which was actually 'the tree' under which Sita Matha was sitting but the real place where she was sitting was outside the temple where construction was going on and the tree branch has been moved inside to enable construction.
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Construction in progress |
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THE tree |
While personally I was shocked as to how such a revered tree could be removed from the spot, for whatever reason, I could not help staring at the tree which was giving protective shade to the Matha! I was very conscious of the importance of the occasion and was trying to record and capture in my memory every second at the Vatika and am delighted that I could recollect the exact moment even now after a week of the visit, when I write this post.
Still dazed by the magnitude of the place and the attached importance, we moved to another milestone puranically important place, namely
SITA AGNI PARIKSHA STHALA also called DIVURUMPOLA
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The STHAL
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From the place of the sthal one could see a glimpse of the mountains called ISTHRIPURA, where Ravana's wife Madothari and other ladies lived , wherein Sita Matha also placed initially.
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ISTHRIPURA |
At the place where Hanumanji was installed over the bark of a tree , we were treated to a moving account of the circumstances that led to Matha's Agni Pariksha. The place was so reverebrating with sanctity that some of the group members were becoming emotional overwhelmed by the account of the travails the Matha had to undergo.
The poojari at the sthal, with due reverence, requested the senior most lady member around to come forward and and after due prayers opened the room where Sita Mata and other paintings were placed and did an elaborate archana.
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At the revered spot
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We were then led to the actual spot where the Agni pariksha was undertaken . It was with some efforts the yatra director had to pull the group out of the sthal as the group remained static at the spot.
As the group was in still in a daze from the places witnessed in the morning, even the vile meal was gulped without much ado. While some of the members chose to visit the Ravana Caves, we decided to see the
RAVANA ELLA (Falls) , which was more like any of the falls like Courtallam, very common in India.
The waiting time at the falls enabled us to do a good bit of networking and as always happens the members were richer with friends on this tour also. The tiring group then retreated to the modest hotel in KATARAGAMA (a.k.a Kathirgamam) , the simplest of the hotels on this tour, where even the maintenance was left much to be desired. But then, we had so much to remember and celebrate, we decided to ignore and take things in the stride. The day ended happily with the group celebrating the birthday of a senior member.
Day:8 (27-Jan-2024)
As the tour was drawing to a close, the bondings were getting stronger , understanding better and there was happiness as well as a tinge of sadness.
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One of the finer spots at the hotel |
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Kataragama Hotel Lounge |
The trip to the popular Murugan temple at KATARAGAMA was not long and the walk through the sprawling real estate was a good morning exercise and was slightly overawed by the crowd. But, soon we realized that the crowd was more to the Buddhist temple , which is normally observed here as every spot we visited had to be gone through one such temple. With a moderate crowd, we could not only have a good dharshan of Murugan but the group also had time to recite Shashti kavacham, as the crowd managers never pushed the devotees and also permitted freely photos and videos. It was slightly disappointing to see painting of Murugan , as is the practice in southern India, than a statue.
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Kathirgamam |
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Main deity at Kathirgamam |
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Sannadhi |
Nevertheless, we all had a very good dharshan and then hopped on to a long two hour drive to USSANGODA. Enroute, there was a very passionate pravachan in the bus by Krishnaji and by the time we reached the place, it was over noon and was very hot. Ussangoda, we were told was one of the Airports of Ravana, which Hanuman destroyed. One could see a part of the ground still bears the black marks and around this place no vegetation grows as Hanumanji had completely burnt down the place.
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Partially burnt patches
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Ussangoda |
After a short recital of the importance of the place and some photographs of the barren land, we moved on to the DONDRA VISHNU TEMPLE at the southern most tip of the Asian Continent.
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Remains of THENESHWAR
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Sugriva , has prayed and also done a Prana prathistai of Lord Vishnu at at this place before attacking Ravana from the southern side of Sri Lanka. During the Portuguese war earlier, the temple was completely destroyed and the
original Vigraha was thrown into the sea. Later, some devotees have created a modern type temple, which is situated here.
Another popular temple here was the TENEVARAM SIVA TEMPLE, which is one of the Pancha Easwara Kshetra { Refer note under Thirukoneswaram on 23-Jan-2024 } . This was a very beautiful temple again destroyed by the Portuguese and it was never reconstructed. But, later some people managed to recover only some pillars which could be seen while entering the Siva Temple.
Keeping the already delayed lunch time in mind, we rushed through this temple but were further delayed by some defect in the bus. The situation was masterly handled and the group was in no time put in other vehicles and sent for a better tasting lunch at Galle.
The local guide who also pitched in as the Sarathy for our vehicle, expertly maneuvered the van amongst the narrow streets of Galle leading to the RUMASALLA SANJEEVANI TEMPLE , on the way showing the landmarks of Galle also.
It is said that a piece of Sanjeevani Hill, that Hanumanji was carrying to treat Rama Lakshmana brothers was believed to have fallen at this place and it is to the surprise of all that the trees and plants at this place are no where else seen in Sri Lanka, confirming the fact the hill is in fact a part of the bigger mountain. The statues at the place and a replica of the cave in which Sita was imprisoned were very well depicted and the place was also kept neat and tidy despite many footfalls from visitors.
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Welcome with Sanjeevani |
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The cave |
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Piece of mountain preserved |
The most interesting and captivating part of this place is the statue of Buddha which appears to turn the face as and when you move.
With the day's schedule complete, the bus was winding its way to Colombo and the yatris were at their peak singing devotional songs and the expertise across was amazing. Some of the yatris also excelled in sharing stories from puranas related to the places we have visited and that made the yatra all the more memorable. By the time, we reached the shining Colombo hotel people have been sufficiently recharged as we retired to the impressive suites.
Day:9 (28-Jan-2024)
Morning weighed heavier as we woke up to the thought that it is the concluding day of this wonderful yatra. After many snaps at the impressive lounge and hugs to some who were parting from here, we proceeded for a short local sight seeing enroute to the last place of visit.
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Breakfast |
After winding through the streets of Colombo window shopping and also through the diplomatic areas of the Capital, we reached the last spot of visit namely
VIBISHANA PATTABHISHEKA TEMPLE
Situated inside a huge Buddhist shrine, there were many attractive paintings and sculptures which the time pressed group was finding hard to digest.
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Maha Vishnu |
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Pattabhishekam |
Thereafter the checking in with some duty free shop purchases were a breeze and after a smoothy we found ourselves comfortably on board the flight to Chennai and before we could even think of having forty winks landed smoothly at the gleaming Chennai International Airport, with the mind weighing heavier than all the checked in baggage which came on the carousel, rather reluctantly and after a delay.
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Bye Lanka |
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Hi, Chennai |
GREATFUL THANKS TO THE ALMIGHTY
TIRTHA YATRA . . . . . . AND
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Amazing Support |
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Efficient Sarathy
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