In this show of our documentary travelogue on Steemit, "Bharat Darshan: exploring the unexplored", Sukhnidhey Films (www.sukhnidhey.com) takes you to explore the very ancient caves of Hanumandhara in Madhya Pradesh, India, which despite association with the great epic, the Ramayana, and mentions in several ancient texts, have long remained forgotten and unknown to the general masses.
The caves have the most exquisite natural rock idol of Lord Hanuman and a perenial stream of water which falls on the Lord's left half and tail. We first take you to the legendary town of Chitrakoot, which has a number of explicit mentions in the Ramayana as the place where Lord Rama, Goddess Sita and Lakshmana spent quite a period of time during their exile. We take you to the banks of the Holy Ganges, the ghat famously called, "Ramghat", where Lord Rama, Maa Sita and Lakshman are said to have bathed a million years ago.
Witness the divine "Ganga Mahaarti" with us, when the reverberations of conch shells fills the air at the Ramghat, as the river Goddes Ganga is worshipped every evening in Her full majesty and spleandour since ages.
Next, we begin the trek to the peak of the Chitrakoot hill, where the caves of Hanumandhara reside. A flight of around 500 steps takes us to the top in this quite steep trek.
On the way, we explore a thousand year old traditional stepwell, or a Baoli, as it is popularly called, which has its characteristic downward spiralling stairs as far deep as the eyes can see. Local legends attribute the construction of the "Bawri" or "Baoli" to the Chandela rulers, who ruled Madhya Pradesh in the 10th Century A.D. It is said that the stepwell houses the philosopher's stone, which, while in possession of the Chandela kings, was used by them to convert the subjects' agricultural iron implements into gold at the end of the year, by stirring them into the waters of the "Paras Pathar" laden step well.
We finally reach the peak and enter the Hanumandhara cave. It is said that after burning down the whole of Lanka with His tail, as depicted in the Ramayana, Lord Hanuman was troubled by the heat of the immense fire. Lord Rama then struck an arrow into the Chitrakoot hill (on which we trek) and a perenial stream of the river Ganga emerged from the rocks, falling down on the tail of Hanuman. The stream came to be known as the "Gupt Ganga", since the source of this stream could not been traced till date, and hence remains "Gupt", or "hidden". The stream almost magically emerges from the rocks inside the caves and then equally mysteriously disappears into a pond, or "Kund" outside. The cold, freezing waters of the Holy river finally relieved Hanuman from His pains. Before departing from planet Earth, Lord Rama also instructed Lord Hanuman to reside permanently in Hanumandhara, Hanuman being a "Chiranjeevi", or ever living.
So, hold your breath, tighten your seat belts and come along with us as we take you to this divine place, gather and document historical evidences on this enchanting journey, studying the architectural features and critically examining the events as described in the ancient Indian texts, and as we see them first hand.
