चित्रकूट के घाट पर, भई संतन की भीर। तुलसीदास चंदन घिसे, तिलक करें रघुवीर।।
This Doha is known to almost all the people. Chitrakoot is a small town situated on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. at a distance of about 650 kms from Delhi.
The main belief of Chitrakoot is that when Shri Ramji along with his wife Sita and brother Laxman spent about 12 years in Chitrakoot in their period of exile. There are many mythological places of Shri Ram's exile period in Chitrakoot area, which I will describe later.
Itinerary and day wise schedule
Now I should come to itinerary. You can skip few things if you wish to, or add some days in particular city if you like. I went with my family in a train from Delhi. So, sharing itinerary basis that:
Day 1: Arrive at Chitrakoot, Sightseeing and stay at Chitrakoot (600 Kms, 10-12 hours)
From Delhi we left on a overnight night train and reached Chitrakoot by around 7 am. Since the hotel check in time was 12 noon, we hired a taxi and left for Rajapur.
The distance of Rajapur from Chitrakoot railway station is just 30 kms. Rajapur is the place from where Shri Ram crossed Yamuna ji while coming to Chitrakoot. This place is also famous as it the birthplace of tulsiDas ji and also has last original copy of Ramayana.
After boating in Yamuna river, we left for Chitrakoot by taxi.
In the Evening, we visited Ram Ghat, which is on the banks of the Mandakini river. It is believed that Goswami Tulsidas had darshan of Shri Ram at this ghat. In the evening, there is a panoramic view of Aarti at Ram Ghat as well as evening Aarti can be enjoyed while boating in Mandakini river.
We reached back to our hotel at around 8pm, had dinner and went off to sleep
Day 2: Sightseeing at Chitrakoot and stay at ChitraKoot
For next day we hired a full day taxi. As a first stop about 10 km away from Ram Ghat was the temple of Sati Anusuiya ji. It is believed that Shri Ram, Sita and Lakshman ji had darshan of Atri Rishi and Mata Anusuiya during exile and Mata Anusuiya presented divine clothes and divine ornaments to Sita ji. Mandakini river starts from this temple.
From there at a distance of around 10 kms, there are caves of Gupt Godavari, in which the stream of pure water keeps flowing soaking the feet. These caves are very big. And there are many figures made of limestone. It is believed that when Bharat came to bring Shri Ram back, then Shri Ram held his court in this cave.
Post having some lunch and resting for some time, we visited Kamadgiri mountain which is the main glory of Chitrakoot. The parikrama of Kamadgiri is about 05 kms. It is said that Shri Ram and Mata sita stayed on this mountain only for 11 years . The experience of parikrama was very enjoyable.
In Evening, We visited an ancient Hanuman temple situated on the hills at a distance of 02 km from our place and has a majestic view of sunset. There are about 500 steps to reach the temple. Nowadays a rope-way has also been made. Above the Hanuman temple on the hill, there is a stream of pure water as well.
After returning back to our hotel ,we had dinner and went off to sleep.
Day 3: Sightseeing at Shabri Waterfall and train back to Delhi
We kept this as a pretty chill day as most of the places were already covered. Post breakfast, we went to Aroghya Dham which is around 5 kms from the city to have a bath in the mandankni river as it has a proper place to take a bath.
After checking our from the hotel, we took a taxi who took us to Shabari Waterfall which is around 50kms from Chitrakoot. Because of the monsoon the waterfall was very beautiful with much water being flowing.
After that, the taxi dropped us back to the railway station, from where we boarded our over night train back to Delhi.
Some tips:
Book some hotel in advance if required through Booking.com with pay the property option to avoid last minute rush especially.
Start your journey early in the morning in such tourist places as there would be less traffic and more time for you to explore places.
You will easily get lot of things to eat on the way. So, avoid carrying extra stuff to eat as you would need to carry that weight yourself.
Conclusion
We didn’t know how the three days passed in Chitrakoot. The memories of Shri Ram's Van Gaman are present in every particle of Chitrakoot region. It seemed that Shri Ram would appear along with Janaki from some side. In Chitrakoot, we stayed at Madhya Pradesh Tourism Housing Corporation hotel, which was very comfortable.
Cherishing the indelible memories of Chitrakoot, we came back to Delhi by train. The trip to Chitrakoot was truly an unforgettable journey.
Do let me know if I missed anything. You can reach out to me at peakandtroughs@gmail.com or DM me at Instagram @peakandtroughs.
To many more travels,
Robin Gupta
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