In the footsteps of Sri Rama/ ஸ்ரீ ராமரின் பாதையில்/ Sri Rama Anu Yatra – 10
Hampi & Anegundi – Kishkinta of Ramayana, the land of Vali, Sugreeva and Sri Hanumar
All the temples/places have been marked out in this map. Just go to Hampi location and expand the map. My whole collection of Hampi photos are here.
This is a continuation article of the previous one, the 9th part of this series. While the previous article covered the Anegunde part of Kishkinta, this article covers the Hampi part of Kishkinta.
Malyavanta Shri Raghunathar Temple
Being the Kishkinta of Ramayana, Anegundi-Hampi region has many sacred places connected with Ramayana legend, out of which, this temple can be considered the most important one because 1)Sri Rama stayed here in meditation for 4 months during the Chathurmasya and 2) Sri Hanumar went to Lanka and returned with the happy news of seeing Sita ma.
This is a big temple in a serene place, away from the usual hustle and bustle of the tourists at Hampi city and so is very calm. From the main road, the temple entrance is about 400 meters (7 mins of walk) and only autos can go. The temple gateways are made of stone and adorned with intricate carvings.
After the pattabhishegam of Sugreevan, chathur masya peak winter season arrived and so Sri Rama & Lakshmana had to move to a higher location. They came here and could not move out in search of Sita for about for 4 months. So, this is a holy place of stay of Sri Rama for 4 months.
Only when Sri Rama was staying here, Hanumar returned from Lanka after seeing Sita ma and handed over Her Choodamani. The famous Kamba Ramayana verse of Hanumar delivering the happy news to Sri Rama
’கண்டனென் கற்பினுக்கு அணியை கண்களால்’, belongs to this place. The famous posture of Sri Rama hugging Sri Hanumar after hearing the news also belongs to this place only.
Sri Raghunathar shrine:
The garbagraha vimanam of the main shrine is built on a rock and the rock itself is considered as Aadhiseshan, the avatar of Sri Lakshman.
365 days of Sri Rama bhajan and Ramayana chanting is going on at the entrance to the main shrine.
The garbagraha moorthies are carved on the rock surface itself and we can see this while circumambulating the garbagraha. It has small moorthies of Sri Raghunathar (Ramar), Sri Lakshmar and Sri Hanumar with Sri Hanumar in the very same posture of handing over Sita ma’s choodamani to Sri Ramar. Sri Ramar is seen in meditative posture with a japamalai and without the usual bow and arrow. He is staying here for the winter to pass over and so there was no need/ work for His bow and arrow presumably. Four Azhwars are also present in a separate row in front of Sri Raghunathar.
View from the left praharam – Sri Raghunathar shrine and the main Rajagopura entrance:
Ma Sita was not here when Sri Rama was staying here and She is present here as Sri Maha Lakshmi with 4 hands in an exclusive shrine.
View from the right side praharam (L to R) – Main Rajagopuram, Sri Raghunathar shrine and Sri Mahalakshmi Thayar shrine:
View from the backside of the temple (L to R) – Sri Mahalakshmi thayar shrine, Sri Raghunathar shrine and the Temple side entrance:
The left side praharam has a side entrance through which we can see the path from the main road through which we have to climb to the main entrance.
The side entrance also has plenty of beautiful carvings of deities.
On the left side praharam, there is also a mandapam with many pillars, 100+ possibly, with beautiful carvings of many deities on the pillars.
Rama bhanam, a theertha kund, which was created by Sri Rama’s arrow is present at the left side praharam and Lakshmana bhanam, another theertha kund, created by Sri Lakshmana’s arrow is present at the backside of the temple outside the temple periphery.
Prasanna Virupaksheeswara Shiva shrine, Lakshmana Theertham surrounded by 29 Shiva lingams with Nandhis are present at the backside. Remember this is a rocky place and the water does not dry up at any season, though dirty sometimes. The panoramic view of the Hampi city from the top is very beautiful.
Shiva shrine:
Lakshmana Theertham with 29 Shiva lingams and Nandhis:
Hanumar is present in a separate shrine within a small cave outside the Malyavan temple just opposite, overlooking Sri Rama shrine. The Senthura Veer Anjaneyar here is just waiting for any call of Sri Rama without disturbing Him.
Relevant Ramayana Dargams: Kishkindakand 5th, 26th, 27th, 44th, 66th sargas and Yuddhakand 4th sarga
Madhu vanam
This is located at around 1 km from Sri Malyavanta Raghurama Temple. Sugreevan was known for his strict rules. He gave 1 month time frame for Hanumar, Angathan and Jambavan to search Sita and the time limit had crossed. When the vanara army of Hanumar returned to Kishkinta after seeing Sita ma, they didn’t go to Rama or Sugreeva to inform the message, instead they came straight to Madhuvana to just celebrate and enjoy!
This is the garden which was very close to the heart of Sugreevan. He built this with his utmost attention and care. There were riped fruits, flowers, honey dripping etc., Honey was dripping everywhere in the garden and that’s why it is called Madhuvanam. The whole vanara army enjoyed by plucking fruits, roaming, jumping, running here and there, laughing, weeping, crying, what not? They were intoxicated and were in extreme excitement. In the process the whole garden got destroyed totally, typical of a beautiful garland at the hands of a monkey (குரங்கு கையில் பூமாலை). When Dhadhimugan, the garden keeper questioned Hanumar, he was slapped. When Dhadhimugan went to Sugreevan and told the news, Sugreevan hit his tail on the floor in happiness. Lakshman who was by the side was puzzled. There is a news that his ‘close to heart’ garden was destroyed but he is feeling happy for it. Sugreevan understood that when the vanara army had the guts to destroy his garden even after crossing his time limit, it implies that they had already met Sita.
There are 2 sargams full of vanara dwamsam of Madhuvanam and it has to be read with/by the kids, says Sri Velukkudi Swamigal.
This was a big forest like garden during the Ramayana period but now it is a small temple with a shrine for big Senthura Anjaneyar without any trace of a forest or a big garden. We have to take into consideration that yugams have passed by since Ramayana period and so, now we have to consider only the sacredness of the location. Apart from Malyavanta Sri Raghunatha Temple, this is the other temple where 365 days of Sri Ramayana reciting and Sri Rama bhajan are taking place.
Kampa Bhupa’s Path – An Interesting Trek through Ancient Structures and Ruins
‘Kampa Bhupa’s Pathway’ is a trek route in Hampi that runs along the Tungabadra river from the Monolithic Bull (also known as Yeduru Basavanna) that is situated at the eastern end of the Hampi Bazaar opposite the Virupaksha Temple to the famous Vijaya Vittala Temple for approximately 2 kms. The trek route takes a visitor along a trail that is filled with several remarkable monuments and sacred spots of Hampi situated in its vicinity. From Monolithic Bull, they are (in order): Chakra Theetham, Sri Yantrodharak Anjaneya Temple, Sri Kothandarama Temple, Sri Surya Narayanar Temple, Sri Achyutharayar Temple, Sri Varaha Temple, Koti Linga, Sri Ranganatha moortham, Sri Raghunanthana Theertha Moola Brindavana, Sugreeva Cave (Sita Seragu), Sri Narasimha Temple, Wish tree (big banyan), Purandaradasar Mandapam, King’s balance etc., upto Vijaya Vittala temple. These can be accessed only through the trek path and there is no motorable road but the path is so scenic and fascinating that you will love to trek along. One can take a short coracle ride from the Kothanda ramar temple to explore the surrounding area.
Links: Location of starting point of the trek Details of the pathway
Sri Kothanda Ramar Temple and Sita Seragu – Sugreeva cave are the Ramayana spots that are located on the Kampa Bhupa’s Pathway. We will look at the temples in the order they are located.
Chakra Theertham
Thungabadra river changes direction towards North here with a whirl. Any (portion of a) river that flows towards North is considered very sacred. Vyasarayar, when he was at Hampi / Anegundhi for 40 years used to take bath here regularly. Here only, Vyasar saved Govinda Udayar (both are part of the Nava Brindhavan nearby) from drowning. It’s a very sacred place to take bath and do Pithru tharpanam but be careful with the waters, its deep and slippery as well.
The view of this serene place from top of the hill is mesmerizing indeed. This is the view of Chakra Theertha from the Yantrodharak Anjaneya Temple. On the right side you can see a portion of the Kothandaramar temple. At the far end is the Anjanadhri Hill. Just before that on the left side of the river is the Rishyamukh Parvat. On the flat surface before the little rock on the right bank of the river is the Kotilingam. One can take a short coracle ride from the Chakra Theertham to explore the surrounding area.
The temple at the front is the Surya Narayanar temple and the one at the back is the Kothandaramar Temple.
Sri Yantrodharak Anjaneya Temple
The temple was constructed by the Vijayanagara emperor Tammaraya. It is also one of the few that is still in active worship in this desecrated capital city.
The legend of this temple is connected with Sri Vyasarayar, the great Madhwacharyar and the Rajaguru of the Vijayanagara kingdom. Sri Vyasaraja everyday used to draw an image of the Lord Hanuman on the rocks using a charcoal before starting the Pooja and once the Pooja was completed, Hanuman was coming out of the image and the Hanuman image got disappeared. This had repeated for 12 days in a row until the Guru pleaded to Sri Hanuman to stay in place for his Pooja. On the 12th day, Lord Hanuman appeared in front Vyasarayar and asked to install and constrain him within a hexagonal Shakthi Yantra. The Yantra has 12 monkeys around its periphery, each one holding the tail of the next one and facing backwards. The 12 monkeys were the representation of the 12 days of Poojas he offered before Lord Hanuman blessed him. Lord Hanuman here is in a meditative state facing towards us straight, with his tail itself rounded multifold on top of his head as a crown for him. The bijakshra mantras are carved around the chakra.
This is the first one in the series of 732 such temples Sri Vyasaraja established throughout the length and breadth of Bharat with a vast majority of them in Karnataka.
Legend also says that, this was the place where Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman met for the first time and as a testimony to it, there is a shrine dedicated to Lord Rama within the Hanuman temple itself.
In front of the Yantrodharaka temple, there are lot of snake stones being worshiped under a fig tree.
‘Swami Mukhya Prana’, a composition of Purandaradasa is in praise of the Yantroddharaka Anjaneya. It is historically significant, for it is one of the few songs of Purandaradasa that can be authoritatively identified with a shrine in Vijayanagar.
Just a few minutes of climb more from the Yantrodharaka temple, there is a small temple dedicated to Lord Srinivasa, the moorthy carved by Sri Vyasaraja himself.
Sri Suryanarayanar Temple
The Suryanarayanar temple is located on the way from Sri Yantrodharaka Anjaneyer to Sri Kothandaramar temple.
Links: Location
Sri Kothanda Ramar Temple
This Ramayana legendary place is one of the few temples which bore the brunt of the invaders fury and so is under worship. A few steps down the Sri Yantrodharak Anjaneya Temple will take us to this Sri Kothandaramar temple. This is the place where Sri Rama crowned Sugreeva as the King of Kishkintha after killing Vaali. As a testimony to this, the moorthies of all four – Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Sugreeva in equal standing posture are carved out of a single black granite. This is the only temple which has moorthies of Sri Rama, Sita, Lakshmana & Sugreeva.
Often people mistake Sugreeva for Hanumar. In the company of Sri Rama, Hanumar will always be seen facing Him only in a bowing down posture in a ‘ready to serve’ state. We cannot even imagine Hanumar standing equally with Sri Rama. Just outside the sanctum sanctorum Sri Hanumar is present which symbolises the ever present vigil of Hanumar over Sri Rama and Ma Sita.
View of the rocky hills and the Anjanadhri hill from the Kothandaramar temple:
Since this is the land of monkey kingdom of Vali, Sugreeva and Sri Hanumar, you can see the monkeys coexisting peacefully with the devotees, especially at the Kothandaramar temple.
After Sri Kothandaramar temple, we can take either of 2 paths. We can visit the huge Achyutharaya Temple and return back to Monolithic Bull through a different hill route path which involves a little climbing up and down or we can continue on the Kampabhupa trek path towards Koti linga, Sita Seragu to Vittala temple. See my another complementary article on Hampi which covers the non-Ramayana places.
Sugreeva’s Cave – Sita Seragu
Let’s take a little (relevent) diversion here to Atri Anasuya ashram at Chithrakoot (Madhya Pradhesh):
Anasuya, wife of Athri Maharishi, is an icon for Pathivratham (chastity) in our epics. At their ashram at Chithrakoot, Sita ma received the code of conduct of a pativrata from Anasuya. She enquired Sita about her marriage and gifted her with a saree and ornaments made of natural elements like wood, shrub etc., Anasuya said that the specialty of the saree being that it can be worn for several months together without washing. Sita ma was puzzled about the need of such a saree even for a vanavas life but it was this saree she wore during the 10 months period at Asokavana without taking bath! Also, it was this collection of jewelry tied up in a piece of her saree that Sita ma dropped in Kishkindha from air, on her way to Lanka, while being kidnapped by Ravana aerially. What a prophecy of Anasuya!
Now, coming back to Hampi, Sugreeva Cave – Sita Seragu
There are so many caves in Hampi / Anegundi which are associated with Vali and Sugreeva and this one is associated with Sugreeva and Sita ma’s ornaments & saree. This cave is located in the Kampabhupa Pathway trek and can be reached from both Kothandaramar temple and Vijaya Vittala temple in equal distance from both. The approach from Vijaya Vittala temple would be a better due to smooth pathway.
This is the cave where Sugreeva was keeping the ornaments of Sita ma. When She was abducted on the Vimana, She threw these ornaments tied up in a piece of Her saree to ensure Sri Rama can track Her path and this is the place where it fell. The two parallel strips of white marks on the rock surface, running for about 100 meters up to the cave entrance is considered to be the motifs / border design of Sita ma’s saree and it is being called ‘Sita Seragu (saree)’ in Kannada. The dates of these marks can not be determined and certainly not that of Vijayanagara empire as per the local ASI guide.
How amazing it is to connect these indelible marks of the saree at Hampi with Anasuya at Chithrakoot where the Pathivratha had gifted the saree to Sita ma!
The entrance is a small gap between the boulders but it has a surprisingly large space inside. This is the cave where Sri Rama and Sugreeva engaged in a dialogue and where Sugreeva was keeping the ornaments of Sita ma.
Next to Sugreeva’s cave is a pond in Sita ma’s name
Matanga Hill and Sabhari guhe
This is located at around 1 km from Sri Virupaksha Temple and the entrance to the hill is near the Parking lot near the Monolothic Bull.
This is the place of Matanga rishi, the Guru of Shabari and both lived here. After climbing about 400 steps, we find a well maintained Shabari’s ashram here, which is actually a small set of caves amidst the pristine forest. At one place we find the footprints of Shri Rama on stone, maintained as a shrine. Devotees come here and offer floral tributes. Lord Rama took sacred bath in Matanga Lake. On top of the hill, there is Sri Veera bhadhra Temple.
Vaali vadha sthana at Tara Parvat
Tara Parvat is the domain of Tara, wife of Vaali. This is a big rock with a football ground like natural flat area on it which is considered to be the place of Vaali – Sugreeva fight. Around 45 minutes of strenuous walk/ trek is required to reach this place.
On the way, a Ramar shrine where a big monolithic sculpture of Sri Rama, Sita ma, Sri Lakshmana and Anjaneya together is present.
After Vaali was hit by arrow, Vaali found out that he was shot by Rama from the symbol in the Arrow. Rama then came here, explained to Vaali why he was hit and then sent him to moksham. Rama’s footprints are present here.
Some rocks here have red stains which are believed to be nothing but Vaali’s blood. The whole Kishkintha is full of rocks but nowhere else there are rocks like these with red stains.
We have seen many places/ instance in this series where there is a striking match between Ramayana description and the actual place, Virad Kund in Dandakaranya, for example. This is another such place. First it’s very rare to see such a big flat surface on top of a rock for a fight between two giants to take place; next, the red stained rocks are seen nowhere else, though Kishkintha is full of rocky hills; from here we can’t see the Chinthamani temple from where Sri Rama sent the arrow to kill Vaali but from Chinthamani temple, we can see this place easily. While going through this journey of Sri Rama Anu Yatra even the slightest doubt in mind, if any, on whether Ramayana was real, will get wiped off.
Sri Rama’s great attributes are that he will not punish anyone when Ma Sita is accompanied. He killed Vaali only in the absence of Sita. Also Sri Rama does not see the status in people. He accepted Sugreeva, a monkey, as His brother when Sugreeva was alone losing both his wife and the kingdom.
Relevant Ramayana Sargas: Kishkintha Kanda – 17th to 25th Sargas
GPS Location: 15.363474, 76.501563
Sri Pattabiramar Temple at Kamalapur
This temple is not connected with Ramayana and is located in secluded place at around 6 kms from the main Hampi city. This is yet another huge temple plundered by the invaders and so is without the main deity. Plenty of beautiful monolithic sculptures and big mandapams are present
Links: Location
Sri Hazara Rama Temple
This temple is not connected with any Ramayana legend but was a private temple for royal family and is located in the Royal zone of Hampi. ‘Hazar’ means thousand and the name ‘Hazara Rama’ refers to the whole depiction of Ramayana and Sri Rama’s life in multitude of relics carved and ornamented on the walls.
The depiction of Krishna’s leelas are also engraved on the walls. The garbagraha has an empty pedestal with three holes that signifies the temple once had the moorthies of Sri Rama, Sri Sita and Sri Lakshmana.
The temple has gained popularity because of the presence of historical objects and fossils that are claimed to be present at the time of Shri Ram and Shri Krishna’s era. It is claimed that the fossils and antique objects that are present in this temple are the rarest ones of India.
Useful Links:
- This page gives enough information on Hampi
- This is a comprehensive list of temples in Hampi
- A nice travelogue on Hampi
- My whole Hampi photos collection
You can utilize the services of Sri Manjunath – Official Guide and Tour operator @ 63618 84215 who is serving me and the blog readers since 2008!
Most pictures are from my 2022 Hampi Trip and some from my 2008 trip, from Sri Varun Ashok; and from the Video snapshots of Sri Velukkudi Swamigal’s video.
Next, we will enter Tamilnadu with the concluding part of this series ‘In the footsteps of Shri Rama’…
Raju's Temple Visits 