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/Kamadgiri Parvat (Kamadgiri Hill), Chitrakoot
State Temple
Kamadgiri Parvat (Kamadgiri Hill), Chitrakoot
कामदगिरि पर्वत, चित्रकूट
Location
Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh + Madhya Pradesh (the Chitrakoot region spans both states)
Darshan
–
Deity
🪔Bhagwan Ram (Vanvasi/forest-dwelling form during exile)
Entry
Free entry
Kamadgiri is theologically significant as the **embodied form of Ram** himself — the entire hill is considered Ram's body in geographic form (svarup-darshan). Pilgrims do not enter the hill; they circumambulate it. The five-km parikrama is therefore a circumambulation of Ram's own form. Key spiritual practices: 1. **Parikrama**: 5 km clockwise circumambulation 2. **Barefoot**: Walking barefoot on the dust of Chitrakoot is traditional; the dust is considered sacred (charanaraj of Ram) 3. **Mandakini Snaan**: Sacred bath in the Mandakini River before parikrama 4. **Multiple Darshan**: 24+ shrines on the parikrama route 5. **Specific Tithi**: Amavasya (new moon), Somvati Amavasya, and the Hindu month of Magha are particularly auspicious
History
**Ramayana Period (~7,000 years ago, traditional dating):** Ram's 14-year exile (Vanvas) included an 11.5-year stay at Chitrakoot. The Ramayana describes the family's residence near Sage Atri and Anasuya's ashram, the visits of various sages (Valmiki, Bharadwaja), and the Bharat Milap. Ram and Sita's daily routines are described extensively in Ramcharitmanas and Valmiki Ramayana. **Tulsidas (16th c. CE):** Goswami Tulsidas, author of Ramcharitmanas (1574 CE), spent significant time at Chitrakoot. He had a famous darshan of Ram and Lakshman in forest form here, recorded in his Vinaya Patrika and Kavitavali. His direct devotional attachment to Chitrakoot revived its pilgrimage significance in the medieval Hindi-belt. **Modern Era:** Chitrakoot is administered as a major pilgrimage town by the UP and MP governments cooperatively. The Chitrakoot Dham Pradhikaran (Authority) coordinates infrastructure across the UP-MP border. The town has multiple ashrams, dharamshalas, and Ram-related religious institutions. Significant development of the Mandakini ghats and Kamadgiri parikrama path in the 2010s and 2020s.
Mythology
**Ramcharitmanas at Kamadgiri:** Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas (Ayodhya Kand) describes Ram's life at Kamadgiri in extensive detail — his daily Mandakini bathing, conversations with Sita and Lakshman, hospitality to visiting sages, and the Bharat Milap encounter. **Bharat Milap:** Bharat travels with the entire Ayodhya court (queens, ministers, citizens) to Chitrakoot to plead with Ram to return. The encounter at Kamadgiri's Bharat Milap Sthal is one of Ramayana's most emotionally powerful scenes — Bharat falls at Ram's feet and begs him to assume the throne; Ram politely declines, citing his promise to Dasharath. Bharat returns with Ram's wooden paduka (footwear) and rules Ayodhya in Ram's name from Nandigram village (not Ayodhya proper — refusing to occupy the palace). **Anasuya and Atri:** Sage Atri and his wife Anasuya (one of Hinduism's exemplars of pati- vrata-dharma — supreme wifely devotion) blessed Sita at Chitrakoot. Anasuya gifted Sita celestial garments and ornaments. The Atri-Anasuya Ashram is near Kamadgiri.