The stories from Ramayana starting before the birth of Rama to the war against Ravana sprung out in great detail from the entire southern wall of the temple. Of course a temple built over a span of 42 years cannot be studied in a couple of hours. But time was in short supply and we had more places to cover. Still here is a glimpse of some of the events through the epic, hopefully in a chronological manner.
I must admit that it took opening multiple windows on google and talking to various very surprised people about my seemingly unconnected questions, to get my facts in order before having the courage to present it here. In case I failed in the correct interpretation of some panels, then do send in the right story through the contact us form. I will correct it and due credits will be given. Now with the disclaimer done, I guess I can take you through what we saw in this incredibly beautiful temple.
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| Devas beseeching Lord Vishnu to take avataar on earth for fight against Ravana and panel on right shows Vasishta advising Dasharatha to perform 'Putrakameshti' yagna |
Our journey begins with King Dasharatha performing the 'Putrakameshti' yagna for having male children. This was done at the behest of sage Vashishta, who was the family priest, guide and counselor for King Dasharatha. The yagna was performed with the guidance of sage Rishishringa, whose expertise was required for the same.
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| Dasharatha performing the Putrakamaeshti yagna |
In this panel King Dasharatha can be seen performing the yagna with the sages, along with his three wives, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Agni or the god of fire is said to have emerged during the yagna and given a pot of kheer (a milk based Indian sweet with liquid consistency) to Dasharatha and asked him to distribute it amongst his queens. Both Kaushalya and Kaikeyi each had a portion of the kheer and gave the rest to Sumitra. Thus Rama was born to Kaushalya, Bharata to Kaikeyi and Sumitra who received two portions of kheer from the other two queens, gave birth to the twins Lakshmana and Shatrugna.
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| Rama and Lakshmana defeating the demon brothers Mareecha and Subahu |
When Rama and his brothers were still in their adolescence, sage Vishwamitra approached Dasharatha. He wanted Rama and Lakshmana's help in defeating the demon brothers Mareecha and Subahu who were wreaking havoc during the sages' yagna by raining down unholy substances into the yagna fire. An initially hesitant Dasharatha allowed the young princes to accompany sage Vishwamitra after the intervention of sage Vasishta. The beautiful panel above shows princes' fight with the demon brothers. Mareecha was defeated and his brother was killed in the process.
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| Vishvamitra visiting King Janaka and Rama breaking Shiva's bow in the swayamvar |
Sage Vishwamitra was invited by King Janaka to Mithila on the occasion of the swayamvar of his daughter Sita. So after the successful defeat of the demon brothers, the sage along with the princes arrived at Mithila where Rama successfully broke the divine bow of Lord Shiva called the 'Pinaka' to win Sita in marriage. So detailed were the etchings in the panels that it was like watching a film frame by frame.
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| Rama putting an arrow through the demon Jayanta's eye. |
The last frame that we will cover in this part had me a bit stumped. I was not sure what this depicted. But I assumed this would be Rama sending the Brahmastra through the demon Jayanta's right eye. Jayanta was the demon who had taken the form of a crow to harass Sita, while Rama was relaxing on her lap. The arrow like carving towards the right eye made me think in that angle. One thing for sure, the visit to this temple has definitely renewed my connections to these epics by leaps and bounds.
We will visit Rama in the vanavasa in the next part of the visit to Amrutheswara temple. Do join me there too.
Location map:
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