Various teertha kshetras of Ayodhya’s Sri Ram Janmabhoomi as per Skanda Purana March 30, 2023 Gaurang Damani
Skanda Purana describes many teertha locations of Ayodhya in a vivid manner. It gives the exact local directions leading to Shree Rama’s janmabhoomi (birth spot). This is an accurate match with the equivalent present-day locations in Ayodhya.
| Ancient Ayodhya’s teertha description from Skanda Purana 2.8.1-10 | Present-day Ayodhya’s location in the corresponding direction, an exact match |
| Chakra teertha and Vishnuhari | Chakra teerth ghat |
| East of Chakra teertha is Brahma kunda | Brahma-kund Gurudwara |
| Northeast of Brahma kunda is Rnmochana | Rinmochana ghat |
| Near Rnmochana is Papamochana ghat | Papamochana ghat nearby |
| East of Papamochana is Sahasradhara or Lakshmana teertha | Lakshman ghat |
| Lakshmana merges with Adi- Shesha, the divine serpent | Sheshavatara temple |
| Ascension of God Rama from Swarga dwara | Swargdwar ghat |
| Near Swarga dwara is Chandrahari, to its southeast is Dharmahari, to its south is swarna-khani and to its south is confluence of Sarayu and Tilodaki | Chandrahari is near Swargdwar, and there is a confluence of Sarayu River and a small stream on Google maps |
| West of this confluence is Seeta kunda | Seeta-kund, east of Vidya-kund and Mani Parvat |
| West of Vishnu-Hari is Chakra-Hari | Chakra-Hari on yatra map |
| Near Chakra-Hari is Gupta-Hari. 3 yojana west of Gupta-Hari is confluence of Sarayu and Gharghara | Guptar ghat, and confluence of Rivers Sharda and Ghaggar |
| Northwest of Seeta kunda is Kshirodaka where Dasharatha did putreshti yagnya | Dashrath mahal |
| Southwest of Kshirodaka is Brihaspati kunda, then south is Rukmini kunda, then Northwest is Dhana-yaksha, treasurer of King Harishachandra, then north is Vasishtha kunda | Brihaspati kund on yatra map; Guru Vashishtha Dharamshala on Google map |
| West of Vasishtha kunda is Sagar kunda, then southwest is Yogini kunda, then east is Urvashi kunda, then south is Ghosarka kunda, then west is Rati kunda, then west is Kusumayuddha kunda | Kushmayudha kund on yatra map |
| West of Kusumayuddha kunda is Mantreshwar Shivalinga temple | God Shiva temple |
| North of Mantreshwar temple are Goddesses Sitladevi, Bandi and Chudaki | There seems to be 3 mosques here |
| East of Goddess Chudaki temple is Maharatna teertha | Mani Parvat, meaning mountain of emeralds |
| Southwest of Maharatna teertha are 2 lakes Durbhara and Mahabhara | Durbharsar on yatra map |
| Northeast of Durbhara is Mahavidya kunda | Vidya kund on yatra map |
| Dughdeshwar Mahadeva temple | Durgeshwar Mahadev temple |
| On the eastern side is Taponidhi teertha, then to its west is Hanumat kunda, then further west is Vibhishana saras (pond) | Hanumat Garhi temple; Vibhishan kund |
| Many teertha near River Tamasa including Bharata kunda at Nandigrama | Bharat-kund near Nandigram |
| North of these places is Veera Gaja (elephant) teertha | Mata-gajendra |
| South of Veera teertha is Lanka’s Surasa Rakshasa fort who came to defend Ayodhya; to the west of Surasa is Pindraka, then west is Vighneshwar | Sugreeva tila (fort) |
| Northeast of Vighneshwar, north of Vasishtha kunda, and west of Lomasha ashrama, is Shree Rama janmabhoomi. Reachingthis pious place one can achieve moksha (salvation). | To the north of Vasishtha Dharmashala, and west of Ram Gulela temple (Lomasha Muni ashram) is Shree Rama janma-bhoomi |
The 1,045-page Supreme Court judgment refers to Skanda Purana 60 times. It also relies on Archaeological Survey India’s many detailed reports based on ground-penetrating radar and excavations.References:
- Skanda Purana (Source)
- Teertha yatra maps from Google
This article has been penned by Shri Gaurang Damani who has authored the book Essence of the fifth Veda and the upcoming Untold stories of Ramayana.
(Featured Image Source: Dainik Jagran)
● A Stone Pillar
● An Incomplete Map
● An Ancient Book
● And a Divine Intervention
1902, Ayodhya
A British officer named only as 'Edward' does a survey of all 148 Teertha Sthalams of Ayodhya based on the Skanda Puranam. He notifies his survey by erecting Stone Boards (Pillar) with numbers in each of the Teertha Sthalams.
“Penalty of Rs 3000 and 3 years of jail if anyone removes these pillars”.
After 117 years these Pillars would play an important role in India's history.
2005, Lucknow
Lawyer P.N.Mishra was going by car from Lucknow to Calcutta along with with Swami Avimuktheswarnanda. He loses his way and ends up reaching Ayodhya.
In Ayodhya, he meets a Sadhu and during the course of general conversation, he asks how many Teertha Sthalams are there in Ayodhya.
The Sadhu replies - there are 148 Teertha Sthalam in Ayodhya.
P.N.Mishra asks the Sadhu how he knows exact numbers. The Sadhu tells him that in 1902 a Britisher named Edward erected pillars on all these 148 places. Then the Sadhu goes on to explain how in 1980, a historian named Hans Bakker came to Ayodhya, did a survey, wrote a book about the city, and created 5 maps of Ayodhya.
Surprised P.N.Mishra asks him to show those stone boards (pillars) erected by Edward. There, he sees an interesting stoneboard -
Pillar #100.
Pillars #100 was located in a 8 feet deep well along with an idol of Lord Ganesha.
After seeing the pillars, P.N.Mishra leaves for Calcutta.
2019, Supreme Court of India
Proceedings of Ram Janmabhoomi lawsuit is going on. Hindus are facing a tough time to prove the exact location of the birthplace of Bhagwan Ram.
The ASI report proved that there was a temple dating back to the 12th century under the Babri Mosque, but the report failed to prove that it was the exact birthplace of Bhagwan Ram.
The CJI (Chief Justice of India) asks “Do you have any evidence to prove the exact location of the birthplace of Ram?".
P.N.Mishra, who is the lawyer from Sant Samaj replies - “Yes, the evidence is available in the Skanda Puranam."
The Skanda Puranam is an ancient Hindu scripture. It is the ancient document that maps all the important places of Hindu pilgrimage. It has geological locations of all Hindu Teertha Sthalams.
The exact location of the birthplace of Bhagwan Ram is mentioned in the Vaishnav Khand / Ayodhya Mahatamya.
It says “To the West of the Sarayu river, there is Vighneshwar, in North East of this spot is the exact place of birth of Bhagwan Ram - it is located East of Vigneshwar, North of Vasistha and West of Laumasa”.
CJI: “We cannot understand the language used in the Skanda Puranam. Do you have any map that we can understand?”
P.N.Mishra: “Yes. There is a book by historian Hans Bakker which has maps that were created on the basis of the Edward stoneboards (pillars), which in turn were placed on the basis of the Skanda Puranam.”
CJI asked P.N.Mishra to submit the book with maps immediately.
This new evidence creates an absolute sensation in court.
● Skanda Puranam mentions the exact location of the birthplace.
● Edward erected 148 stoneboards on the basis of Skanda Puranam.
● Hans Bakker prepared map on the basis of those 148 stoneboards.
So it was complete correlation. But there was a problem...
If we go by the Skanda Puranam, it says that the exact birth place of Bhagwan Ram is North East of Vignesh. But the map by Hans Bakker did not mark it very clearly. So, by that map, the location of Bhagwan Ram's birthplace was not matching exactly.
And then comes the entry of the star witness of the case - Shankaracharya Avimukterwarnanda.
P.N.Mishra called the Shankaracharya and asked to resolve this mystery.
The Shankaracharya visited Ayodhya and solved the mystery.
Avimuktheswarnanda was witness number DW 20/02. He informed the Supreme Court that the 'Vignesh' mentioned in the Skanda Puranam is not the Vigneshwar temple shown in Hans Bakker's map.
Rather, Vignesh is Pillar #100 where an idol of Lord Ganesha (also known as Vignesh) is located inside a well.
When we take Pillar #100 as Vignesh, the mystery gets resolved.
North East of Pillar #100 is the exact same location where Hindus claims Bhagwan Ram was born; and that location satisfies all other identification criteria as well.
Justice Chandrachud smiled and said - “These guys just proved it, they have done it”.
The testimony of Avimukteshwarananda changed the case and the Muslim side knew that they have lost the case. The only way to save their case was to prove the Shankaracharya’s testimony as wrong.
The Muslim side asks for permission to cross examine the Shankaracharya.
15 lawyers from the Muslim side do the cross examination of Avimukteswarananda for the next 10 days. The Shankaracharya gives brilliant replies to all their questions while all the 5 judges kept listening to him.
After 10 days, the Muslim side finally surrenders.
Thus, on the basis of the Skanda Puranam, Edward’s Stoneboard Pillars, the Hans Bakker map and Swami Avimukteshwarnanda's testimony, the Supreme court gives a judgement in favour of Hindus!
We Hindus think that we got Ram temple only due to K.K.Muhammad’s ASI report. While the ASI report played an important part, the actual turning point in the case came from our beloved ancient book – the Skanda Puranam - and our religious Gurus who studied these books and decoded them.
The name “Skanda Puranam” is mentioned 77 times in the Supreme Court judgement.
Hindu were losing the case in court till 2009. Then, lawyer P.N.Mishra was appointed by the Shankaracharya in 2009.
P.N.Mishra said that if he had not lost his way in 2005 to Ayodhya, and had not met that Sadhu, he could have never proved the birthplace of Bhagwan Ram in court.
No comments:
Post a Comment