U.P. Theerth Yatra - Day 6 (Last day)

Hanuman ji

There are so many places of interest in and around Chitrakoot that we felt we should have planned for one more night here. Due to paucity of time, we could not visit important landmarks such as Atri-Anusuya Ashram where Ram & Sita met them, the Gupt Godavari caves, Bharat Khoop (Well), Lakshman Bharat meeting place etc. The river Mandakini which flows in this district is said to be Ganga Herself who came here on the request of Anusuya.

In the morning of our last day, we had a heavy breakfast at the restaurant attached to our hotel. It was a buffet spread (pure vegetarian fare only) and, surprisingly, their idlis were very well made as was the Poha. We then checked out and left for Hanuman Dhara which was 6 kms away. Located on the top of a hill, this place is called Hanuman Dhara because of a gentle stream which flows over the statue of Lord Hanuman The statue of Bajrang Bali (another name for Lord Hanuman) has been built of red stone marble. It is placed on a small cave which oversees devotees entering the temple.

Legend has it that Lord Hanuman, after setting fire to Lanka, returned to this spot. He was fuming with anger and could not control his anger. Bhagavan Rama told him to come to holy Chitrakoot to cool down. Lord Hanuman then took a bath under the stream of water which flowed from above which helped him to overcome his anger and become cool again.

One must climb about 800 steps to reach this temple. Alternatively, there is also a ropeway service available which takes about 12 minutes to reach the top. The return fare for this is Rs. 160 per person. We chose to take this to save time. Little did we realise that there was a 45-minute wait in the queue to get in. After reaching the top, the temple is accessed through a flight of stairs. At the top, one can have lovely views of the entire countryside landscape. Above this temple, there is also a small structure inside the temple named Sita Rasoi (kitchen). Most visitors also go here but we didn’t go as we were told that there isn’t much to see here.

We could immediately get seats in the ropeway for the return journey down. After this, we left Chitrakoot and proceeded towards Lucknow. Nothing much to be said about the return journey except that we didn’t find any good place for lunch on the way. Luckily for us the heavy breakfast helped quell any hunger pangs. The roads were not great till we neared Lucknow. At one roadside Thela / shop, we stopped for some tea. It was excellent as were his Samosas which were prepared hot & fresh.

Once we neared Lucknow the roads became wide we entered a four lane toll road. The going became smooth. We reached the airport nearly 5 hours before departure and spent our time browsing through the shops there. I did my evening prayers in the prayer room and we also had something to eat at the lounge which was small and terribly crowded. The return flight was uneventful and we reached back safely home around midnight of Day 6.