Ramgarh (Jogimara-Sitabengra) Caves, Surguja
(A blog/travelogue by Jitendra Nakka)
Introduction
(A blog/travelogue by Jitendra Nakka)
Introduction
Surguja Division lies in the nothern part of Chhattisgarh, comprises of sky-touching mountains, lush-green-dense forest, enchanting waterfalls, serpentine valleys, and mysterious caves, but there is few more things that add to the importance of Surguja, those are its history, archeology, art and sculpture, custom and tradition. Unlike Central Chhattisgarh region, North and South Chhattisgarh region vary in their custom and tradition, as both these regions are tribal dominated areas, but their is one factor, which is common for all the three regions of Chhattisgarh, that is the mythology related to Lord Ram during his exile.
Today, I am sharing my travelogue on Ramgarh caves, situated in the Udaipur Block of District Surguja, which is famous for Ramayan History.
Where and How to reach?
A 308m tall mountain is situated at Rampur, block-Udaipur of Surguja joins together with another mountain of 310m height to form a sacrosanct pilgrim called as Ramgarh. For Lodging and Boarding, there are few good guest houses and hotels available near Ambikapur(Surguja District HQ), whereas if needed there are some dhaamshalas available at Lakhanpur and Udaipur.
Ramgarh is nearly 3kms away from Udaipur and 45 kms from District Head Quarter, Ambikapur. It is nearly 295kms from Raipur. Ambikapur and Raigarh are the nearest railway stations available here, whereas Raipur and Ranchi(Jharkhand) are the nearest airports for this site.
Salient Features:
This site is one of the highest points of block-Udaipur. Here, there are three caves namely Sitabengra, Jogimara and Hathipol, where it is believed that Goddess Sita once used to live here, at the time of Lord Ram's exile.
Sita-bengra cave:
This 14m long, 4.2m broad, 2m high cave is believed to have used by Goddess Sita at the time of Lord Ram's exile. This place is believed to have used as theater in ancient time. two holes and a verticle pit can be seen, which is still evident that this place used for having 'plays' for enjoyment and entertainment.Just from the starting of the stage to the ramp below, there are ancient stairs carve out of stones.
There is one more mythological story believed to have related to this place, that when great Sanskrit Poet, Kalidas, left Ujjain after a fight from King Bhoj, he spent some of his valuable time writing his most important creation "Meghdootam". Even now-a-days also, cultural programmes are organised here at the month of Asadh.
Jogimara cave:
This is a comparatively small artficial cave of dimensions 3m x 1.8m x 1.8m, where there are many cave paintings on the roof part depicting stories about earlymen going for collective works(may be harvesting or hunting). There is one inscription carved out in the stone which is inferred to have written in ancient Bramhi Language, which says the lovestory of a couple in which the Sutnuka, the Goddess's Dancer was loved by a handsome businessman Devdin, devotee of Varuna(God of Wind). This inscription is believed to have created during Maurya Dynasty(Ashoka reign).
Conclusion:
Ramgarh is nearly 3kms away from Udaipur and 45 kms from District Head Quarter, Ambikapur. It is nearly 295kms from Raipur. Ambikapur and Raigarh are the nearest railway stations available here, whereas Raipur and Ranchi(Jharkhand) are the nearest airports for this site.
Salient Features:
This site is one of the highest points of block-Udaipur. Here, there are three caves namely Sitabengra, Jogimara and Hathipol, where it is believed that Goddess Sita once used to live here, at the time of Lord Ram's exile.
Sita-bengra cave:
This 14m long, 4.2m broad, 2m high cave is believed to have used by Goddess Sita at the time of Lord Ram's exile. This place is believed to have used as theater in ancient time. two holes and a verticle pit can be seen, which is still evident that this place used for having 'plays' for enjoyment and entertainment.Just from the starting of the stage to the ramp below, there are ancient stairs carve out of stones.
Author(Right) with Mr. Dinesh Soni(Left)
Jogimara cave:
This is a comparatively small artficial cave of dimensions 3m x 1.8m x 1.8m, where there are many cave paintings on the roof part depicting stories about earlymen going for collective works(may be harvesting or hunting). There is one inscription carved out in the stone which is inferred to have written in ancient Bramhi Language, which says the lovestory of a couple in which the Sutnuka, the Goddess's Dancer was loved by a handsome businessman Devdin, devotee of Varuna(God of Wind). This inscription is believed to have created during Maurya Dynasty(Ashoka reign).
Author(Above) with his staff
Conclusion:
There are few more tourist places to visit nearby this sacred site, which are Hathipol, Pauri Darwaja, Turrapani, Singh Darwaja, Maheshpur etc. Its my genuine request to all the interested tourists, if you get a chance to visit Surguja, do visit Ramgarh caves.
Last but not the least, My special thanks to my Surguja Staff, Mr. Dinesh Soni, Mr. Navin Tiwari and others for making my experience such a special one.
Last but not the least, My special thanks to my Surguja Staff, Mr. Dinesh Soni, Mr. Navin Tiwari and others for making my experience such a special one.
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