Panchavati, Nashik
पंचवटी, नासिकPanchavati, the grove of five banyans on the Godavari at Nashik in Maharashtra, is where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana lived in the last part of their exile, where Shurpanakha was humiliated, and where Ravana abducted Sita. It is home to the Kalaram temple, Sita Gufa and Ramkund.
Why is Panchavati, Nashik sacred?
Panchavati, “the grove of five banyan trees”, is the place on the Godavari river where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana lived during the last part of their exile, and where Sita was carried off by Ravana. It is traditionally identified with a district of the city of Nashik in Maharashtra.
Panchavati in the Ramayana
After ten years of wandering among the hermitages of the Dandaka forest, the exiles visited the great sage Agastya, who gave Rama divine weapons and advised him to settle at Panchavati, by the Godavari. There Lakshmana built a hut of leaves, and there they met the old vulture Jatayu, a friend of their father. The decisive events of the Aranya Kanda all happen here: Shurpanakha’s humiliation, from which, it is said, Nashik gets its name (nasika, nose); Rama’s destruction of the armies of Khara and Dushana; and the golden deer and the abduction of Sita.
Places of pilgrimage
- Kalaram Temple – a temple of black stone built in 1792 by the Peshwa Sardar Rangarao Odhekar, with black images of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. It is also remembered for the 1930 temple-entry satyagraha led by Dr B. R. Ambedkar.
- Sita Gufa – a narrow cave near the five banyan trees where Sita is said to have worshipped Shiva; visitors enter it crouching.
- Ramkund – a bathing tank on the Godavari where Rama and Sita are said to have bathed; ashes of the dead are immersed here, including those of Mahatma Gandhi.
- Kapaleshwar Temple – an ancient Shiva temple facing Ramkund, unusual for having no Nandi before the deity.
- Tapovan – where Lakshmana is said to have cut off Shurpanakha’s nose.
The Kumbh Mela
Nashik, with nearby Trimbakeshwar, the source of the Godavari and the site of a Jyotirlinga, is one of the four places where the Kumbh Mela is held every twelve years, when Jupiter is in Leo (Simhastha). The next Simhastha Kumbh is due in 2027.
How to reach Panchavati
Nashik Road railway station is about 10 km away and well connected to Mumbai (about 170 km). The nearest airport is at Ozar, about 20 km from the city.
Significance and legend
Panchavati is where the Ramayana turns from exile to war: the abduction of Sita sets in motion the search, the alliance with the vanaras and the war of Lanka. With Trimbakeshwar nearby, Nashik is also one of the four Kumbh Mela cities.
