Bridge: August 2015

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Footmark / Sleeping / Temple / Ashes / Monkey

In Srilanka Part of Ashok Vatika where, it is believed, a giant footmark of Hanuman is imprinted. According to beliefs, Hanuman appeared in his gigantic form before Sita for the first time here. This footmark was formed then.

Sri Lankan government’s archaeological department has conducted a survey and found that the marks, located on a rock near Sita Jharna, are around 6,000 years old.

If viewed from a distance, the footmark resembles that of a huge monkey. It is believed that Hanuman appeared in his gigantic form before Sita to make her believe that Ram’s vaanar sena had the strength and capability to fight Ravan’s army.

he next place we visited in our search for Ram literally left us stunned.

Not far away from Ashok Vatika is a place where it is believed Hanuman is resting in his giant form. The place is close to Chinmaya Temple. After reaching the temple, what we saw could make any atheist start believing in God.

Hanuman was sleeping in front of our eyes – in his giant form.

Anybody coming to Chinmaya Temple can see a faraway mountain structure which resembles a sleeping Hanuman in his giant form. It is not difficult to make out the head and face of the giant body, along with the chest and huge legs.

Those who question everything can raise doubts over the footmarks of Hanuman, Ram, Lakshman and Sita which we saw in our journey so far. But it will be difficult for even those people to refute the fact that the mountain structure in front of our eyes resembled a sleeping Hanuman.

Built inside the Chinmaya Temple is a huge, 16 feet granite statue of Hanuman where hundreds come everyday to offer prayers. These include not just expatriate Indians but also Buddhist Sri Lankans in large numbers. The statue is a copy of the mountain structure. The only difference is the fact that it is placed in a vertical position inside the temple.

After visiting Chinmaya Temple, we were told that Hanuman had left behind a legacy in Lanka which is still present in its original form – a legacy of ashes which every child in India knows about.

Located close to Ashok Vatika in Norliya are mountains whose soil is of black colour. The researcher on Ramayana, Harinder Sikka told us that mountains located on the left side of the Sita Jharna have black soil while mountains on the right have soil which is of usual brown colour.

Sikka said that the colour of the soil is black because Hanuman had put these mountains on fire along with Ravan’s Lanka, as mentioned in the Ramayana.

It is difficult to find the end of these mountains which are spread as far as the vision goes. The soil of these mountains looks like ash but what’s striking is the fact these mountains are extremely dense.

It’s not just the soil of these mountains which is black but also the rocks. It looks as if these rocks were also burnt. When we asked the locals about any huge fire occurring in the area in recent memory, the answer was in the negative.

While roaming around these mountains, we were shocked to see monkeys whose tails are also black in colour, unlike the brown body.

As if this shock wasn’t surprising enough, what we saw next left us speechless. When we went little closer to these monkeys, who were shy unlike their naughty Indian counterparts, we found that their lips and ears were also of black colour.

Locals said the reason behind their black lips, ears and tails is linked to Hanuman.