K.D Maini

Ramkund is the symbol of our ancient culture, art and

traditions. This is the oldest temple in Poonch region.

As per the Archaeological report, this beautiful temple

was built by Raja Lalitaditya (i.e. between 724 AD and

761 AD). The style, architect and the age of the temple

is the same as of those temples built by Raja Lalitaditya

in Kashmir. This temple has a very attractive look and

a deep past from the religious point of view. It has

remained out of sight due to locational disadvantages.

Now this old shrine is regaining its erstwhile status. Ramkund temple is located at a sleepy village Narol

of Mendhar tehsil, 62 kilometers from Poonch township.This important religious place is located in a deep gorgeat the foothills of Shah star Range of mountains from allsides. At present, there are three sacred ponds apartfrom the ancient temple. They are known as Ram kund,Lachman Kund and Sita Kund. Ram Kund is the biggerin size (25' X 25'), than Lachman Kund and Sita Kundand a bit elevated from the other two. A spring wateremerges exactly on the northern side of Ramkund. Thewater of this spring pours into Ram Kund which over-flows to Lachman Kund and at last Sita Kund. The latteris the smallest in size. These kunds have been excavat-ed in such a way that the water of spring after filling allthe kunds flows out in nallah. On the eastern side ofRamkund, there is a historical temple of 8th century. Astone stair case begins from the eastern side ofRamkund upto the entrance of the temple. At present,there is an idol of Hanuman which was installed in thetemple in the recent past. On the northern side, a smallstructure houses the residence of a Pujari and a cow-shed. A 'Kutiya' has also been constructed near the tem-ple for 'Sadhus' and pilgrims. The western side of thisHoly place is surrounded by banana trees and small gar-den of plums which gives this place look of an 'Ashraam'.

A big religious congregation is held on 14th of 'Chaitra(March) every year and is known as 'Mela Chetar Chodas'.Devotees from all parts of Poonch and Rajouri districtsparticipate in it. People after taking a dip in the holy wateror kunds offer prayers in the temple and take part in 'Bha-jan Kirtan' organized by the 'Mandlies' (Groups). The reli-gious programme continues for one full day.

As a per Raj Tarangni of Kalhana there is a very inter-esting story behind the construction of this temple.Kalhana narrates that Raja Lalitaditya who was a greatwarrior and had converted Poonch town into Chawani(cantonment) of his forces and named this place as Purn-Utsva (with the passage of time, this name becamePoonch. Kalhana writes that once Raja Lalitaditya left forhunting in the jungle and reached this place in theevening. At this very solitary place, he saw in the nearbya girl singing a devotional song while a beautiful girl wasdancing in this uninhabited place. When the devotionalsong was over, both the girls bowed their heads at thisplace and left. The next day also the same thing hap-

pened. Then Raja Lalitaditya came before these girls andenquired from them why they were dancing and singingtheir devotional song at such a lonely place in the jungle.The girls replied that they were devdasis and doing so onthe direction of their mothers and grand mothers. "Thisis our traditional job but we do not know the reason of ourdancing at this place". Raja thought that there might havebeen be a sacred place in the past at that spot. Next dayhe ordered for the excavation of that particular placewhere the devdasis were offering prayer in the evening.After some excavation, two old temples came out on thesurface from the earth whose doors were shut. WhenRaja opened the door, he saw that two idols of Keshavwere installed there. On the back of these idols, it wasengraved that these idols were installed by RamchanderJi during his visit to Kashmir. Raja Lalitaditya took theseidols to Kashmir along with him and he installed the idolof Ram Chander Ji in the temple of Vishnu Parihas in Par-baarspur, while the second idol was taken by the Queenand she installed it in Chakrshveri temple.

It appears that while taking the original idols fromRamkund temple, Raja Lalitaditya got renovated orreconstructed the original excavated monument withsome additions and converted this place into an impor-tant religious shrine. No doubt that Raja Lalitaditya hadbuilt Poonch city but at present, there is no such build-ing existing on the ground. This is the only temple inthis region which indicates the construction of Lalitadityain Poonch district.

Mr. Stein who translated Rajtarangni visited Poonchin 1892 AD and identified number of places likeLoharkote (Loran). Attalika (Atoli). Saramber (ChamberKanari) Sawvernik (Surankote) mentioned in the Raj tar-gani. But he could not identify Ram kund Temple of RajaLalita Ditaya's time because this temple was located ata place which was far away from the main route leadingtowards Kashmir in those days. All the habitants of thisarea were non-Hindus. Even most of the Hindus wereknowing very little about this shrine in the past.

The other proof is the devdasis reported to Raja Lal-itaditya that they belonged to a nearby village known asSoverDehmana at that time. This village still exists nearNarol (where temple exists) and known as Dharanainstead of Dehmana. Therefore, on the facts givenabove, it is clear that Ram Kund is the same templewhich was excavated and reconstructed by Raja LalitaDitya in 8th Century.

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RAMKUND TEMPLEAncient Temple of Raja Lalitaditya's reign

The festival of Navratri (nav = nine

and ratri = nights) lasts for 9 days with

three days each devoted to worship

of Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor,

Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth

and Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of

Knowledge. During the nine days of

Navratri, feasting and fasting take

precedence over all normal daily

activities amongst the Hindus.

Evenings give rise to the religious

dances in order to worhip Goddess

Durga Maa.The 9 nights festival of Navratri begins on

the first day of Ashwina of the bright fortnight.Seeds are sown, sprouting is watched, theplanets are consecrated, and on the 8th and9th days, Goddess Durga, Vijayashtami andMahanavami are worshipped. The DeviMahatmya and other texts invoking the God-dess who vanquished demons are cited.

1st - 3rd day of Navratri On the first dayof the Navaratras, a small bed of mud is pre-pared in the puja room and barley seeds aresown on it. These initial days are dedicatedto Durga Maa, the Goddess of power andenergy.

4th - 6th day of Navratri During thesedays, Lakshmi Maa, the Goddess of peaceand prosperity is worshipped.

7th - 8th day of Navratri These final daysbelong to Saraswati Maa who is worshippedto acquire the spiritual knowledge. This in turnwill free us from all earthly bondage. But onthe 8th day of this colourful festival, yagna(holy fire) is performed.

Mahanavami The festival of Navratri cul-minates in Mahanavami. On this day KanyaPuja is performed. Nine young girls repre-senting the nine forms of Goddess Durga areworshiped.

HISTORY & ORIGIN OF NAVRATRI

In different parts of India, different legendsdescribe the history of Navratri:

NORTH INDIA

The legend in North India goes thatMahishasura, the mighty demon, worshippedLord Shiva and obtained the power of eterni-ty. Soon, he started killing and harassing inno-cent people and set out to win all the threelokas. The gods in swargaloka appealed toLord Shiva, to find a way to get rid of thedemon. To protect the world from the atroci-ties of Mahishasura, the Trinity of Brahma,

Vishnu and Shiva united their powers andcreated a divine female warrior, known asGoddess Durga. Mahishasura, when he sawthe divine beauty of Goddess Durga, got mes-merized.

So fascinated was Mahishasura by God-dess Durga's beauty that he approached herwith the intention of marriage. The goddessagreed to marry him, but put forth a condition- Mahishasura would have to win over her ina battle. Mahishasura, proud as he was,agreed immediately! The battle continued for9 nights and at the end of the ninth night, God-dess Durga beheaded Mahishasura. Thenine nights came to be known as Navratri,while the tenth day was called Vijayadashmi,the tenth day that brought the triumph of goodover evil.

EASTERN BELIEF

As per the legend prevalent in East India,Daksha, the king of the Himalayas, had abeautiful and virtuous daughter called Uma.She wished to marry Lord Shiva, since herchildhood. In order to win over the Lord, sheworshipped him and managed to please himas well. When Shiva finally came to marry her,the tiger-skin clad groom displeased Dakshaand he broke off all the relationships with hisdaughter and son-in-law. One fine day, Dak-sha organized a yagna, but did not invite LordShiva for the same.

Uma got so angry at her father's rudebehavior, towards her husband, that shedecided to end her life by jumping into theagnikund of the yagna, where she was unit-ed with eternity (since then, she came to beknown as Sati). However, she took re-birthand again won Shiva as her groom and peacewas restored. It is believed that since then,Uma comes every year with Ganesh, Kartik,Saraswati and Laxmi and two of her bestfriends or 'sakhis', called Jaya and Bijaya, tovisit her parent's home during Navratri.

ANOTHER LEGEND - RAM AND RAVANA

Yet another legend of Navratri relates to theHindu epic Ramayana. It goes that Lord Ramaworshipped Goddess Durga in nine aspects,for nine days, in order to gather the strengthand power to kill Ravana. He wanted to releaseSita from the clutches of powerful demon kingRavana, who had abducted her. Those ninenights became to be known as Navratri andthe tenth day, on which Lord Rama killedRavana, came to be called Vijayadashmi orDusshera, signifying Rama's (good) triumphover Ravana (evil).

FESTIVAL OF

NAVRATRAS

MELA CHETAR CHODAS MARCH 31

DURGA SHAILPUTRI

Daughter of Mountain) "Shail" meansmountains, "Putri" means daughter. Parvati,the daughter of the King of the MountainsHimavan, is called 'Shailputri". The firstamong nine Durgas and 1st night of Navra-tras is devoted to the puja of Shailputri . Hertwo hands display a trident and a lotus. Hermount is a bull.

BRAHAMCHARINI

Brahma that is who observespenance(tapa) and good conduct. Here"Brahma" means "Tapa". The idol of this God-dess is very gorgeous.One hand hold a"Kumbha" or water pot, and the other holdsa rosary. She personifies love and loyalty.Bhramcharini is the store house of knowledgeand wisdom. Rudraksha beads are Her mostadored ornaments!

CHANDRAGHANTA

The name of third Shakti is Chandraghanta.There is a half-circular moon in her forehead. Sheis charmful and bright. She is Golden in color,possesses ten hands and 3 eyes. Eight of herhands display weapons while the remaining twoare respectively in the mudras of gestures of boongiving and stopping harm. Chandra + Ghanta,meaning supreme bliss and knowledge, show-ering peace and serenity, like cool breeze in amoonlit night. This Durga Shakti rides a tiger. She

is mainly worshipped in Tamil Nadu.

KUSHMANDA

With the fourth night begins the worship ofKushmanda, possessed of eight arms, hold-ing a weapons and a mala ( rosary), her mountis the tiger and She emanates a solar aura."Kumbh Bhand" means to see the cosmicdance in the form of Pindi; the knowledge ofcosmic intricacies in the human race. Theabode of Kushmanda is Bhimaparvat !

SKANDA MATA

Fifth name of Durga is "Skanda Mata". Ris-ing a lion as Her chosen vehicle, She holdsHer son skanda on her lap. She displays threeeyes and four hands; two hands holds lotus-es while the other two hand display defend-ing and granting mudras, respectively. Itssaid, by the merch of Skandmata, even thefool becomes an ocean of knowledge.

KAALRATRI

Katyayani Once upon a time, a great sagecalled Kata who underwent long austerities andpenance in order to receive the grace of theMother Goddess. According to his wish anddesire the Goddess granted his request.Katyayani was born to Kata as an avatar of Dur-ga.

KAALRATRI

Black (or blue ) skin with bountiful hair and

4 hands, 2 clutching a cleaver and a torch,while the remaining 2 are in the mudras of"giving" and "protecting". Her vehicle is afaithful donkey. The destroyer of darknessand ignorance, Kaalratri is the seventh formof Nav-Durga meaning scourer of darkness;enemy of darkness.

MAHA GAURI

The Eighth Durga is "Maha Gauri." She isas white as a conch, moon and Jasmine. Sheis of eight years old. With four arms and thefairest complexion of all the Durgas Shaktis,Mahagauri radiates peace and compassion.She is often dressed in a white or green sari.She holds a drum and a trident and is oftendepiected riding a bull.

SIDDHIDATRI

Ninth Durga is "Siddhidatri". There areeight Siddhis , they are- Anima, Mahima, Gari-ma, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Iishitva &Vashitva.It is said in "Devipuran" that theSupreme God Shiv got all these Siddhies byworshipping Maha Shakti. With her gratitudethe half body of Shiv has became of Goddessand there fore his name "Ardhanarishvar" hasbecame famous.Usually shown ensconced alotus with four arms, She is the grantor of 26different wishes to Her Bhaktas.

http://www.rudraksha-ratna.com/navratri.htm

Nine forms of Goddess Durga worshiped during Navratri