WHERE WAS THE KIDNAPPED SITA?
Sad but true: against the archeological evidences of Mahabharatian places, there are no Ramayan ones, except those consecrated after Tulsidas’ Ramayan, centuries later. Scholars mourn the lack of empirical evidence of Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Dandakaranya, Lanka, Panchavati, Videha, Kosala; when Buddha was teaching at Savatthi 58 km from Ayodhya, it was called Oudh by pilgrims including Fa Hien and Hieun Tsang. But ... Yes, but there is some ray of hope. Valmiki scholars are excited by recent developments. Valmiki’s 'Kishkinda Kand' Section 40-43 offers detailed directions to the four Vaanar brigades hunting for Sita after her abduction. Those to the westbound brigade came up for close scrutiny: This route’s ultimate culmination was Mt. Asta ( अस्त ) or Sunset Mountain. What do they cross before Ast? Valmiki described a route due west from the Vindhyas, from a point where “the sindhu falls into the sea” i.e. either where the Narmada entered the Arabian sea or the ...