the route

Chitrakoot: the Ramayana names one hill. India counts it twice.

Rama's exile in the Ayodhya Kanda ends its first stage at Chitrakuta. Today the hill sits on the line between two states, and each has its own Ramayana money.

vizmaya desk · 20 October 2026

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places on this stretch of the route are verified as the scene of the story. Ten are Claimed, two are real places with a claimed episode, three are lost, one is symbolic.

Our count, from the route table below.

The route in one paragraph

Rama leaves Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana, crosses the Tamasa and three more rivers, and says goodbye to Kosala. At Shringaverapura the Nishada chief Guha ferries them over the Ganga. At Prayaga, where the Ganga meets the Yamuna, the sage Bharadvaja sends them to Chitrakuta. They raft across the Yamuna and build a leaf hut on the hill. Bharata follows to bring Rama home, fails, and carries Rama's sandals back instead.

Evening at Ramghat, Chitrakoot: lit temples and boats along the Mandakini river
Ramghat, on the Mandakini at Chitrakoot. Its two banks are administered by two states. Photo: Engshubham / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Map

The places you can pin follow the Ganga and Yamuna, then end on a state border

  • Verified site (dug), claimed episode
  • Claimed
  • Symbolic: not pinned, listed below
  • Lost: not pinned, listed below

Dashed orange line: the order the text visits the places, not a road. Grey dashed line south of Chitrakoot: the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh state border. Positions are modern town centres, rounded; coordinates from Wikipedia, latlong.net, geodatos and WorldAtlas. Basemap: © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.

Ayodhya

The exile begins. B. B. Lal dug here in 1975-76 and in 1977 called the finds devoid of special interest; his later reading is disputed.

Claimed India · 26.80 N, 82.20 E

Shringverpur

Guha hosts Rama and ferries him over the Ganga. Lal's 1977-86 dig found a 250 m early-historic brick tank: a real settlement, not proof of Guha.

Verified site India · 25.59 N, 81.64 E

Prayagraj

Bharadvaja's ashram, at the meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna. He tells Rama to go on to Chitrakuta.

Claimed India · 25.44 N, 81.84 E

Chitrakoot

The leaf hut. Today the Kamadgiri hill and its 5 km circuit, split between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Claimed India · 25.18 N, 80.87 E

Off the map

Twelve named places with no coordinates we could verify

  • Tamasa riverClaimed First night of exile. Vulg. 2.46
  • Vedashruti, Gomati, SyandikaClaimed Crossed by chariot. CE 2.43 / Vulg. 2.49
  • Kosala borderSymbolic Rama's farewell to his homeland. Vulg. 2.50
  • Ganga crossingClaimed Guha's boat. CE 2.46.60-75 / Vulg. 2.52
  • Vatsa landLost Named after the crossing; the verse was not located. no reference
  • Yamuna crossingClaimed A raft the brothers build. Vulg. 2.55
  • Shyama banyanLost Sita prays to the tree. Vulg. 2.55
  • Malyavati riverLost Named on arrival at Chitrakuta. Vulg. 2.56
  • Valmiki's hermitageClaimed Visited on arrival. Vulg. 2.56
  • Mandakini riverVerified river North of the hill, says Bharadvaja; the episode is claimed. Vulg. 2.92, 2.113
  • Bharata's returnClaimed East along the Mandakini, sandals on his head. Vulg. 2.113
  • Atri's hermitageClaimed Rama's next stop. CE 2.109

Route table

Every place the Ayodhya Kanda names on the road to Chitrakuta, in order

#PlaceModern countryLat, LonEraWhat happened or what is thereText referenceSourceStatus
1Ayodhya India26.80, 82.20Narrative; dug 1975-76Exile begins. Lal (1977): finds "devoid of any special interest"; his 1990 pillar-base reading is disputed.Vulg. 2.40 ff.ThePrint, WikipediaClaimed
2Tamasa river Indianot pinnedNarrativeFirst night of the exile.Vulg. 2.46Valmiki textClaimed
3Vedashruti, Gomati, Syandika Indianot pinnedNarrativeThree rivers crossed by chariot.CE 2.43.10 / Vulg. 2.49.12CE textClaimed
4Kosala border Indianot pinnedNarrativeRama bids farewell to his homeland.Vulg. 2.50Valmiki textSymbolic
5Shringaverapura (Shringverpur) India25.59, 81.64Early historicGuha hosts Rama. Excavated 1977-86: a 250 m brick tank fed by the Ganga.CE 2.44-45 / Vulg. 2.50-51Paper, ASI report (1993)Verified site Claimed episode
6Ganga crossing Indianot pinnedNarrativeGuha's boat.CE 2.46.60-75 / Vulg. 2.52Goldman notesClaimed
7Vatsa land Indianot pinnedNarrativeNamed after the crossing.not locatednoneLost
8Prayaga, Bharadvaja's ashram India25.44, 81.84Dug, reported 1979-80Bharadvaja recommends Chitrakuta, "ten krosas" away.CE 2.47 / Vulg. 2.54.28Griffith, ASIClaimed
9Yamuna crossing Indianot pinnedNarrativeRama and Lakshmana build a raft.Vulg. 2.55Valmiki textClaimed
10Shyama banyan Indianot pinnedNarrativeSita prays to the tree.Vulg. 2.55Valmiki textLost
11Chitrakuta (Kamadgiri) India25.18, 80.87Narrative; living pilgrimageLeaf hut built. Today a 5 km circuit round the hill, across two states.CE 2.50 / Vulg. 2.56Valmiki text, district siteClaimed
12Malyavati river Indianot pinnedNarrativeNamed on arrival.Vulg. 2.56Valmiki textLost
13Valmiki's hermitage Indianot pinnedNarrativeVisited on arrival.Vulg. 2.56Valmiki textClaimed
14Mandakini river (Payaswini) Indianot pinnedNarrative; Ramghat todayNorth of the hill, says Bharadvaja; Bharata leaves east along it.Vulg. 2.92, 2.113Valmiki textVerified river Claimed episode
15Bharata's return Indianot pinnedNarrativeBharata leaves carrying the sandals.Vulg. 2.113Valmiki textClaimed
16Atri's hermitage Indianot pinnedNarrativeRama's next stop after Chitrakuta.CE 2.109CE textClaimed

Verse numbers: the vulgate (Gita Press order, as on valmikiramayan.net) and, where confirmed, the Critical Edition (Oriental Institute, Baroda; Ayodhyakanda ed. P. L. Vaidya, 1962; trans. Sheldon Pollock, Princeton, 1986). The two numberings drift apart: the arrival at Chitrakuta is CE 2.50 but vulgate 2.56. Coordinates are rounded modern town positions from two agreeing sources.

text vs ground

What the text says

  • Bharadvaja tells Rama the hill is "ten krosas" away.Vulg. 2.54.28
  • To Bharata he gives about two and a half yojanas, which one translation renders "about twenty eight miles".Vulg. 2.92
  • The Mandakini runs on the hill's north side.Vulg. 2.92
  • The route: west along the Yamuna, across by raft, past a banyan.Vulg. 2.55
  • On arrival: the Malyavati river and Valmiki's hermitage.Vulg. 2.56

What is there now

  • Kamadgiri hill, with a circuit of about 5 km and the Bharat Milap temple on it.chitrakoot.nic.in
  • Ramghat on the Mandakini, also called the Payaswini.district sites
  • Janaki Kund about 2 km upstream; Sphatik Shila beyond it.chitrakoot.nic.in, MP Tourism
  • Gupt Godavari caves, about 18 km out; Hanuman Dhara spring shrine with a ropeway.chitrakoot.nic.in
  • A river named Malyavati: not found.gap
The Mandakini river at Chitrakoot, with ghats and temples along the far bank
The Mandakini at Chitrakoot. The river is the strongest match to the text: Bharadvaja puts it on the hill's north side. The photographer filed it under both states. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
~100 km

in a straight line from Prayagraj to Chitrakoot, by our measurement. The translation's "about twenty eight miles" is about 45 km.

Interpretation: the identification rests on the river and the living tradition more than on distance.

Shrine at the Kamtanath temple on the Kamadgiri circuit, Chitrakoot
Kamtanath, on the Kamadgiri circuit. The temple town on this side is a nagar panchayat of Satna district, Madhya Pradesh. Photo: Pearl1920 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Meaning in the text

Chitrakuta is the last idyll before the Dandaka forest, and the place where a succession crisis ends without a fight. Bharata arrives with an army, the brothers argue about duty, and Bharata leaves with Rama's sandals to rule as a regent for an absent king.

Interpretation, based on Vulg. 2.56 and 2.113.

who claims it

Who claims it, in three lines

  • 1894F. E. Pargiter publishes the first scholarly geography of Rama's exile. Who first matched the poem's hill to Kamadgiri, and on what evidence, we could not find.
  • 1975-76B. B. Lal's ASI project lists Chitrakoot among five Ramayana sites. No Chitrakoot excavation report turned up.
  • 1998 onUttar Pradesh creates Chitrakoot district. The Union Tourism Ministry later lists Chitrakoot in UP and in MP as separate Ramayana Circuit stops.

Dissent: H. D. Sankalia (Ramayana: Myth or Reality?, 1973 per the publisher; some sources say 1963) keeps Chitrakuta where it is but moves the later, southern stations into central India. The Kamadgiri temple trust grounds its claim in Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, a 16th-century retelling.

The hero chart

One hill, two Swadesh Darshan sanctions, seven years apart

1 crore = 10 million rupees. The UP project also covers Shringverpur. Sources: Swadesh Darshan portal; Lok Sabha answer, 10 Mar 2025; PIB, Dec 2025; PIB Ramayana Circuit list.

The UP district's own tourism page lists four headline shrines with a tag:

  • Janaki Kund (M.P.)
  • Sphatik Shila (M.P.)
  • Gupt Godavari (M.P.)
  • Hanuman Dhara (M.P.)

Source: chitrakoot.nic.in

A narrow limestone cave passage at Gupt Godavari near Chitrakoot
Gupt Godavari, on the MP side. Photo: Anil kumar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Who pays

Both states now spend on Chitrakoot in Rama's name

  • Union government
  • Uttar Pradesh
  • Madhya Pradesh

The expressway figure is the whole 296 km project. Gadkari quoted 251 km and Rs 5,000 crore for the Ayodhya-Chitrakoot road in 2022 (contested). Sources: NewsClick, Drishti IAS, Swarajya, ThePrint, NewsGram, State Mirror.

Hero insight

The Ramayana names one Chitrakuta, but India's Tourism Ministry lists Chitrakoot twice, once in Uttar Pradesh and once in Madhya Pradesh, and funded each under a separate Swadesh Darshan sanction seven years apart.

  1. The Ramayana Circuit's 15 destinations include Chitrakoot (UP) and Chitrakoot (MP) as two entries. PIB
  2. Rs 69.45 crore for UP, sanctioned 29 September 2016; Rs 27.21 crore for MP, 2023-24. Lok Sabha answer
  3. The UP district site tags four headline shrines "(M.P.)", and the Kamadgiri circuit crosses both states. chitrakoot.nic.in

Sources and claims log

62claims logged
42verified
7contested, 13 kept off

Contested: Lal's Ayodhya reading, Sankalia's date, crowd estimates (25 to 30 lakh at Diwali 2021, an official estimate, not a count), the Hanuman Dhara step count, Gadkari's road figures, Tulsidas's birthplace. Not found: who first named Kamadgiri as Chitrakuta, a Chitrakoot excavation report, the Malyavati, the Critical Edition numbers for the sandals scene.

  1. Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda (vulgate)
  2. Pollock, Ayodhyakanda, Princeton 1986
  3. Goldman, notes on CE numbering
  4. Pargiter, JRAS 1894
  5. Sankalia, Ramayana: Myth or Reality?
  6. B. B. Lal; ThePrint profile
  7. PIB, Ramayana Circuit
  8. Rewa division, MP: Chitrakoot
  9. Chitrakoot district, UP
  10. Kamadgiri temple trust
  11. MGCGV, Chitrakoot
  12. Incredible India: Shringverpur

Related on vizmaya: The poem never says Bodh Gaya · Indraprastha: the ASI says identified, its own paper says possible · All stories. Full claims log in the research file for this spin.

  1. One hill, pinned to one board

    The Ayodhya Kanda's road from Ayodhya to Chitrakuta, laid out as a case file. Follow the tour, or drag the board and zoom into any card.

  2. Mostly Claimed, from the start

    The Ramayana's route has been fixed on the map by pilgrimage and politics, while scholars have proposed very different geographies. Not one of the 16 places on this stretch is verified as the scene of the story.

  3. The route in one paragraph

    Ayodhya, a ferry over the Ganga, a sage at the confluence, a raft over the Yamuna, a leaf hut on a hill. Then Bharata comes to fetch Rama home and leaves with his sandals.

  4. What you can pin

    Only four places have modern coordinates two sources agree on. They line up along the Ganga and the Yamuna, then turn south-west to Chitrakoot.

  5. One dug site, no proof

    Shringverpur was excavated and has a large early-historic water tank. That shows a settlement on the Ganga, not that Guha ferried Rama there.

  6. Off the map

    Twelve more named places have no coordinates we could verify. Three are lost, including the Malyavati river the text names on arrival.

  7. Text vs ground

    The text gives a distance, a river and a route. The Mandakini on the hill's north side is the best match on the ground.

  8. The distance does not fit easily

    One translation renders Bharadvaja's distance as about 28 miles. Prayagraj to Chitrakoot is about 100 km in a straight line.

  9. Who claims it

    A colonial scholar mapped the route in 1894, an ASI project listed Chitrakoot in 1975-76, and the states took it from there. Who first named Kamadgiri as Chitrakuta is a gap.

  10. Counted twice

    The Tourism Ministry lists Chitrakoot in UP and in MP as two Ramayana Circuit stops and funded each separately: Rs 69.45 crore in 2016, Rs 27.21 crore in 2023-24.

  11. The name in one state, the shrines in the other

    The district called Chitrakoot is in UP. Its own tourism page tags four headline shrines "(M.P.)".

  12. Who pays now

    Both states budget their own Ram Van Gaman routes. UP's Ayodhya-Chitrakoot road showed cracks before it opened in September 2026.

  13. The finding

    One hill in the poem, two entries in the Indian state's books.

  14. The whole case

    That is the tour. Sources and the claims tally are pinned bottom right; the board is yours to explore.