Dandakaranya is a historical region in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, mentioned in the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. It is identified with a territory roughly equivalent to the

Bastar division Bastar division is an administrative division of Chhattisgarh state in central India. It includes the districts of Bastar, Dantewada Dantewada (also known as Dantewara) is a town and a municipality, or nagar palika. in the Dantewada distr ...

in the

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

state in the central-east part of

. It covers about of land, which includes the

Abujhmar Abujmarh is a hilly forest area, spread over in Chhattisgarh, covering Narayanpur district, Bijapur district and Dantewada district. It is home to indigenous tribes of India, including Gond, Muria, Abuj Maria, and Halbaas. It was only in 200 ...

Hills in the west and the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

in the east, including regions of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

states. It spans about from north to south and about from east to west. Dandakaranya roughly translates from Sanskrit to "The Jungle (aranya) of Punishment (dandakas"). The

Balaghat district Balaghat district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. The town of Balaghat serves as its administrative headquarters. Balaghat is known for its tile factories, rice mills and forests. History At the beginning of the 18th cen ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and

Bhandara Bhandara () is a city and municipal council which serves the administrative headquarters of eponymous administrative Bhandara Taluka and Bhandara district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is connected with NH-53 and NH-247. Overview ...

Gondia Gondia (also spelled Gondiya) is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra which serves the administrative headquarters of the eponymous administrative district. Gondia is also known as ''Rice City'' due to the abundance ...

and

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council in Gadchiroli district in the state of Maharashtra, central India. It is located on eastern side of Maharashtra, and is the administrative headquarters of the district. Gadchi ...

districts of

are part of the ancient region Dandakaranya.

Etymology

Dandaka-aranya, means the Dandak Forest, the abode of the demon Dandak.

Dandaka Dandakaranya is a historical region in India, mentioned in the Ramayana. It is identified with a territory roughly equivalent to the Bastar division in the Chhattisgarh state in the central-east part of India. It covers about of land, which inc ...

( sa, दंडक,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: ) is the name of a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

mentioned in the ancient Indian text ''

''. It is also known as ''Dandakaranya'', ''aranya'' being the Sanskrit word for "forest". It was the location of the

Danda Kingdom Danda is a frequently featured region in Hindu mythology, as in Dandaka, a kingdom and a forest bearing the same name. It was a colonial state of Lanka under the reign of Ravana. Ravana's governor Khara ruled this province. It was the stronghold ...

, a stronghold of the

Rakshasa Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma whe ...

tribes. It was state of the

Lanka Kingdom Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...

under the reign of

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. He a ...

. Ravana's governor

Khara Khara can refer to Places * Khara, Iran, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran * Khara-Khoto, the ruins of a medieval city in western Mongolia * Khara, Pakistan, a town in Punjab, Pakistan * Khara, Nepal, a village in Nepal * Khara, Raebareli, a vil ...

ruled this province.

As a sacred land in Hinduism

Dandakaranya is considered sacred in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, as many accounts of the region describe ancient Hindu peoples and Hindu deities living together in refuge there. The Dandakaranya zone was the location of the turning point in the

, a famous

Sanskrit epic Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...

. The plot for the divine objectives to uproot the

rakshasa Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma whe ...

from the land was formulated here.Arya, Ravi Prakash (ed.).Ramayana of Valmiki: Sanskrit Text and English Translation. (English translation according to M. N. Dutt, introduction by Dr. Ramashraya Sharma, 4-volume set) Parimal Publications: Delhi, 1998, According to the Ramayana, it was home to many deadly creatures and demons. It is described to have stretched from Narmada to The

Godavari The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Rivers according to

Valmiki Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

, his wife

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

and his brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

spent initial years of fourteen years as exiles traveling around the region.

References

{{Authority control Places in the Ramayana History of Chhattisgarh Refugees in India Ancient Indian forests Forests of Odisha

Etymology

As a sacred land in Hinduism

See also

References