Chitrakoot is a pilgrimage centre and a

nagar panchayat A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

in the

Satna district Satna District () is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Satna is the district headquarters. The district has an area of 7,502 km2, and a population of 22,28,935(2011 census), 20.63% of which is urban. The distr ...

in the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, India. Connected to the Indian epic

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

, it is a place of religious, cultural, historical and archaeological importance, situated in the Baghelkhand region. It borders the Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh, whose headquarters Chitrakoot Dham is located nearby. The city lies in the historical Chitrakoot region, which is divided between the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It is known for a number of temples and sites mentioned in

Hindu scriptures Hindu texts or Hindu scriptures are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. Some of the major Hindu texts include the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Itihasa. Scholars ...

. It attracts pilgrims throughout the year on occasions such as

Amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conj ...

, Somwati Amavasya,

Deepavali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual ...

, Sharad-Poornima,

Makar Sankranti Makar(a) Sankrānti (), () also referred to as Uttarāyana, Makara, or simply Sankrānti, is a Hinduism, Hindu observance and a mid-winter harvest festival in India and Nepal. It is typically celebrated on 14 January annually (15 January on a ...

Rama Navami Rama Navami () is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Rama, one of the most popularly revered deities in Hinduism, also known as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. He is often held as an emblem within Hinduism for being an ideal king and h ...

and for Free Eye Care Medical Camps. Noted '

Ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

' and '

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

' centres like 'Arogyadham' are located in Chitrakoot.

Legend

Chitrakuta, identified with modern Chitrakoot, is one of the important places connected to the epic ''

''. It is here where

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

's brother Bharata fails to persuade

to return to

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

to become king at the very start of his exile. It is where Rama performed the last rites of his dead father

Dasharatha Dasharatha (, IAST: Daśaratha; born Nemi) was the king of Kosala, with its capital at Ayodhya, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Dasharatha married Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. He was the father of Rama, the protagonist of the epic Ramayana ...

in the presence of all the gods and goddesses. The forests of Chitrakuta is where Rama,

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

, and

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

took refuge and spent 14 years in the woods, which was already home to several hermits. The ancient Indian sages, including Atri, Agastya, and Sharabhanga, were said to have meditated in the forests of Chitrakuta.

Geography

Chitrakoot means the 'Hill of many wonders'. Chitrakoot region falls in the northern

Vindhya Range The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

spread over the states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

. The region is included in the Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh and the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh was created on 4 September 1998.District Unit Chitrakoot, National Informatics Centre
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Demographics

As of the 2011 Census of India, Chitrakoot had a population of 23,316. Males constitute 54.36% of the population and females 45.63%, making the Female Sex Ratio of 840 against the state average of 931. Chitrakoot has an average literacy rate of 70.01%, lower than the national average of 74% and higher than the state average of 69.32%; with male literacy of 79.49% and female literacy of 58.40%. 15.72% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

{{Hindu holy cities Cities and towns in Satna district Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Hindu holy cities Ancient Indian cities Cities in Bundelkhand Places in the Ramayana Religion in Madhya Pradesh