Sita Temple of Sri Lanka
Aditi Ghosh
In the epic Ramayana of Hindu mythology, there are stories of Ravana abducting Sita to Lanka. Sita was kept captive by Ravana in beautiful Ashok Vatika. Ram searched his beloved wife Sita with the help of Hanuman and rescued her after fierce fighting with Ravana.
My work took me to Sita Eliya- where Sita has spent her captive days. Now there is the temple of Sita. And the Ashoka Vatika has converted as a Hakgala Botanic Gardens, Sri Lanka. Our project is supporting the Hakgala Botanical garden for establishing a floriculture value chain. To my pleasant surprise during my visit, I realise that I am actually in Ashok Vatika.
The soil in Sita Eliya is black in colour. According to the epic of Ramayana, it is believed that Hanumanji burnt this area before he left Sri Lanka. The footprints of Lord Hanuman’s can be seen even today close to the stream of Sita Temple. Suddenly I travelled back to thousands of years ago… in my imagination.
Aditi Ghosh is a development professional and a global traveller
