Dandakaranya

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Dandakaranya
Geography
LocationBastar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana, India
Area92,200 km2

Dandakaranya (

Abujhmar Hills in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east, including regions of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana states. It spans about 300 kilometres (200 mi) from north to south and about 500 kilometres (300 mi) from east to west.[1]

Etymology

Dandakaranya means "the Dandaka forest" in Sanskrit, the abode of the

Khara
ruled this province.

Hinduism

Dandakaranya is considered sacred in Hinduism, 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 Ramayana, a famous Sanskrit epic. The plot for the divine objectives to uproot the rakshasas from the land was formulated here.[2] According to the epic, it was home to many deadly creatures and demons. It is described to have stretched from Narmada to the Godavari and Krishna Rivers according to the epic. Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana, are described to have spent their initial years of fourteen years as exiles traveling around the region.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Dandakaranya". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  2. ISBN 81-7110-156-9

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