'Sita Ram'' is the name of Shri Rama after his marriage with Sita. So, Ram Lalla is the boy. His idol is carved out in shalagrama shila (found in the R. Gandaki) and now being installed in the Ayodhya temple on 22nd January. It is that of the boy who had his studies under the great Sages Vasishtha and Vishvamitra. Thus, Sri Ramachandra returns to Ayodhya after his Gurukula studies to the Palace of Dasharatha, in a way! This is Ram lalla's return to Ayodhya. The second return to Ayodhya is that of Vijayotsav (Vijaya Dashami day of dassuerha) after victory over King Ravana. Sita and Rama return to Ayodhya from Lanka.
Why Shree Rama is worshiped as God? Shree Rama comes as the Seventh incarnation of Vishnu in treta yuga. But, so far, seven satya, treta, dva para have passed and the seventh kali yuga is running. The first one is that of the Sun God called Vivasvan and the seventh is vaivasvata manvantara. Seventh manvantara is coming to close with the present kali yuga in which we are living! There are seven more manvantaras to come with seven more satya, treta, dva para and kali are to come.
As regards, Shree Rama as God, we have a notion of avatara or esecnt of God in bany form on earth, as 'He Willed! Divinity is inherent in all jivas. Thus, it is no wonder Godhood comes to any lucky one in any form! Thus, a child born to Kaushalya is deified during treta yuga and we all worship Him as God- incarnate. Divine Incarnation is not new to Hindu mythology. In a way, anybody cane become God since divinity is already inherent in a jiva and it finds expression at appropriate time! That is why the HIndus worship all forms life like animals, plants and trees (such as Cow, Banyan Tree, Tulsi plant and even snakes)! A devout Hindu seeks, recognises, identfies, and visualises the divine form in all that he/she sees! God resides in all and the Vedic texts affirms- "tat srushtva tat eva anupravishat". This means, "Having created, He only entered into it".
It is reiterated here that, in human beings, the Lord entered the body through the brahma randhra, a hole on the head; it was soft at the time of birth and later on covered by bones,became hard. Thus, the Lord entered the jivas and is seated in the soul (heart?) of all creatures! That is why it is called 'Hari- dayaa', the abode of Sri Hari (Hridaya).
Now, this is how the child born to Kaushalya, Ramachandra, is deified! Ramachandra is considered the Seventh avatara of Vishnu, a divine incarnation. Vishnu appeaered as the son of Dahsharatha as a result of the boon given by Fire God, Agni deva after the putrakameshti yajnya he conducted on the advise of the sages..
Now, about Sita, daughter of King Janaka of Janakapri in Nepal is a different story. Janaka maharaja arranged a svayamvara to select the suitable husband for his daughter Sita. Along with many other kings, Shree Rama also attended the svayamvara.The contest was to break the bow given by Lord Shiva and the valor was judged. Whoever wins the contest will be eligible to marry Rajakumari Sita. Shree Ram attended the svayamvara and succefully broke the shiva dhanus and married Sita. However, as the story goes, King Ravana from Lanka was also there at the svayamvara. He was rich and famous! He was full of ego. He was so proud that he was not looking down at the pedestal while entering the hall. He was about to fall down and all those ladies in the Ladies' Gallery looking at this laughed loud and ths angered him. Amongst the girls was Sita, too, was there. This enraged Ravana who looked at Sita laughing and he decided to carry away her even if she is married!!
Thus, this story tells us how this episode led to carrying away Sita in disguise. All these stories are told to us during our childhood (for me 80 yers ago!)! What is the real story, history, or the accounts of treta yuga account of Ramayana? Who will tell us? Treta yuga may be just 7500 years ago, if not the story of several millions of years of eons of Yuga ago! For us, it may also be an account of ancient history or/ and one archaeological discovery?
There is so far no account of research done are established history and archeology or accounts based on research like stone-carvings or inscriptions. We are still looking for some proof about Mahabharata war. A reserach team went to Hastinapura which is just a hundred kilometers away from Delhi. To their surprise they found nothing! When the asked a passer-by, he pointed to five stone pillars and said these are the Pandavas who turned into stone after the dvapara yuga ended! What about the Kauravas? Probably, they all are reduced to ash! That's all!
Besides all these, today, we are proud to witness the consecration of the Idol of Sri Ram, sculptured at Mysore by a young MBA Graduate of the family of famous sculptors living in the lane opposite the Palace Office called '. He belongs to the famous family of sculptors living in ane karoti. 'Ane karoti' is the lane where the royal elephants are kept. This idol sculptored by the Mysuru boy is selected as the ideal one for consecration at the GarbhaGruha (sanctum sanctoram). This idol of Sri Ram lalla is the most beautiful one selected out of the three submitted!
However, it is interesting to know that Koppal near Hospet was a grand Capital city during the Treta yuga and Anajanadr where Hanuman is born is close-by. Even the place of Jambavanta is traced to Jamboti near Belagavi. Sri Ram traversed the entire Bharata, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia and his glory spread all over Asia! He actually traversed in Karnata, particularly near about Mysuru. Sita resided near the present Sri Ram Temple at Chunchankatte, near Krishnaraja Nagara, Mysoru. one should visit this place and experience some mysterious things!
The real story of Sita Ram is yet to come! There are the spiritual adhyatmic versions besides historical or mythological ones. Who is Sri Ram? Where was he born? Is he a human or God-incarnate Vishnu? Who is King Dasharatha? Where exactly is Ayodhya? Some scholars say that Ramayana took place in Egypt and ocate it at the mouth of R. Nile. What is the date of his regime as a king? Who is Sita? Who is Janaka Maharaja, his dynasty, and where is his palace in Nepal, etc. etc. Thee are all questions of historcal and archaeological research, if not mythology. Anothr question is whether there are any good students interested in this research? Is there any Foundation to fund the research? Has the ICHR or the ICSSR taken any initiative and done any effort in this direction? All these are important questions. We all know stories told in our Saturday extra classes reserved for story telling in primary schools! Beyond this, we are clueless!
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