Bathing in the ancient kund after seeing five-faced Lord Shiva gives freedom from ‘skin disease’. Loktej Business, Feature, Regional News

Chitrakoot, 13 April (HS). Chitrakoot, the Tapobhoomi of Lord Shri Ram, is famous all over the world for its religious, spiritual and mythological importance. In the Bharatkup area of ​​Dharmanagari, there is the ashram of Adi Rishi Mandavya, famous as Madfa Fort, on a hill about 250 meters high, amidst dense forests.

In this ancient Madfa ashram, the glories of five-faced Lord Shiva sitting in dance posture are also found in Vedas and Puranas. Such is the glory of this divine abode that worshiping Lord Shiva by taking a dip of faith in the water of the kund located here, along with getting rid of ‘leprosy’, one gets freedom from rebirth. One can get relief from all the troubles just by seeing Panchmukhi Shiva.

It is worth mentioning that Chitrakoot, the Tapobhoomi of Maryada Purushottam Lord Shri Ram, is one of the eternal, immovable and historical holy pilgrimages of the world. Famous sages like Agastya, Atri, Valmiki etc. along with Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe himself, have done penance in this ancient religious place. For this reason Chitrakoot, the best place in the universe, can be compared to heaven. Chitrakoot, spread over about 84 kos, has various types of peaks (koots). In this ancient ashram, Lord Shankar is physically present in his five faced form.

There is a belief about this divine bath that sage Mandavya did penance here. Shakuntala, the wife of Maharaj Dushyant, gave birth to a son, Bharat, on this very spot. The ruins of the glorious city of Chandel period can also be seen near this pond. Adinath, the originator of Jainism is also said to have visited here. A fair has been going on here for centuries on Mahashivaratri and every Monday. This religious, historical and mythologically important ancient heritage has been preserved by the Central Archaeological Department.

Mahant Divya Jeevan Das Maharaj of Chitrakoot’s well-known Sant Bharat Mandir, Mahant Ram Hridaydas Maharaj of Ramayani Kuti and Dr. Ramnarayan Tripathi, administrator of Gayatri Shakti Peeth, narrate the glory of Madfa fort that Devraj Indra had afflicted the unique beautiful Apsara named Vedavati with leprosy. was cursed. On the persuasion of the cursed Apsara, Indra told the way to get rid of the curse by bathing in the Nyagrodha Kund located in the ashram of sage Mandav and worshiping the five-faced Lord Shiva sitting there. Even today people from all over the country come here for leprosy cure. Apart from this, seeing and worshiping the Panchmukhi Shiva located here is believed to get freedom from rebirth.

Concerned for the development of the temple, social worker Dinesh Kumar Singh has demanded the government to build a ropeway for the convenience of the devotees at Madfa Dham. Historian Ramesh Chaurasia says that Madfa fort is a Chandel carpet fort.

This fort is at a distance of 30 kilometers from Chitrakoot. The fort is on a hill near Bariya Manpur on the Bharatkup road. This fort had an important place during the Chandel rule. The ruins of the fort are still available here. This fort had special importance from the point of view of security. The natural beauty here is very captivating. There are three ways to climb this fort. The first route is from Manpur village to the north east. And the second route is from the South-East from Savariya village and the third route is from Kurhan village.

Devotees Om Prakash Kesharwani, Mahendra Jaiswal and Rishi Arya who came here for darshan say that all the wishes of a person are fulfilled just by seeing the Panchmukhi Lord Shiva sitting on the high hill of Madfa. Every year lakhs of devotees from all over the country come to this mythological pilgrimage to worship Lord Shiva. One can get rid of skin diseases by taking a bath in the ancient pool located near its temple.

District Tourism Officer Anupam Srivastava says that the central and state governments are determined to develop the places of religious and historical importance of Bundelkhand including Chitrakoot as tourist places. Said that work is being done to develop the Madfa temple as a tourist center through the tourism department.