Gupt Godavari, Satna, Madhya Pradesh India

From the parking area in the village below, a stepped path leads, past a ticket teeth and a manned footwear rack, to the fairly narrow mouth of the upper cave. The mouth opens out into a large cavern with two interesting features. One is an outcrop of black rock protruding from the paler roof of the cave. According to legend, this is all that remains of the peeping-tom monster: Mayank. He dared to spy on Sita while set was bathing in a pool in the cave. The enraged Lakshman petrified him and stuck him onto the roof. Then there is Sita Kund, the small pond in which Sita was bathing when Mayank peeped at her. Going out from this cave there is an entrance to the lower one through which a stream flows.

The stream which extends for about 100 meters, appears to have its source in a number of little springs gushing and trickling out of the mountain. Pilgrims seeking spiritual benefits, made knee-deep through this stream and emerge out through the mouth of the lower cave. The descriptive board at Gupt Godavari says: This cave was formed naturally by water and dates back to 9.50 lakh years. (That's 950,000 years ago)It is said that in order to have a glimpse of Lord Ram, the river (Godavari) came here secretly from Nasik. It is said that this place was visited by Ram, Sita and Laxnan. After emerging from the cave the Gupt. or Hidden Godavari, flows into a pond and then vanishes, presumably ground. The legendary source of this important river is in the temple of Trimbakeshwar in the western state of ' Maharashtra.

A natural wonder, the Gupt-Godavari caves are at a distance of 9.66 km, from Anasuya Atri Ashram, about 18 km from Ramghat and 18 km from town. Here is a pair of caves, one high and wide with an entrance through which one can barely pass, and the other long and narrow with stream of water running along its base. It is believed that Rama and Lakshmana held court in latter cave, which has two natural throne-like rocks.

We sang bhajans here which resonated beautifully. The spring water here is said to be connected underground to river Godavari and so it gets the name Gupt Godavari. Panchmukhi Shiva outside the caves was quite interesting. It is a strange yet beautiful place at the foothills of a small hill.  Climbing up the hill,  the Mandakini flows over man made steps along side the pathway.