Famous Ramkund Mandir in Poonch

Location:-

Ramkund temple embodies our ancient traditions, culture, and art. The oldest temple in the Poonch area of northern India, according to archaeological evidence, was built by Raja Lalitaditya (c.724-761 A.D.), which matches the architecture and style found in all of the other Rajas' temples constructed during his reign in Kashmir (e.g., in Srinagar). This temple has compelling archaeological and historical qualities that capture its uniqueness and attractiveness; however, it has been overlooked due to its unfortunate geographic location, but thanks to recent archaeological work, Ramkund is being rediscovered and re-established in its rightful place of importance among the ancient sites of this area.

The location of Ramkund Temple is located within the Narol community, which is in the Mendhar Tehsil 62 Kilometers away from Poonch. It is an important holy site that has been built inside a deep gorge situated at the base of the Shah Star Range mountains. Currently, in addition to the temple, there are three sacred ponds; Ram Kund, Lachman Kund and Sitakund. Of these three sacred ponds, the Ram Kund is much larger than both Lachman and Sita Kunds measuring approximately 25 feet by 25 feet. The northern side of Ram kund is home to a spring which produces the spring water.coupled with the larger area of Ram Kund causes it to flow over into Lachman Kund before emptying into Sita Kund - the smallest of the three. The design of these three ponds allows for the water of the spring to fill each pond and then flow down through a drainage system into a nearby creek or gully.

Historical and Cultural Significance:

The historic temple located to the east of Ramkund dates back to the 8th century. A stone stairway leads up to the entrance of the temple from the east side of Ramkund. Inside the temple, a modern statue of Hanuman can be found and has recently been added. On the north side of the temple, there is a small building that serves as both the Pujari's residence and a cow shed. Additionally, there is a "Kutiya" constructed near the temple that serves as lodging for Sadhus and Pilgrims. The west side of this sacred site is encircled by banana trees and a small plum orchard, adding to the Ashram feel of the site. Each year, on the 14th of Chaitra (March), a large congregation or religious festival takes place at this site referred to as Mela Chetar Chodas. Devotees from across the borders of Poonch and Rajouri gather to participate in the festival. After bathing in the holy water and offering prayers at the temple, participants join in Bhajan Kirtan, which is organized by Mandlies (Groups). This celebration lasts for an entire day.

Kalhana wrote about Raj Taringni's story of Raja Lalitaditya the Warrior's of Poonch (now termed Chawani) saying that Raja Lalitaditya made Mandaraksha (Poonch) to make it a base camp for Raja Lalitaditya's troops, giving the city a name called "Purn-Utsva (the city changed its name from Purn-Utsva to Poonch)," according to Kalhana. On a hunting trip, Raja Lalitaditya travelled far off into the woods. One evening in that same area. Raja Lalitaditya saw two women close by, singing and playing music while they danced around an unpopulated area. Raja Lalitaditya questions the women about their actions, why is one of the women playing an instrument of music, and why is the other woman dancing.

The young women indicated that they were working in this capacity as instructed by their mothers and grandmothers and thus were known as Devdasis. Their response suggested that they were performing their traditional role; however, they could not provide an explanation for their performance in that particular location. Raja suspected that that location could perhaps be considered a 'holy site.' He commissioned archaeological work to find out more about the site where the Devdasis had performed their evening prayers. As a result of excavating the site, two ancient temples were discovered, each sealed up. Upon opening the doors of both temples, Raja discovered two idols of Lord Keshav in each temple.

Temple and Surroundings: 

A history of each of these idols has been documented from their back. The idols were put together by Ramchander Ji while visiting Jammu & Kashmir. The Raja Lalitaditya throughout his reign in Kashmir, he brought all idols with him when he came back to his Palace in the Kashmir Valley, along with one of Ram Chander Ji's idol for the Vishnu Parihafta temples located in today's Chandigarh Township, which were dedicated to different gods, while the other idol was given to the queen, who installed it in the Chakrshveri temple.

Raja Lalitaditya's excavation of Ramkund Temple led to the renewal and transformation of an excavated monument into a religious site with a significant amount of architectural work accompanying it. Although Lalitaditya established Poonch City there is no structure remaining today, from the time of Lalitaditya, other than Ramkund Temple in Mendhar, this being the only temple in the area with any ties to the temple tracks as mentioned by Mr Stein in his translation of Raj Taringani by Kalhana, Lalitaditya using the original temple construction created by Raja Ram Chander Ji. Mr. Stein did visit the region of Poonch in 1892 AD where he also visited several sites like Loharkote (historical site known as Loran), Attalika (historical site known as Atoli), Saramber (historical site known as Chamber Kanari), Sawvernik (historical site known as Surankote) detailed in the Raj Taringani text. Mr Stein had been unable to locate Ramkund Temple at the time period associated with Raja Lalitaditya because this particular temple was located on an out-of-the-way road from Poonch to Kashmir during this period of history.

All the habitants of this area were non-Hindus. Even most of the Hindus were knowing very little about this shrine in the past. Therefore, they could not talk about this temple to Stein.  The other proof is that Devdasis reported to Raja Lalitaditya that they belonged to a nearby village known as Sover Dehmana at that time. This village is still existing near Narol (where temple exists) and known as Dharana instead of Dehmana. Therefore, on the facts given above, it is clear that Ramkund is the same temple which was excavated and reconstructed by Raja Lalitaditya in 8th century.