Visit to Kapilas - 1351 Grandsteps of Godliness and Goodness

There is no village in India that has not a rich legendry history of its own to boast of. Some god or godlike here has passed by the village-Rama might have rested under this peepal tree, Sita might have dried her cloths after her bath on this yellow stone, or some Mahatma might have slept by the village gate or gave his sermons siiting on flat rock slab under that banyan tree.
Each village has a story to tell. 'Sitanka Antudisala' in Kapilas is famous beacause people believe it was here that Sita had stayed and brought up young Luv and Kush. Kapilas is the heavenly abode of Kailashpati, Parvati and Lord Narayana. It is said that Pratap Rudra Dev, the 15th century king of Kalinga (now Orissa, a state in India) built the temple almost 600 years ago.

Kapilas is almost picturesquely perfect.The whole place seems to be enclosed by the towering mountains. As one walks up some 1351 grand steps leading to the interior of the Shiva temple which cut through the mountains, one can notice that at several places there are little streams flowing lazily through the mountain folds. In some places there streams gush out with great force. The hills are densely forested and in which resides a tribe of monkeys. It was the holy month of 'Kartika' that we had visited the place. As it was an auspicious day, many pligrims had come to have a darshan of Lord Shiva known as 'Chandrasekhara' here. our village achieves special significance on the Shiv ratri day when devotees come here to offer their humble prayers and light the holy lamp on top of the mountain. Besides the Shiva temple there is the Parvati mandir where resides the beautiful and bounteous mother Parvati. To the locals it is she who protects them through famine and disease, death, and despair. As the pundit offered the puja, we closed our eyes and prayed with him, "Parvati, great goddess, protect us!O benign one!"

Climbing another 150 steps or so, we saw the beautiful idol of Narayana. The priest serving the lord described him as the master of the threee worlds "dharti, patal and akash". High up the steps is the "Sitanka Antudisala". It is a not so impressive a place as one had thought of. To reach the place we had to climb uphill and it nearly took us half an hour to reach the place. They say it was here that Sita had given birth to Luv and Kush. The 'antudisala' is a natural cave hollowed out of the mountains side through deep erosion by wind and water. It is irony of fate that the sons of such a great king have been cradled on these bed of rocks. For nothing remains except some huge boulders that bear mute witness to their nativity.There we came across a medicant sittting cross legged on a flat rock slab as it it were a throne beside this ancient shrine.The branchs of the tress canopying the mountain course rustled and trembled with the agitation of the birds and monkeys settling for the day. Nothing disturbed him not even these menacing monkeys. I bowed low and tried to touch his feet."He will destroy is if we attempt to usurp his rights', saying this, he closed his eyes. It was better not to disturb him so i walked my way.We me few of these servants of godchanting holy hymns to themselves. A gentle peacefulness enveloped the whole atmosphere. this is their happy abode , beyond the realms of worldly cares.

At Kapilas the most lovely spot the resthouse os crouched on the side of the cliff, the varendha looking down into the main arena of the three shrines. The whole thing givs a look of a tiny island. For many Kapilas is their favourite picnic spot. The deer park, which is nearby provides amusement to both the young and the old. After climbing down the 1351 grand steps we came her to rest our tiring feet. As night approached , cart after cart groaned the narrow and dusty roads of Kapilas. They were also on their way home like us. We did hear the cart men singing through the hollow of the night as the carts passed into the morning that would rise over these silent mountains of Kapilas.