Ramyana’s Ashoka Vatika : Sita’s home away from home

enrouteI
August 25, 2023

Did you know that like the Garden of Eden in Christian mythology, Hindu mythology has its own Garden of Pleasure, i.e., Nanda vana, belonging to Lord Indra? Also, like the former had the ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil’, the latter too, had the ‘Kalpataru Tree’, which granted all the wishes and desires of the seeker. This common link between gardens and mythology has been highlighted in Brihat Samhita, where it mentions that ‘the gods always play where groves are, near rivers, mountains, and springs, and in towns with pleasure gardens.’ Similar settings have been found in the Hindu mythology narratives- Mahabharata and Ramayana. The most famous is the Ashok Vatika of the Ramayana. Ashok Vatika was a garden in Lanka that was located in the kingdom of Ravana. The Vatika has garden houses around it, built by Vishwakarma himself.

Archaeological evidence of systematic gardening in ancient India has been found in Indus Valley Civilization (3000-2000 BCE). The tradition of reverence for nature led to the veneration of specific trees which were believed as the “abode of ‘tree spirits’”, and to preserve the same, the arrangement of gardens and landscape design in ancient India finds its genesis, leading to the civic planning of gardens. Though literally, by the 2nd century BCE, in Vatsyayara’s Kamasutra, domestic gardening finds its mention, where the text encourages a ‘good’ wife to build a house garden, with varied vegetables, fig tree, mustard and flowers like jasmine or china rose, with a tank or pond in the middle. Similar conjunction has been found in the Agnipurana, a Hindu religious text of c.8th-11th century CE, that suggests having a flower garden next to the house, a water tank, and a thorny hedge for a garden’s boundary. In a 10th-century CE text, Sukraniti recommends a specific orientation for a garden, that is to the left of a house.

The ancient Indian texts, specifically the Hindu shastras mention certain features for a garden to constitute like “cloud showers, lotus-shaped baths with lotus seats, creeper pavilions, tanks, lotus-shaped lakes, menageries, swings, rotating wheels…” The Arthashastra confirms that expertise in planting and maintaining trees was already achieved by this time.

The epics too present several references to gardens, where the Mahabharata elaborates in detail about a garden whose “walls…shone like mirrors…numerous arbors covered by climbers…fish ponds carpeted with lotus and water lilies…the gardens echoed to the cry of the peacock and the song of the kokila” (the Indian cuckoo). The Ramayana too, describes the beauty of a garden- “He viewed the herds of gentle deer

Roaming the garden free from fear.”

Later, by the 13th century, the texts started describing short sections on garden layout, for instance, Sarnagadharapaddhati, contains a chapter called, ‘Upavana vinoda’, a treatise on arborio-horticulture subjects such as the choice of trees for different soils, the sowing of seeds, plant mutant, etc.

THE BEAUTY OF ASHOK VATIKA & SITA’S DILEMMA

In Ancient India, gardens were also viewed as locations in which the garden owner may pursue a religious or mythical association, making them considerate of the plants that they would choose, so that they can associate the same with the god(s) for whom they had a particular devotion. For example, banyan trees are pleasing to Lord Shiva and his family, the pipal trees to Hari, or Indian butter trees to Parvati. Such a tree might be planted in isolation in the garden to allow for a ritual of circumambulation and a raised platform on which offerings of garlands, flowers, or leaves might be placed. Similar settings have been found in the Hindu mythology narratives- Mahabharata and Ramayana. The most famous is the Ashok Vatika of the Ramayana. Ashok Vatika was a garden in Lanka that was located in the kingdom of Ravana. The Vatika has garden houses around it, built by Vishwakarma himself.

A Madhubani Painting of Ashok Vatika

Valmiki’s Ramayana (5.15.14), describes Ashoka Vatika as “a celestial garden…with flowers like clusters of stars.” This place is significant as here, Sita was brought by Ravana, the demon king after she was captivated from the forest where Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, his brother Lakshmana and Sita, Rama’s wife, were living during their exile of 14 years. Since Sita refused to stay in Ravana’s palace, she took shelter in the Ashok Vatika. The present location of Ashok Vatika is believed to be the Hakgala Botanical Garden, the area is known as Seetha Eliya in Sri Lanka.

Captivated Sita surrounded by demons in Ashok vatika

In the Sundarakanda chapter of Ramayana, Hanuman, the ardent devotee of Lord Rama, who was sent to find Sita and deliver the message of hope, describes the fascinating Ashoka Vatika. He described how the garden was adorned with “flowering trees, fruit trees, delicate rare plants, rare flowers, and beautiful, very fragrant flowers…The pathways were filled with fallen flowers, new sprouts, and tender leaves.” He saw Sala, Ashoka, Bhavya, Champaka, Uddalaka, Nagavriksha, Mango, and Kapimukha trees in flower with clumps of amras intertwined with several creepers. Sandals and other plants of fragrance were found at regular intervals. He himself awaited at the Simsupa tree for Sita.

Sita in Ashoka Grove(Ashoka Vatika)
Raja Ravi Varma ca. 1894

The despair on Sita’s face, in contrast with the glee on the demoness’ visage is a fascinating portrayal by Ravi Varma as he vividly depicts the scene of the abducted Sita pining for Lord Rama, entrapped in Ravana’s palace compound.

The musicality present in the garden, -birds chirping, the gushing sound of the water streams and ponds and waterfalls, the tingle of the tiny bells that were hanging from the trees- resounded the freedom that Sita longed for. He even found lakes with banks made of gems and sand beds strewed with coral pieces. He thought, “Getting impressed by the nature of birds, flowers, trees, lakes, and streams, Sita would be visiting them to ventilate her grief of separation from Ram.” Further, Hanuman jumped up on an Ashoka tree to have a wider view, and located rows of other Ashok trees thousands in number. Among those trees, some shined like gold, some had the brilliance of fire, while others looked dark green. The groves were as beautiful as Nanda Vana of Swarglok, and Chitrarath of Kuber.

This tender domestic portrait depicts Shiva and Parvati seated under the shady canopy of a banyan tree atop their heavenly abode of Mount Kailasa. Shiva pours water from his golden Kailash through a sieve held by Parvathi. Ganesh, the apple of his mother’s eye, sits at her feet while his elder brother Skanda dutifully stands in attendance at right with a fly-whisk in his hand.
[11:36 am, 25/08/2023] Enroute History: Source: Tallenge Store

Ruth Vanitha in her poem, ‘Ashok Vatika-I’ describes how ‘the garden that confines, widens into a garden with grief’, probably because Sita was longing for Rama, and detested staying at Ravana’s. Her grief is well expressed in Ramayana, where Hanuman described her wearing an “old soiled saree”, looking gaunt due to starvation, and “sighing loudly”. She was surrounded by demons, but “looked like a deer lost from her group and caught in the middle of dogs.” However, in ‘Ashok Vatika-II’, she explains how it became the “garden without grief” because, ‘What, in this gateless garden, can be done but wait for some impossible happening, some sign, like huge strange creature with its tail on fire, holding out a small, familiar thing?’ Having said that, she says that Sita is both “surrounded and alone,” because although being surrounded by the verities of nature, “only the one face that makes the universe worth seeing is absent, endlessly removed.”

Thus, Ashok Vatika becomes not only an aesthetic garden, providing hope and joy as nature has those inherent healing abilities, but it for Sita, was also a place of sorrow and longing for her love. However, the Ashok Vatika did provide a home away from her home, i.e. Rama.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

Kota, Krishna. Sundarakanda: A Beautiful Story of Hanuman’s Success. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. 2013. pp.55
Prapnnachari, Srikrishna. Valmiki Ramayan: Condensed Sundar Kand. 2010. https://www.scribd.com/document/26984284/sundar-kand-valmiki#

ARTICLES

BOWE, PATRICK. “ANCIENT HINDU GARDEN DESIGN.” Garden History, vol. 44, no. 2, 2016, pp. 272–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44987905. Accessed 18 Aug. 2023.
Bowe, Patrick. “The Indian Gardening Tradition and the Sajjan Niwas Bagh, Udaipur.” Garden History, vol. 27, no. 2, 1999, pp. 189–205. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1587216. Accessed 18 Aug. 2023.
Pranava Manjari, N. Indian Literature, vol. 42, no. 6 (188), 1998, pp. 174–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23342361. Accessed 18 Aug. 2023.