Temples in Chitrakoot

Chitrakoot lies on the Mandakini river along the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and the Ramayana places it as the forest where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana spent a large part of their exile. It is where Bharat came to ask Rama to return to Ayodhya. The town is organised around that story: the Kamadgiri hill, walked in parikrama; Ramghat on the river; and the ashrams and caves upstream that the tradition associates with the exile.

Best time to visit: October to March. Amavasya brings pilgrims for the Kamadgiri parikrama every month, and Deepawali is the great festival.