Your yatra begins where the Lord's own story begins, in his mother's land. Chhattisgarh is honoured as the nanihal of Shri Ram, the maternal home of Mata Kaushalya, and you land at Raipur to reach it. A short drive brings you to Chandkhuri, where the Kaushalya Mata temple stands on an island in the middle of a wide old pond ringed by smaller tanks.

People here will tell you it is the only temple in the world where Kaushalya sits with the infant Ram on her lap, and standing before it you feel the epic open at its first page rather than at its most famous one. If time allows you also see Turturiya nearby, held in local memory to be linked with the Valmiki ashram and with Luv and Kush. Reach Chandkhuri before late afternoon, when the ponds are calm and the evening aarti is worth staying for. In the evening sit down to a real Chhattisgarhi thali at Gadh Kalewa in Raipur.

Today you leave the plains and climb into the Maikal hills. The drive from Raipur to Amarkantak is about 245 kilometres and takes around five hours, so start after an early breakfast and keep the day gentle. Amarkantak is the place where the Narmada is born, and the small Narmada Udgam Kund, from which the great river first trickles, is quieter and more moving than its size suggests.

Close by at Sonemuda the Son river begins its own journey in the opposite direction. This is high, cool, forested country, the kind of tapovan land the exile years were spent in, and it prepares you well for the forest chapters ahead. Do the darshan without hurry, sit a while by the kund, and let the hill air settle you after the travel. Meals here are simple: ashram-style sattvic food and honest Madhya Pradesh thalis.

This is a driving day, and an honest one, so we plan it with care. The road from Amarkantak down to Satna runs about 315 kilometres and, because it crosses the Maikal hills before reaching the plains, takes close to seven hours with breaks. You base tonight at Satna, the comfortable railhead town that serves as the gateway to Chitrakoot.

There is not a great deal to see on the way, so treat today as the bridge between the Narmada country and the heart of the early exile: keep water and light snacks in the car, break the drive once for tea, and reach Satna in good time to rest. Save your energy, because tomorrow at Chitrakoot is one of the fullest and most beautiful days of the whole yatra. A simple pure-veg thali at Satna is the right end to a road day.

Chitrakoot is where the exile settled and where the Ramayana's most tender scene took place, and you have a full day to give it. It is a short drive of about 80 kilometres from Satna, so you arrive early. Begin at Ram Ghat on the Mandakini, then walk the Kamadgiri parikrama, the gentle circuit of the low hill that devotees regard as Ram himself; the path is flat and lined with shrines.

Here at Bharat Milap, tradition holds, Bharat found Ram and begged him to return, then carried his paduka back to rule Ayodhya in his name, and the small temple that marks it moves many pilgrims to tears. Give the afternoon to Gupt Godavari, where a stream runs through a cave you wade into, and to Hanuman Dhara and Sphatik Shila on the wooded slopes, with the Sati Anasuya ashram further up the Mandakini. Eat sattvic at the ISKCON kitchen, and try the local malpua.

You follow the exile route in reverse today, driving about 130 kilometres, close to three and a half hours, up to Prayagraj and out to Shringverpur on its edge. Shringverpur was the kingdom of Nishadraj Guha, the boatman king, and it is here that the beautiful Kevat prasang unfolded: the ferryman who would not row Ram across the Ganga until he had first washed those holy feet, afraid the dust that once turned stone to Ahalya might change his humble boat too.

The riverside Ramghat and the Nishadraj Park tell the story well. In Prayagraj itself you visit Bharadwaj Ashram, where the sage guided the trio toward Chitrakoot, the reclining Bada Hanuman near the fort, and the Triveni Sangam, the meeting of Ganga, Yamuna and the unseen Saraswati. Eat a classic Prayagraj thali at an old institution like Netram Mool Chand, and carry back some Allahabadi peda.

Today is a short, easy travel day that carries you to the heart of the whole yatra. You board the 22129 Tulsi Express at Prayagraj at nine in the morning and reach Ayodhya Cantt by ten past twelve, a run of just over three hours across the plains of Awadh. Settle into your seat, watch the fields go by, and let the anticipation build, because you are on your way to the Ram Janmabhoomi itself.

Reach your Ayodhya hotel by early afternoon, rest, and freshen up. If you arrive with energy to spare you can make an unhurried first visit to the riverfront in the evening, but we usually keep the darshan and the temples for tomorrow, when you have a full and unhurried day for them. Eat a simple sattvic Ayodhya thali and turn in early.

This is the day the whole yatra has been climbing toward. You spend it in Ayodhya, the Ram Janmabhoomi, and the mood of the town carries you along. Begin with darshan of Ram Lalla at the Ram Mandir, then climb the seventy-six steps to Hanuman Garhi, where devotees hold that you greet Hanuman before you meet Ram. Give the middle of the day to Kanak Bhawan and the older temple lanes, and keep the evening free for the Saryu aarti, when rows of lamps are floated on the river and the ghats fill with the sound of bells.

If your legs are willing, drive out to Nandigram, where Bharat ruled for fourteen years with Ram's paduka on the throne, and to Guptar Ghat, revered as the place where Ram left this world. Darshan queues can be long and moving, especially on weekends and near Ram Navami, so let us time your temple visits so the darshan and the aarti do not clash. Eat simply and carry home some malai peda as prasad.

Today you travel from Ram's city to Sita's, and the journey itself is part of the pilgrimage. You board the 19165 Sabarmati Express before dawn at Ayodhya Cantt and ride east in an AC coach across the Gangetic plains, reaching the Mithila region by evening. It is a long daytime run, but a restful one: breakfast and lunch come to your seat, the fields and small stations roll by, and there is time for satsang, for a book, or simply for looking out of the window as the land of the Ramayana passes.

We choose the honest rail day here rather than a rushed flight, because it matches the slow, grounded spirit of a yatra and because it takes you gently into Mithila, the homeland of Janaki. Reach Darbhanga in the evening, check in, and rest for tomorrow. Try the famous Mithila makhana kheer and thekua when you arrive.

Mithila is the land of Mata Sita, and today you walk its Ramayana places. At Ahilya Sthan, held to be the ashram of the sage Gautam, the touch of Ram's feet freed Ahalya from the curse that had turned her to stone, and it remains one of the epic's gentlest images of grace. At Girija Sthan near Madhubani you come to the Girija temple where, by tradition, Sita worshipped the Goddess and first saw Ram before the Swayamvara, and the nearby Baag Taraag Pushpavatika is remembered as the garden of that first meeting.

This is quiet, rural, deeply devotional country, far from the crowds, and it rewards an unhurried pace. If you have interest in art, Madhubani is also the home of the famous Mithila painting, and you can watch it being made. Eat the local vegetarian fare: dal-pitha, and the makhana and sweets the region is known for.

Today is a bridging day that carries you right across the country, from the eastern plains of Mithila to the Deccan and the Godavari. You fly from Darbhanga to Mumbai, then drive about 167 kilometres up to Nashik, reaching your hotel by evening. It is mostly a travel day, so keep it light and relaxed.

Nashik sits on the Godavari and is the gateway to Panchavati, the forest of five banyan trees where the exile took its darkest turn, and you will give it a full day tomorrow. Arrive, settle in, and if the evening is free take a gentle walk by the river. Nashik is a food town in its own right, so this is a good evening to try its famous misal pav or a plate of sabudana wada.

Panchavati is where the Ramayana turns, and you give the whole day to it. Start at the Sita Gufa, the small cave shrine from which, tradition says, Sita was carried away after the golden-deer deception, and at Tapovan close by, where Lakshman cut off Surpanakha's nose and the trouble with Ravana began. Bathe your eyes at Ram Kund on the Godavari, where pilgrims offer to their ancestors, then take darshan at the Kalaram temple, the old black-stone shrine of Ram, and at the nearby Goreram temple.

Kushavarta Kund and the sites around it fill the rest of the morning. If time and interest allow, drive out to Trimbakeshwar, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and the true source of the Godavari, about an hour away, and to Taked, remembered as the place where the vulture king Jatayu fell defending Sita. Eat a full Maharashtrian pure-veg thali; the local kitchens do it very well.

Today is a bridging day, and an unhurried one. You keep your Nashik morning, then take the good road down to Navi Mumbai, about three and a half hours, for the afternoon flight to Hubballi. From there it is a last stretch by road into the boulder country of Kishkindha, reaching your Hampi hotel in the evening. We route it this way on purpose.

This Navi Mumbai flight runs every day of the week, so your dates are never at the mercy of a twice-weekly service, and you reach Hampi at a civilised hour instead of near midnight. Hampi is like nowhere else you will have seen: a vast landscape of rounded granite boulders and ruined temples along the Tungabhadra, which tradition names as Kishkindha, the vanara kingdom. Rest well tonight, because tomorrow is a full and wonderful day among its shrines.

This is the Kishkindha Kanda made real, and it is a joy. Climb Anjanadri Hill in the cool of early morning, revered as the birthplace of Hanuman; it is a climb of several hundred stone steps, so start before the sun is high and carry water. From the top the boulder country opens all around you. Come down to Pampa Sarovar, the lotus-covered tank where, tradition says, Shabari offered Ram her berries, and see Rishyamukha across the river, where Ram first met Sugriva.

The rest of the day belongs to Hampi's great temples: the living Virupaksha, still in daily worship, the stone chariot and musical pillars of the Vitthala temple, and the graceful Lotus Mahal. In the late evening you board the overnight 17416 Haripriya Express toward Tirupati, so keep an overnight bag handy. Eat a good Udupi thali and take some filter coffee before the train.

You wake on the train and reach Tirupati by a quarter past eight, then go up the hill to Tirumala for the darshan that millions save a lifetime for: Lord Venkateswara, Balaji himself. Because the queues here are famous, we help you plan the darshan in advance so your time is spent in devotion rather than in line.

On the hill, or in the forest below, make time for Japali Anjaneya, the quiet Hanuman shrine by a stream where, by tradition, Hanuman still keeps his tapas, a fitting stop on a Ramayana yatra. At the foot of the hill, take darshan of Goddess Padmavathi at Tiruchanur, whom pilgrims see before or after Balaji. Do not leave without the famous Tirupati laddu, the GI-tagged prasadam made in the temple kitchens. Keep the day a little flexible, since darshan timings on the hill can shift with the crowd.

Leave Tirupati after breakfast and drive about 111 kilometres, roughly two and a half hours, to Kanchipuram, the city of a thousand temples. On the way you stop at Thiruppukuzhi, one of the most touching places on the whole trail. Here, tradition holds, Shri Ram performed the last rites of Jatayu, the old vulture king who gave his life trying to stop Ravana from carrying Sita away, and the deity is shown holding Jatayu on his lap, a rare image of the Lord grieving for a bird who died for him.

In Kanchipuram you then have darshan at the Kamakshi Amman temple and at the Vishnu shrines the town is known for, among them Ashtabhuja Perumal, Adi Keshava and the Kodanda Rama temple. Try the famous Kanchipuram idli, a thick idli spiced with pepper and ginger that began as temple prasadam. Kanchipuram is also India's great silk-saree town, so if you plan to buy, choose a shop with a proper GI tag and bill and ask to see the silk mark.

Today you travel south to the island from which Ram crossed the sea. From Kanchipuram you reach Chennai for the midday flight to Madurai, then drive about 174 kilometres onto Rameshwaram island. On the way you can stop at Devipattinam, where tradition says Ram set up nine stones, the Navapashanam, to worship the nine planets before the war, and at Thiruppullani, the Adi Jagannatha temple where he is believed to have lain on a bed of grass praying to the sea god.

The approach itself is unforgettable: the new Pamban bridge, India's first vertical-lift sea bridge, curves across the water beside the old rail bridge, and you cross onto the island with the sea on both sides. There is a single daily flight on this leg, so your dates need care, which we handle for you. Reach Rameshwaram in the evening and rest. Dinner is a pure-veg Tamil meal on a banana leaf.

Rameshwaram is the great southern threshold of the Ramayana, and you give the day to it. Begin at the Ramanathaswamy temple, whose corridors are among the longest of any temple in India, and take darshan of the lingam that, tradition holds, Ram fashioned from sand and worshipped before crossing to Lanka, so that Shiva's blessing would go with him. Many pilgrims first bathe at Agni Theertham, the sea shore beside the temple, and at the sacred wells within; the temple staff guide the theertham bath.

See the Ramar Patham shrine on Gandhamadhana hill, where Ram's footprint is revered, and the five-faced Panchmukhi Hanuman. In the afternoon drive out to wind-swept Dhanushkodi at the very tip of the island, the ghost town where land runs out and, tradition says, the Rama Setu bridge to Lanka began. Stand there with the sea on three sides and the story feels very close. Eat ghee pongal and drink a filter kaapi.

Today is a gentle repositioning day that takes you back up to the Deccan for the last group of Rama places. You drive from Rameshwaram to Madurai, about 174 kilometres, and on the way it is well worth stopping for darshan at the great Meenakshi Amman temple, one of the finest in the south, with its towering painted gopurams. From Madurai you fly to Hyderabad, where you spend a relaxed evening in the city.

After the long temple days of the south, this pause is welcome: an easy hotel evening, a good pure-veg dinner, and an early night before the Nallamala forest run tomorrow. There are two daily flights on this leg, morning and evening, so we can shape the day around how much time you want at Meenakshi. Try a Hyderabad pure-veg thali in the evening.

Today you climb into the Nallamala forest to Srisailam, about 213 kilometres and five hours from Hyderabad, through hills and tiger-country woodland. Srisailam is rare among Indian temples: it is both the second of the twelve Jyotirlingas, as Mallikarjuna, and one of the Shakti Pithas, as Bhramaramba, so Shiva and the Goddess are worshipped together on the same hill.

On the way in, many pilgrims first visit Sakshi Ganapati, where tradition says Ganesha keeps the record of who has come for darshan. Reach in good time for an unhurried evening darshan of Mallikarjuna, and stay the night by the temple rather than rushing back, which is why we keep Srisailam as an overnight. Eat the free sattvic Annadanam meal the Devasthanam serves, or a simple pure-veg thali in the temple town.

Give the morning to the rest of Srisailam before you turn back. Step down to Patala Ganga, the Krishna river far below the temple, reached by a long flight of steps or the ropeway, where pilgrims bathe in the fast green water. Back at the temple, seek out the Sahasralinga, the linga carved with a thousand small lingas that tradition says Ram himself consecrated here, a quiet link between this Shiva hill and the sand-lingam you honoured at Rameshwaram.

Then begin the daylight drive back to Hyderabad, about 213 kilometres. We keep this run in daylight on purpose, because the Nallamala forest stretch closes to traffic at night for wildlife, and a daytime return is both safer and more beautiful. Reach Hyderabad for a restful evening. A pure-veg Shiva-town breakfast on the hill and a good Hyderabad thali later round out the day.

Today you drive to Bhadrachalam, about 310 kilometres and six and a half hours from Hyderabad, so it is an early start and a long but rewarding road day. Bhadrachalam is revered as Dakshina Ayodhya, a southern Ayodhya on the banks of the Godavari, and its Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple, built by the devotee Bhakta Ramadasu, is the heart of the town. Take the evening darshan and, if the timing is right, the aarti on the river.

Nearby is Parnasala, held to be the very site of the leaf-hut where Ram, Sita and Lakshman lived in the forest, and the place from which Ravana carried Sita away, the turning point you have followed all the way from Panchavati. The Abhaya Anjaneya shrine is close by. Eat a pure-veg thali at a temple kitchen such as Annamaya, and rest well after the long drive.

Today you enter Bastar, the deep forest country of southern Chhattisgarh that tradition names as the living Dandakaranya, where by regional belief Ram, Sita and Lakshman spent the long heart of their exile. It is about 255 kilometres and four hours from Bhadrachalam. The land here is wild and green, and its wonders are natural ones. In the Kanger Valley you can go down into the Kutumsar Caves, a long limestone cave system of stalactites lit only by lamps, and see the milk-white Tirathgarh Falls dropping in steps through the forest.

Time your afternoon so you reach Chitrakote Falls for sunset: the widest waterfall in India, curving like a horseshoe across the Indravati, thundering and misted with spray in the low light. It is a fitting near-end to the forest chapters of the yatra. Eat the honest Bastar pure-veg food, aamat and fara, and ask for pure-veg preparations.

On your last day in India you close the circle. Begin with darshan at the Danteshwari temple in Dantewada, one of the revered Shakti Pithas of the country, then take the road back to Raipur, about 298 kilometres, the very city where your yatra began three weeks ago.

There is a quiet completeness in this: you have followed the living geography of the Ramayana from Ram's mother's land through Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Panchavati and Kishkindha, down to Rameshwaram and the southern kshetras, and now the road returns you to your starting point, the great circle of the Ram Van Gaman Path truly closed. In the evening you fly from Raipur to Delhi, from where you connect home, or on to the optional Sri Lanka chapter. Carry a last simple Chhattisgarhi thali on the road, and carry the whole journey with you.

The optional Sri Lanka chapter takes you across the Palk Strait to the Lanka of the epic. You fly from Delhi to Colombo on the midday service and, on arrival, visit the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara near the city, where tradition holds that Vibhishana, Ravana's brother, was crowned king of Lanka after the war.

From Colombo you drive up into the hill country to Kandy for the night, a cool, green town around its lake and the famous temple of the sacred tooth. Today is mostly travel, so keep it easy and let the change of country settle. Sri Lanka is comfortable for Indian pilgrims, and pure-vegetarian food is easy to find; try a Sri Lankan rice-and-curry thali and a fresh king coconut. Rest in Kandy, because the Sundara Kanda places begin tomorrow.

Today the Sundara Kanda comes alive. You drive from Kandy up into the tea hills to Seetha Eliya, near Nuwara Eliya, to the Sita Amman temple that stands by a mountain stream where, tradition holds, Sita was kept in the Ashok Vatika and prayed for Ram. On the rocks across the stream, local belief points to large marks said to be the footprints of Hanuman.

Close by are the Hakgala gardens, revered as the site of that Ashok Vatika, the grove where Hanuman at last found Sita and gave her Ram's ring, and the small Sita Jharna spring. This is cool, misty, high country, wrapped in tea gardens, so carry a light layer. Move gently and give the temple time; for many pilgrims this is the emotional heart of the Lanka chapter. Eat the simple highland vegetarian fare of Nuwara Eliya.

You come down from the tea hills toward Ella today, following more of the Lanka tradition. Near Ella you see the Ravana Falls, a wide cascade beside the road, and above it the Ravana Cave in the hillside, which local belief links to the places Sita was held during her captivity.

On the way you can stop at Divurumpola, a quiet old temple whose name means the place of the oath, where tradition holds that Sita underwent the Agni Pariksha, the trial by fire, after the war, and it is still a site where solemn oaths are taken. The scenery today is some of the loveliest of the whole trip, green valleys and waterfalls and railway bridges in the hills. Keep the pace relaxed and let the country unfold. Eat a garden vegetarian meal at Ella.

Today you visit the last of the Lanka places and cross back to the coast. Near Mahiyangana you come to Sita Kotuwa, whose name means Sita's fort, held by tradition to be the first place Ravana kept Sita after bringing her to Lanka, before she was moved to the Ashok Vatika. The ruins sit in green forest country and carry a quiet, old feeling.

From here you make the long and scenic drive down out of the hills and across the island to Colombo, watching the highlands give way to the plains and the sea. It is mainly a travel day, so settle in and enjoy the changing land. Reach Colombo in the evening for your last night. Eat a good pure-veg dinner in the city.

Your yatra is complete. Over these days you have walked the whole living geography of the Ramayana, from Mata Kaushalya's Chandkhuri and Sita's Mithila, through Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Panchavati and Kishkindha, down to Rameshwaram, and across the sea to the Lanka of Hanuman and the Ashok Vatika.

Few pilgrims ever join the two ends of the story as you now have. This morning, depending on your flight, you may have a little time in Colombo before you go to the airport to fly home, carrying the darshan of every place with you. We wish you a safe journey and hope the yatra stays with you long after you are back. Yatra sampoorna.