Shri Ram’s unique forms in different temples of India

When Shri Ram gets crowned as the King of Ayodhya, Rishi Vashisth blesses Shri Ram to be the Supreme inspiration for all mankind through his virtues, values and righteousness to uphold Dharma. He then mentions that there wouldn’t be a village or a town, or even a city which wouldn’t have a temple dedicated to Shri Ram.In his magnificent form, Shri Ram takes different forms in the great temples of India. While in one place, he is worshipped as a child, the other as a king. But the happiness and the bliss of his darshan is the eternal factor.

ImageSource

Ayodhya Ram Mandir – The divine place where Shri Ram was born along with his brothers is the magnificent place wherein Shri Ram is worshipped as the Divine Infant of Maharaj Dasarath and Mata Kaushalya. This is the place wherein the devotees very soon will get to see a magnificent temple built for Shri Ram and get a darshan of the childhood image of Shri Ram, who with his playfulness was the soul of Maharaj Dasarath and the three queens.

Raja Ram Mandir – In this temple which is in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, the magnificent form of Shri Ram is worshipped along with Shri Ram, Lakshman and Mata Sita and his dear friends Sugriv, Jambavan and his eternal devotee Hanuman. This is the only temple Shri Ram is worshipped as a king and that too in a palace. The speciality of this temple is that Shri Ram is given a Guard of Honour by the police personnel as it befits a king. This is one unique temple which has Shri Ram carrying the sword and the shield instead of bows and arrows.

Kalaram Mandir – This temple is dedicated to Shri Ram in Panchavati, Nasik. Shri Ram is famous here as the black coloured one. Legend mentions when the original temple was destroyed by invaders, the priests threw the idol of Shri Ram into the river Godavari to save it from vandalism. Later a devout Sardar Rangarao Odhekar got a dream about the whereabouts of the idol in the river. He searched for the idol and installed it again in a newly built temple. As the temple is in Panchavati, where Shri Ram had spent his exile days, it has fourteen steps which represent the fourteen years of Shri Ram’s exile.
KodandaRamaMandir– This architecturally rich temple in Chikmangluru, Karnataka is the temple where Bhagwan Parashuram had requested Shri Ram to recap the marriage of Shri Ram and Mata Sita for him to see with his own eyes. Hence, Shri Ram is famous here as the groom and Mata Sita as the bride. This is the only temple in India which has Mata Sita standing to the right of Shri Ram, instead of the regular tradition of the wife being to the left side.
Ramaswamy Mandir – One of the beautiful temples of Shri Ram in Tamil Nadu, this temple depicts Shri Ram as the adorable brother and with Mata Sita, he gives darshan to the devotees accompanied with Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan. This temple is regarded as the Ayodhya of Southern India as the entire family of Shri Ram is worshipped here. Just as Goswami Tulasidas says, Shri Ram appears to the devotee in the way one imagines him. The forms may be many, but the benevolence of Shri Ram is the same, and the devotion and belief of the devotees in Shri Ram is eternal.