Hanuman Dhara, Chitrakoot: The Spring That Cooled Hanuman's Tail
Hanuman Dhara is a natural spring on a hilltop in Chitrakoot, tied to a specific moment in the Ramayana rather than to the exile period directly: legend holds that after Hanuman's tail was set alight during his mission to Lanka, Rama created this stream to cool the burn once Hanuman returned. The spring still flows today, over a small Hanuman shrine built into the rock.
It's the fourth of the four Chitrakoot sites from this cluster, alongside Kamadgiri, Ram Ghat, and Gupt Godavari.
- State: Madhya Pradesh / Uttar Pradesh border (Chitrakoot)
- Feature: Hilltop spring and shrine, reached by a stone-step climb
- Best months: October–March
- Minimum time: 1–1.5 hours including the climb
- Suitable for: Pilgrims comfortable with a moderate stair climb
The Climb
Reaching the spring involves a climb up a flight of stone steps to the hilltop shrine -- not a long ascent by most standards, but a real one, and worth pacing in the warmer months. The spring's water is channelled over the small shrine at the top, continuously, year-round.
A Shrine Tied to Hanuman's Own Story
Unlike the other three Chitrakoot sites, which connect to Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana's shared exile here, Hanuman Dhara ties specifically to Hanuman's individual arc in the epic -- making it a natural stop for anyone building a broader "Hanuman trail" across sites connected to his role in the story.
Visiting
The site is manageable as a shorter add-on to a Chitrakoot day that already includes Kamadgiri, Ram Ghat, and Gupt Godavari -- most visitors treat it as the final stop, given the climb is easier to manage before the day's heat builds or after the main parikrama is done.
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