Dandakaranya

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Dandakaranya is a spiritually significant region in India. It is roughly equivalent to the Bastar District in the central east part of India. It covers about 35,600 square miles (92,200 km²) of land, which includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west. Dandakaranya borders the Eastern Ghats in the east, including parts of the Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh states. It spans about 200 miles (320 km) from north to south and about 300 miles (480 km) from east to west.^[1]

Dandakaranya is an important place in many Indian Hinduism religious tales. The Dandakaranya zone was the location of the turning point in the Ramayana, a famous Sanskrit epic. The plot for the divine objectives of the Hindu Trinity to uproot the rakshasas from the land was formulated here.

Dandakaranya i.e. the Jungle (aranya) of punishment (dandakas).In times of Ramayana, it was home of deadly creatures & demons. Exiled persons resided here and sages have to cross it in order to reach vindyha mountains. ,Khar dushan & suparnkha met Rama in this region.

Indian epic of Ramayana says that Lord Rama spent his precious 13 years in this region until the abduction of the Goddess Sita.