India is a land of various religions and cultures.

It is the country of many

stories and beliefs. Stories which are not just stories, but also part of
Indian History. Mythological stories can be tricky .They can be just
stories as well as something on which religious beliefs are based.

Hinduism is the most practiced religion in India. One of the greatest epic
written in Hinduism is “RAMAYANA”. We all know Ramayana is the
story of Lord Ram saving his wife Sita from Ravan.

In Hinduism, after the death of father, it’s the son who has the right to
perform the last rites of his father. Though nowadays, daughters also do
the last rites. But, never had it been a case where a daughter-in-law had
performed the last rites of her father-in-law. Very few people know in
Ramayana it was Sita who gave the “PIND DAAN” (Pind Daan is
giving charity to the body of the deceased and is done after cremation of
the body) for her father-in- law, deceased King Dashrath.

When Lord Ram was on his 14 year exile with his wife Sita & brother
Laxman, they reached Gaya Dham, now in Bihar. By that time Dashrath
was cremated and somehow his ashes reached Falgu River in Gaya.
According to beliefs Dashrath died of separation from Ram and so his
ashes reached to Ram in Gaya.

Ram and Laxman went out to fetch food while Sita was sitting on the
banks of the river, Falgu. Sita saw an image made up of the sand (ashes)
above the river. Sita immediately recognized the image to be of
Dashrath. Dashrath was requesting Sita for his Pind Daan. So, Sita made
dough out of the sand (Dashrath ashes) and water, and gave them to
Dashrath. When Ram came, Sita narrated the whole incident. But no one
believed her.

She asked The Falgu River to testify her. The River denied her. So, Sita
cursed the river to drain out in the future. Then she turned towards a cow
that was grazing nearby. The cows too denied as the sand were of no use
to the cow. Sita cursed the cow, though it will be worshiped but still feed
on picking foods.
In a hope to prove her, Sita asked for Tulsi’s Testimony. Tulsi, the holy
plant also denied and thus was cursed to be grown anywhere even on
faeces.
Next, she turned towards Brahmin. The Brahmin thought if I testify for
Sita I won’t get anything since the pind daan is already done but if I let
the sons to do the daan I will get the offerings. Thus the Brahmin denied.
The Brahmin though are classified as the top most caste in the caste
system but still even today they are dependent on other people for their
survival due to Sita’s imprecation.
At last, Sita moved towards the Banyan tree. The tree testified for Sita
and thus was blessed by Sita to remain green forever.

To be continued……………