Bharat Kund

Bharat Kund — the sacred pond and the temple complex at Nandigram, about 20 kilometres south of Ayodhya — is the place where Bharat lived for the fourteen years of Shri Ram's vanvas. The Ramayana tells the deeply moving katha: when Bharat returned to Ayodhya from his maternal uncle's home and learned that his mother Kaikeyi's vara had sent Ram to vanvas, he refused to accept the throne. He went to Chitrakoot, fell at Ram's feet, begged him to return; when Ram declined, Bharat asked for his padukas instead. He placed those sandals on the throne at Nandigram, lived as an ascetic himself, and ruled Ayodhya only as the trustee of his elder brother.

The complex centres on the Bharat Kund — the pond where Bharat bathed daily — and the principal Bharat Mandir at its bank. The temple holds murtis of Bharat in tapasvi-form (with matted hair and ascetic dress), the symbolic padukas of Shri Ram on a small throne, and subsidiary shrines to Hanuman and Shatrughna. The atmosphere is the most contemplative of any Ayodhya-area site — the bhav is of deep humility, brotherly love, and rule-as-service.

The padukas on the throne

The image of Bharat ruling Ayodhya only by holding Shri Ram's padukas on the throne is one of the most beloved scenes of the Ramayana. The Padukas-rajya is the supreme symbol of nyas (trusteeship) — power held in trust, not for oneself. Tradition holds that Bharat slept on the bare ground, wore valkala (bark-cloth), ate only sattvik food, and bowed daily before the padukas. His self-denial through the fourteen years matches Ram's vanvas in austerity; many devotees consider Bharat the deepest bhakta of the Ramayana, the one who served without leaving home.