The fall of Jatayu has fascinated Ramayana enthusiasts for a long time, because, there are more than one well known locations alleged to be the location of fall of Jatayu. This article aims at identifying the location of Jatayu’s fall and his subsequent death after his fight with Ravana.

Narration of Jatayu’s fall starts with Ravana’s abduction of Seetha from Panchavati. As Ravana tries to abduct her, Seetha struggles to come out of his grasps and in the process succeeds in getting the attention of Jatayu, the eagle.

Jatayu makes a desperate attempt to save Seetha by having a fierce fight with Ravana, but unfortunately gets defeated when Ravana damages his wings.

After that, Jatayu falls to the ground.

स छिन्न पक्षः सहसा रक्षसा रौद्र कर्मणा |
निपपात महा गृध्रो धरण्याम् अल्प जीवितः || ३-५१-४३

“When that Rakshasa of cruel actions has ruptured his wings that colossal eagle Jataayu immediately fell down to earth with a lessened life.” [3-51-43]

Ravana’s flight continues after the fall of Jatayu. Seeta sees some Vanaras on a mountain top. As a last resort, out of desperation, she drops her ornaments for the Vanaras.

This event takes place in Pampa/Kishkinda region.

तेषाम् मध्ये विशालाक्षी कौशेयम् कनक प्रभम् |
उत्तरीयम् वरारोहा शुभानि आभरणानि च || ३-५४-२
मुमोच यदि रामाय शंसेयुः इति भामिनी |

“That broad-eyed and curvaceous lady with resentment Seetha, in wrapping her auspicious ornaments in the upper-fringe of her sari, dropped in the midmost of those five Vanaras with a thinking that ‘these creatures may perhaps indicate them to Rama.” [3-54-2, 3a]

Afterwards, Rama and Lakshmana who were looking for Seetha come across a dying Jatayu. The exhausted Jatayu describes the abduction for Rama before passing away.

परिक्लांतस्य मे तात पक्षौ चित्त्वा निशाचरः |
सीताम् आदाय वैदेहीम् प्रयातो दक्षिणा मुखः || ३-६८-१०

“That night walker hacked both my wings when I was overtired, and went southward taking the princess of Videha, Seetha, along with him…” [3-68-10]

From the Ramayana narration, one of the most crucial clues for Jatayu’s location comes after Jatayu’s death.

Ram and Lakshman performs the final rites of Jatayu on the banks of river Godavari.

ततो गोदावरीम् गत्वा नदीम् नर वर आत्मजौ |
उदकम् चक्रतुः तस्मै गृध्र राजाय तौ उभौ || ३-६८-३५

“Then both the sons of that notable man, namely Dasharatha, on going to River Godavari they have oblated waters for that king of eagles, Jataayu.” [3-68-35]

After the final rites of Jatayu, Rama resumes his search for Seetha and finally reaches Kishkinda, where he meets the vanara party who informs Rama about the ornaments Seetha had dropped in the course of her abduction.

आत्मना पञ्चमम् माम् हि दृष्ट्वा शैल तले स्थितम् |
उत्तरीयम् तया त्यक्तम् शुभानि आभरणानि च || ४-६-११

“Myself (Sugreeva) being the fifth one on the cliff of the mountain, on seeing me she dropped the upper cloth of her sari along with auspicious jewellery.” [4-6-11]

तानि अस्माभिः गृहीतानि निहितानि च राघव |
आनयिष्यामि अहम् तानि प्रत्यभिज्ञातुम् अर्हसि || ४-६-१२

“We took those jewellery items and stored them, Raaghava… I will get them and it will be apt of you to identify them…” thus said Sugreeva to Rama. [4-6-12]

From the above narrative, we can outline the timeline of events as it unfolded.

1) Jatayu fights Ravana and falls

2) Seetha then drops her ornaments “near Kishkinda“

3) Rama meets a dying Jatayu and later performed his last rites at the banks of “Godavari”

The above points, makes it clear that the Jatayu’s fall, wherever that might be, must have happened between Panchavati and Kishkinda and also, the location of the fall was near river Godavari.

With these necessary pointers, let us evaluate some well-known Jatayu’s fall location to hopefully identify the nearest plausible location for the fall.

Before we start, it’s better to list out the assumptions that I am making in regards to some locations linked with Ramayana.

1) Panchavati as the neighborhood of Nashik

2) Kishkinda as the present day Hampi

With all the necessary information, now let’s move forward.

1) Lepakshi

(Jatayu park- Lepakshi)

One of the popular traditions suggests Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh to be the location of Jatayu’s fall. Let us check, with the help of Ramayana evidence, if that is the case or not.

1) Lepakshi is located to the south of Kishkinda. In other words, if Lepakshi were to be the location for fall of Jatayu, Sita should have dropped her ornaments before/during the fight between Ravana and Jatayu. But the Ramayana evidence is contradictory for such a scenario.

(Kishkinda (1) and Lepakshi (2))

2) The distance between Lepakshi and Godavari River is a massive 550 km, which is unreasonably far to satisfy the Ramayana criteria.

(Lepakshi and Godavari)

Upon closer look, it appears that the claim of Jatayu falling at Lepakshi doesn’t stand the test of scrutiny and hence is not corroborated by Ramayana evidence.

2) Chadayamangalam

(Jatayu Earth center-Chadayamangalam)

Chadayamangalam located in Kerala has become well known in the recent years for its giant rock sculpture depicting Jatayu’s fall. Let’s put the claim of Chadayamangalam to the scrutiny of Ramayana evidence.

1) As shown in the image below, Chadayamangalam is a whopping 700 km South of Kishkinda. A striking contradiction to the Ramayana evidence.

(Kishkinda (1) and Chadayamangalam (2))

2) Is it really necessary to go into the distance between Godavari and Chadayamangalam?

It suffices to say that Chadayamangalam does not satisfy the “necessary conditions” put forward by Ramayana evidence.

However, although Chadayamangalam doesn’t conform to the Ramayana evidence for Jatayu’s fall, it is my subjective conviction that chadayamangalam is in a way related to Jatayu. To Jatayu’s brother Sampaati to be precise.

In Kishkinda, Sugrīva sends a Vānara search party to the South. This group encounters Sampaati, the brother of Jatayu. Sampaati informs the Vanaras about the whereabouts of Lanka.

इतो द्वीपे समुद्रस्य संपूर्णे शत योजने |
तस्मिन् लंका पुरी रम्या निर्मिता विश्वकर्मणा || ४-५८-२०

“There is a lavish city in the oceanic island afar a hundred yojana-s all in all from here, which Vishvakarma, the Divine-Architect, has built, and it is called Lanka. [4-58-20]

Vanaras inform Sampaati about the fall and death of Jatayu, hearing which Sampaati requests the Vanaras to take him to the ocean shore where he can perform the obligations for the departed soul of Jatayu.

ततो नीत्वा तु तम् देशम् तीरे नद नदी पतेः |
निर्दग्ध पक्षम् संपातिम् वानराः सुमहौओजसः || ४-५८-३६
तम् पुनः प्रत्यानयित्वा वै तम् देशम् पतग ईश्वरम् |
बभूवुः वानरा हृष्टाः प्रवृत्तिम् उपलभ्य ते || ४-५८-३७

“Then those vanaras of utmost dynamism on taking wing-burnt-bird Sampaati to the husband rivulets and rivers, namely the ocean, placed him on the shoreline. Again, the vanara-s sincerely brought back that king of birds, Sampaati, after his offering oblations to Jatayu, and lodged him as a returnee at his own place. On deriving indication form Sampaati regarding Seetha, Ravana and Lanka, those returnless vanara-s returned to their search while their gladness returning to them.” [4-58-36, 37]

My conjecture is that Sampaati’s “own place” is Chadayamangalam

The two well known and popular nominations for Jatayu’s fall turned out to be non corroborated by the Ramayana evidence. What else can be the location for the fall of Jatayu?

Enter Osmanabad…

3) Dharashiv

(Ramling temple – Dharashiv)

Dharashiv, modern day Osmanabad in Maharashtra is the unlikely claimant for the location of Jatayu’s fall. Dharashiv is not as popular compared to either Lepakshi or Chadayamangalam. The only proof for the existence of a Jatayu/Ramayana tradition lies in an old temple known as Ramling temple (see above image).

A closer look at the claim of Dharashiv alongside the Ramayana evidence shows that,

1) Dharashiv lies to the north of Kishkinda. Which means that, if Ravana were to abduct Seetha from Panchavati, he would arrive at Dharashiv before reaching Kishkinda.

This scenario is corroborated by the Ramayana evidence.

(Dharashiv (1) and Kishkinda (2))

2) Dharashiv is around 100 km from the present day banks of Godavari River, which does seems to be fairly long, is although, not unreasonable.

(Dharashiv and Godavari)

Dharashiv, an unexpected nominee, seems to be the one corroborating the description given in the Ramayana. However, the 300 km distance between Panchavati and Dharashiv makes this location for Jatayu’s fall a bit far fetched. Because, according to Ramayana, in all probability Jatayu met Ram somewhere around Janasthan (surroundings of present day Nasik).

तम् तथा परिताप आर्तम् लक्ष्मणो रामम् अब्रवीत् |
इदम् एव जनस्थानम् त्वम् अन्वेषितुम् अर्हसि || ३-६७-४
राक्षसैः बहुभिः कीर्णम् नाना द्रुम लता आयुतम् |

To such a Rama who is tormented by anguish, Lakshmana said, “it will be apt of you to search this Janasthaan alone which is rife with many demons, and replete with manifold trees and climber-plants… [3-67-4]

Can any location better Dharashiv to claim the Jatayu’s fall?

As it turns out, Taked can!

4) Taked

Taked in Maharashtra is a relatively unknown place for its association with the Jatayu lore. There is a small temple and ashram dedicated to Jatayu and the sthala puran links this place with the location of Jatayu’s fall and his subsequent meeting with Rama.

(Sarv Teerth Jatayu Mandir- Taked)

Let’s see how Taked fares in the evaluation with Ramayana descriptions.

1) Taked is located just 33 km to the south of Panchavati, which means, Taked is in between Panchavati and Kishkinda, thus it satisfies the requirement put forth by Ramayana evidence.

Taked’s proximity to Panchavati (33 km) when compared to Dharashiv’s 300 km, gives a clear boost for Taked’s claim.

(Panchavati (1) and Taked (2))

2) Godavari River is also very close to Taked, the distance between the two being just 33 km.

Again, advantage for Taked when compared to Dharashiv’s 100 Km distance for the banks of river Godavari.

Hence, even though both Dharashiv and Taked satisfy the conditions posed by the Ramayana description, Taked appears to be the better claim.

(Taked and Godavari)

Therefore, based on the available evidence/tradition, I would assert that the fall of Jatayu happened in the neighbourhood of Taked.

Interested readers can also evaluate their choice of locations alongside the Ramayana evidence and examine its plausibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Tracing Ravana’s flight during abduction)

 

Sources:

Ramayana verse: Valmikiramayan.net

Cover and Location images: Google

 

All the images are provided by the author.